... Yup. That was once me.

'Hasn't been that way for over a decade, now. But, just recently I have been asked to perform as a violist in front of a crowd for the first time since I stopped studying music in school at fourteen years old.

Naturally, though I was once quite an exceptional viola player, by now about twelve years of nearly complete absence from the loving embrace of my dear partner in music (I'm just using an overly romantic term for the viola that I own) has probably put my level of skill for playing the viola down to someone who is maybe just half way through his first year of study. This is why I am a little nervous about playing the wedding march theme - you know, that song that plays when the bride enters the sanctuary - with only a piano accompaniment tomorrow at the marriage occasion of a friend from college. She took me by complete surprise when she had requested it of me, and I was much too flattered by the request in spite of my diminished skill to politely turn her down.

So, there I'll be tomorrow, with only my musical mistress and a piano as the only source of sound for when the wedding march plays. I'll only be playing as long as it takes for Wendy to make it down the aisle, of course, so the whole thing may be over in as little as a minute, and certainly everyone in the room will be paying far more attention tot he bride than the music they will be hearing out of the corner of their ears. But still, I haven't been asked to perform music like this with the viola since the last time I played in a school competition or regional youth symphony or something else of the sort ... way back when I was in middle and high school, so this is still something of a challenge for me, in spite of the fact that the wedding march is a relatively simple song. Really the only times I have picked up the viola in the years since is to occasionally play in a church orchestra during a normal worship service, and hymns are normally very easy for even me to play. I probably shouldn't be worrying about this at all, for in anything this occasion tomorrow is far more focused on the celebration of yet two more people's love than anything or anyone else that happens to be involved in the proceedings. But, nevertheless, please wish me luck.



... You know, I just realized, since I have many times given a romantic reference to my viola as both my dear partner in music and the wise elder sister of the violin, I should totally name her, just like how I long ago gave the name Lucia to the one car I have owned since I learned to drive.

Hmmm ....

... Cecily. Yes, I think that is the perfect name for my viola.

Let's do our best together tomorrow, Cecily!

Good luck, SK.

Good luck to Ceicily and you! And tell us how it went...

I can do that right now.

We just returned home from out of town where we performed. I think Cecily and I did quite well. On the part of the wedding march that is played when the bride and groom exit the sanctuary, and then everyone else sort of follows out in a seemingly formal pattern one by one starting with those guests closest to the newlywed couple, I kind of fubar'ed the next to the last measure of the song before repeating back at the beginning, but, recovered quickly enough and finished the performance with proper dignity. The sheet music I had for both parts of the wedding march (one where the bride enters in and then where the couple goes out) was suited for the violin, not the viola like I play, so I had to improvise on certain aspects of the music. It really couldn't be helped when I attempt to play the melody part of a song as a violist, when that seems to always be meant for the violin, so for instance, because the violin possesses the four higher of five strings (E, A, D, and G) and the viola possesses the four lower strings (A, D, G, C), a few measures in the song naturally contained notes that would be almost impossible for me to play correctly because I would have had to place my fingers far too high on the A string to hit the note, so in most cases like that I would just go an octave lower so that you hear the same sound, but not the same pitch ('not even sure pitch is the term I am trying to use there). But, one thing I have become proud of in my waned, modest skill these days is that playing the hymns sometimes at my home church has compelled me to become competent at reading notes in the treble clef (which violinists read from). People who play the viola like I do normally read from the alto clef. So it's like having the added challenge of having to translate the notes from treble to alto clef in my mind as I play, a small skill I have developed that I am proud of in the same way that I am proud of always taking on personal challenges I set for myself in survival horror games. ^_^

Sorry, I probably went too far into the music language, there.

If it helps, the treble clef is the musical symbol you see in fruple's avatar, whereas the alto clef looks like a fancy way of writing the number thirteen. (Superstition!) ^_^


... But this recent event, especially with the added honor I felt upon Wendy's (the lady friend who was getting married in the first place) personal request for me to do this, has only driven me closer to the decision to begin playing seriously once again like I did way back in the day, perhaps by taking private lessons, I suppose, and maybe one day ending up in a professional orchestra. I think Cecily is happy enough that I never just quit playing entirely and sell her off to some wicked owner, of course, and that I still take up a certain bond with her during the occasions I play in my church, however temporary the passion in that bond tends to last. But still, it may be that she and I are destined for more someday. For now, I don't think my desire is great enough, though. One must have a great enough desire for something to be willing to invest the time into pursuing it, after all.

That's nice to hear! My knowledge about music is a pretty limited, but I managed to grasp what you said, I think. ^_^

I have wanted to devote myself to playing the piano, but that's going to remain a dream until I get a career going.

I'm glad you were able to pick up your music, though.

That's great it went well! And it's really cool you can transpose between clefs so easily. I don't know what it's like for string players, but that's something that most brass players (like myself) find to be pretty difficult. You should start playing again, and then maybe post some videos on here so we can hear.

Thanks for the encouraging comments, everyone. And especially Miss fruple. Although, please don't misunderstand what I said about transposing (that's probably more the word I was looking for ^_^ ) between clefs; I am far from perfect at it, but I meant to say that, in most relatively slow-to-normal-paced and easy songs like the wedding march or most of the hymns made for church worship services, I have become competent enough at the skill to make it through the song, translating the notes in my mind as I go, without feeling an overwhelming desire to passionately suckle at the teat of perpetual Fail. ^_-

It's just that when you used the words "so easily", I could not help but feel as though I have exaggerated my level of skill. ^_^ But thank you, nonetheless.


.... I still can't believe that, in all of the nearly thirteen years I have owned her, it truly never occurred to me until making this topic a few days ago to give my viola a name.

Play the opening to Chrono Cross*! I demand it!






*I, in no way like or support Chrono Cross. But that opening song was actually pretty awesome. But for the record, Chrono Cross is terrible and me stating that I would like to hear SK preform the opening in no way means I have somehow miraculously changed my opinion on that failure of a game.