I had a bit of a wake up call today. I took my violin out of its case for the first time in two years. Put on a new set of strings and tuned up. But it has been two years, and so my skill has diminished.
It was a slightly foreign thing to me. I play guitar recreationally as well. But playing the guitar is like riding a bike; I can walk away for months at a time, but with the presence of frets as a guide nothing is forgotten. Violin though... While I hadn't completely lost the ability to play, the return was not smooth. Every note sounded like a screech. Every pass of the bow I could find fault in. Notes were not easy to find. My technique had suffered for the absence, and I expect it to take another week or so to regain. In the meantime my enjoyment is less, the sound produced inferior. Basics formed in my mind but the application, for some reason, was difficult.
It brought a kind of understanding. I have worked as a tutor in computer applications. Among my students were several refugees. I struggled to find appropriate words to desribe things. 'Highlight the area you want to move' may not seem obscure language to me, but what they knew of English at that point required augmentation if I was going to teach effectively. Working in an office and studying for administrative qualifications, it had been a long time since I had needed to simplify my language, and so bringing to mind a suitable alternative took some thought.
Hopefully, like the ability to communicate with those students, my ability to play the violin will come again in time.
