In homeschooling, some subjects can or should be delegated. Two weeks ago, we found a violin teacher for our son.
Since then, he has had two lessons and we have practiced daily. I say “we” because I brought out my violin (I took eight years of lessons as a child) and played alongside him.
He is still not comfortable with the bow, so he plucks the strings – pizzicato in music terms. Apparently, that is just fine, because most children do not start bowing until lesson five or six. Beginners must focus on so many other issues: holding the violin, not letting it slide down their chest, standing straight and not shifting weight from leg to leg etc etc etc.
Since the teacher’s other students had a recital last week, she thought it might be good for my son to join in. Yes, after only two lessons. He would get to see other children play and get inspired. We will get to see how well he deals with stage fright. Brilliant plan.
The location? An assisted living facility in Knoxville. The budding musicians would put smiles on the faces of their parents, as well as those of elderly people.
The teacher chose a piece for him – a duet with her. Since I play violin, I practiced her part with him for two days before the recital, twice a day. That was all the time we had.
And, just like that, my son performed in his very first recital. The teacher covered a lot of his, shall we say, growth areas.
Even though he was nervous, he made it through. He even decided to walk up with the other students, when they lined up, and play for the group pieces – which he had never heard or played before. He certainly did not have to play with them. The teacher told him that.
What did he play? Not sure. I could not hear his pizzicato from all the strings. But he stood there and plucked strings on his violin until the end. You know what they say: fake it till you make it. My son did exactly that. Nobody knew that he did not know the music.
If that isn’t a metaphor for homeschooling… No matter how much you prepare, you will have days when you must do something you are not fully prepared for. My adage is, fake it till you make it. It goes for many other areas of life, don’t you think?