Cradling the violin under his chin, holding the bow just so, a 5-year-old violinist was rendering a lovely Bach minuet—lovely until he got to the last couple of notes. He raced through these, happy to be finished and on to the next thing.
Teacher, violinist, composer, and founder of Musicians With a Mission, Devin Arrington explained to his young pupil that finishing the last note in a hurry was “like leaving the audience with a terrible dessert after a wonderful meal. They'll remember the terrible dessert,” he said on Sept. 6.
In order for the audience to have a satisfying meal, the bow must be moved slower and slower and brought to a gradual stop; the sound should fade away, the vibrating stop. And even then, the player must stand very still to allow the sound to linger in the air, to allow the audience to savor a wonderful experience.
This lesson, one Arrington has had to teach many times, requires youngsters to think from the perspective of other people. It also requires patience.
