Hi. My name is Samuel and Im 16 years old. I play the violin for 8 years now and Im going through a big problem right now. I dont know if someone can help me but Im desperate. I just dont know if I should go on or give up. I go to a musical school in Slovakia. I live there but anyways back to the point. Every time I go to my class I dont feel happy about it. I just go there because I did for the last eight years and my parents wanted me to go there. At the beginning I hated violin but then I got used to it. Now I dont know if I should go on. I like to play for my own at home when I want to or when I hear a nice tune in the radio so I play it sometimes but I dont want to practice hard and so. Cause I do not intend to become a professional musician. I do not know if Im good enough to do it but on the other hand I dont want to feel guilty that I wasted a talent later in my life.

So I came to a point where I have two possibilites:
1. I go on and start to practice because I dont want to just go to my classes and not progress. But I dont want to. And I m afraid I will regret it later.
2. I give up and keep playing for my own at home but I feel guilty that I gave up. Should I feel guilty? Should I go on against my will and hope that it will have sense? I just dont know. PLEASE HELP
hope my post is not too confusing
thanks

Sounds like you need a break! If you're not having fun anymore, take some time off. Even a few years if necessary. Remember, you can always start playing again if you feel like it - this isn't the end. And don't just keep playing because you feel guilty for stopping.

You don't want to box yourself in and miss out on another exciting career. Playing as an amateur is fine too, or even not playing at all. Good luck!

Is there a happy medium, because it almost sounds like your in an all-or-nothing situation? That's what I did, took the happy medium. At my school, you can take a lot of music classes, a few, or none at all. Sometimes, I wonder if I made the right decision, but in the end, I feel good about my decision. I too, have no asperations to be professional flutist, but I like to enjoy music while I'm still in school.

Hello Samuel I think that most people get into a rut at one point or another. I did-just a few months ago, in fact. I had been playing for about ten years, and I remember when I was little having to practice when the other kids were hanging out at the park, it was sad but I practiced because my parents wanted me to. But then, suddenly, they let me decide whether I wanted to continue playing or not, and I was tired of playing. But what I realized is that the wanting-to-play part of me was stronger than the not-want-to-play part, and that inside I really did want to continue, I just needed a break. So, for a month or so I took it easy. I practiced, but not hard at all and just sort of relaxed, and made sure to hang out with my friends more than usual. And now, I'm here, going strong and loving it
Maybe part of the reason you feel kind of sick of playing is because you're just not feeling very motivated. Have you ever gone to a symphony concert, or heard a colleague play a song that you just loved? If so, I suggest that you learn it-I find that the best thing to get me motivated to practice was to be practicing something FUN, and something that I wanted to be practicing. Another great motivator is attending an institute camp during the summer. I'm not sure of any where you live, but here in the states we have quite a few, the one I attend is called the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute. I come home each year feeling totally energized and ready to practice! The last motivator (that I use for myself, anyway...I am 15 by the way) is to listen to some fantastic music! I like Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Itzhak Perlman, and a group called Time for Three (TF3). You should check them out! Their webiste is www.timeforthree.com
All-in-all, "serious" music playing is not for everyone. In fact, less than 1% of violinists who play when they are younger end up professional musicians. Maybe your parents don't realize your feelings. If you tell them that you just want to play for fun, maybe they will let you! You never know. Good luck, and let us know how everything goes

First of all thanks all of you guys for your advice cause I feel much better now that I know there is someone who understands my problem with violin. So I ve been thinking about what to do and I decided to take a break. I dont know how long it should be and still dont know if I should leave out the next year. Because I can enter only after half a year so if I dont go now I can first go in after half a year. Or I can just rest through this summer break right now and start in september but I dont know if it will be enough or how I feel in september but I ll let you know. Once again thanks for the advice and also for the time for three website. Their music is nice.
sam

Hi Samuel.

It seems that you have decided what to do. Well, I don´t pretend you to change your mind, but maybe you could think twice.
When I was 9 i started studying piano. Then at the age of 20, after 11years of studying, I decided i had to take a break, to stop for one year or two. Well, the one or two years became in 20 years. Now, i hardly play the piano. if i want to play what i used to play at that age, i have to practice a lot because almost everything has gone. And i regret having stopped studying the piano. Dont let that happens to you. Lots of violinist re-start playing the violin and they regret having stopped.
If you are not happy when you go to school, you should think what is happening there, but dont spoil the 9 years you have studied the instrument.
well, that is my advide.
hope it will help.

greetings,
victor

thanks for the advice. I decided to take a short break till september and then Ill see how I feel. Ill try the next year and if I still feel bad about playing I can still stop in january. I like music and dont want to lose that. Another thing that came to my mind was to start playing the guitar but I do not take it too seriously. Time will give me some answers

I have a very similar problem. Most of the time, I hate playing and want to bury my violin under a rock. But I always find a way around it, whether it being playing something I like but haven't done in a while, just for fun (maybe a more lyrical piece, like the 2nd movement in the Mendelsson Concerto), or skipping a day. You can even start on a new piece that you like.

Also, maybe you're not in the right classes, or maybe the teachers aren't what you need. You might be needing someone who INSPIRES you to play, even if you don't like it. I kept going when I had that problem, switched teachers, and am now in the New York Youth Symphony which plays in Carnegie Hall three times a year, and made concertmaster for a College Summer program.

FIND INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!^_- And have fun with it.

Dragonsfire867

Sam, we're just give some suggestion.. but you decide it.

huhuhhu... you're so lucky having opportunity for learning violin at the early age... im so jealous.. hehhe...



anyway, if i were you , i would keep going with the talent you have..
coz u dont know what would happen in the future...

i think it will be good for you not to give up to play violin..
maybe, you dont like playing anymore, but who knows if ur playing can heal somebody's pain and make them happy??? hahahha...
im serious sam. ^^

there's a lot of people out there who can not learn music but they really dream bout that.

sometimes we have to think in different point of view...

DO not take time off!!!!!!! I went through the same thing at your age and took a break for several years. I really wish I hadn't. I am picking the violin back up now. I used to think I didn't like it either and just did the lessons for my parents. But now I realize I really did like it and my parents were actually doing me a favor by paying for all those lessons. You think you'll remember everything but you won't. And you've already put so much time and effor into the violin for years now. Maybe you don't need to go to so many classes. But always play even just once or twice a week to keep it up. It's like learning a language. You learn it really well and then don't speak/read it for several years and you forget it and it's very difficult to get back. Besides its good to have a hobby. Keep it up and you won't regret it!

Well guys I think you are right. I shouldnt let it go away. But there is one more thing that is on my mind. I recently felt the need to learn guitar. There are songs that Id love to know to play on the guitar and my enthousiasm for the guitar is much bigger than violin. I dont know if I should start going to some guitar lessons but then Ill probably forget my violin knowledge. Im stuck. thanks much much again for your replies.

I think that if you want to learn the guitar, go ahead!!! I think that learning more than one instrument is very good for you.

I will. check out this song Im trying to learn. pretty tuff but the song is great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ioKEDgnfs8