Sal Sees a Theorbo

Regular readers of Travels with Sal know that I've been taking violin lessons.  (See this post from August and this post from October for details.)  Well, after experiencing the ease of tuning offered by the ukulele, I found tuning my violin to be ridiculously difficult.  At each lesson I would hand the violin to Jessica -- my patient teacher -- to tune.  At home I attempted it, but it was a very frustrating process, as the pegs kept slipping.  The result of this was fewer practice sessions, as I experience enough frustration in my daily life already.  Music is supposed to be a stress reducer -- not another source thereof!

After much slipping (by the pegs) and swearing (by me), I decided there must be a better way.  I have geared pegs that look like tension pegs on my Walnut Flea, which made me think there should be similar pegs for violins -- and there are!  There are Pegheds for violins!  Jessica did not encourage me to get them, for reasons both philosophical (wooden pegs have been used for hundreds of years), and practical ($$$), but I wanted to go ahead anyway.

Despite her reservations, Jessica recommended a fixer of violins named Reese Williams, so I called for an appointment and went to see him.  Mr. Williams made some recommendations about my violin and suggested that I start with adjustments to the existing pegs to make them work better.  We could talk about the Pegheds later if I still wanted them.  I agreed to this and returned the following day to pick up the easier-to-tune violin.

I also brought Sal with me, so I could get some photos of her with an amazing instrument Mr. Williams had been working on -- a Theorbo!?  (Click on that bold word to learn all about the Theorbo.)  It was in the workshop when I dropped off my violin.   I'd never seen anything like it, and it seemed to me that a photo of it with Sal would be necessary.  I think you will agree that Sal and the Theorbo make an interesting pair.

The Theorbo had been moved from the workshop into the front room, as it was ready to be picked up.  I wonder what sort of vehicle the owner drives, and how he maneuvers this giant instrument through doorways and around corners.

Looking at the many strings on the Theorbo, it seems silly that I find it so challenging to play the ukulele with its paltry four strings!

If, after seeing this really cool instrument, you are still interested in the fate of my violin, I will tell you that the old pegs work much better now...  but I still want the Pegheds!

Sal Goes To a Violin Lesson

Faithful readers of Travels With Sal may remember the following from the post titled Sal Spends a Perfect Summer Evening at Blossom Music Center  (August 26th):  "I've also been inspired to get my violin out of the closet.  I haven't really played it since high school -- which was a looooong time ago -- but seeing other people playing violins always makes me want to try it again.  Perhaps I should take a few lessons and see what happens.  I have discovered that there is a fiddling class nearby...  I would have to take refresher lessons first, but maybe next time fiddling is offered..."

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the phenomenon of getting a great idea -- and promptly forgetting about it.  I experience it often!  But this time, for some reason, I followed through.  I got the violin out of the closet, took it to Royalton Music to be checked out and get new strings, and e-mailed the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. 

I am happy to report that BW connected me with an extremely patient violin teacher, who encourages and challenges me!  Her name is Jessica Filing, and she plays her violin beautifully!  I can't say the same about myself, but with her encouragement I am improving a bit (I think).  There is no way that relearning this instrument is going to be a quick and easy process, but I hope I have the gumption to stick it out -- and eventually be able to do some rudimentary fiddling.  (At this point I'm working on a shorter-term goal -- to be able to competently play a song from the first Suzuki book!)

Sal come to my lesson with me today.  There were about 30 minutes of excruciating attempts to make a pleasing sound come out of my violin.   ("Excruciating" is, I must confess, a very slight exaggeration for humorous effect.)  Then I took three shots of Jessica posing with her lovely instrument -- and Sal.  Normally I would choose just one picture to post, but I have to use all three this time, because they are all so much fun.  For some reason, I felt that using the matte effect on iPhoto added something to these pictures.  I hope you agree.

The first picture.  I think this one captures the sense of humor necessary to be my violin teacher.

This picture shows a very nice person who has the patience to be my violin teacher.

I'm not sure what this one says about Jessica, but I think it's a fun picture, so here it is.

After we said goodbye, Sal and I stopped to get some shots of the beautiful reflective glass front of the building.  I wonder who has to clean all those windows...