Cami Shaskin

Violin Blog


About


This blog is about all things violin. It is meant to educate, inspire, and provide resources for parents, teachers, and students. The author takes full responsibility for the viewpoints expressed here. In instances where she quotes ideas from others, she pledges to cite her sources as fully, responsibly, and accurately as possible. Topics will include book reviews, technique tips, entertaining anecdotes, quotes, jokes, educational findings, instrument care suggestions, violin in the news, repertoire lists, etc.

Cami J. Shaskin graduated with her master's degree in Music Education in 2008. Violin has always been her primary instrument, since beginning private lessons at age five. See camishaskinviolin.com/info for her music résumé, or click on Spotlights for historical recordings. Cami has enjoyed an array of experiences in writing, from penning award-winning articles as a journalism staff writer in high school, tutoring peers at BYU's Writing Center, earning a Writing Fellows scholarship and a minor in Language and Computers, and later becoming a published author. She recently picked up web programming as a hobby, earning a certificate in Web Programming and Development from the local community college. This blog has been a collaborative effort between her and her husband, who is a Web Developer by profession. Together, they designed and coded this blog and its original content "from scratch."

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Archive


2021
    Jan
        16 - Welcome to My Blog
        23 - Violin Teaching Kits
        30 - The Power of Inspiration
    Feb
        06 - Valuable Techniques
        07 - From the Top
        13 - In Honor of Valentine's Day
        20 - Violin Jokes
        28 - Beginning Orchestra Teaching
    Mar
        06 - Singing in Orchestra
        13 - Nurtured by Love
        21 - Helpful Websites
        27 - Unique Case Uses
    Apr
        02 - Favorite Music Quotes
        10 - All About Tone
        17 - Unique Composer Stories
        24 - Teaching Values
    May
        02 - Believing Teachers?
        15 - Violin in Art & Architecture
        23 - A Solo Repertoire List
        29 - Our Quartet
    Jun
        20 - Theft and Other Lessons
        26 - Violin Bridge Tips
    Jul
        07 - Clever Violin Memes
        20 - Horses and Lions
    Aug
        04 - Music During Covid
        16 - Favorite Music
    Sep
        12 - Being There
    Oct
        16 - Sight Reading Tips
    Nov
        05 - Why It's the Frog
    Dec
        20 - Bach on the Brain
        30 - Impact for Life
2022
    Jan
        23 - Tendonitis Helps
    Feb
        21 - An Old Performance
    Mar
        23 - Cars3 & Coaching
    Apr
        28 - Buying a Violin for Dummies
        29 - Preferred Brands
    May
        27 - Love: A Calling
    Jun
        20 - Gratitude for Idaho Shop
    Jul
        19 - Violinist Interviews Books
    Aug
        08 - Music Opens Doors
        23 - Top Classical Tunes for Violin
    Sep
    Oct
        11 - 100 Days of Listening
    Nov
        27 - Useful Analogies
    Dec
        28 - A Humorous Anecdote
2023
    Jan
        14 - Favorite Concertos & Sonatas
    Feb
        15 - Our Commonality
    Mar
        10 - Extras
        18 - Autopilot
    Apr
    May
    Jun
        06 - Motivation
        07 - Starting Lessons Again
    Jul
        08 - A Tale of Three Cloths
    Aug
        26 - The Ink
    Sep
        23 - Raw and Real Recital Reactions
    Oct
        18 - In Honor of Halloween
    Nov
        26 - Music Copyright
    Dec
        13 - Memes: Fun Facebook Finds
2024
    Jan
        15 - Fame and Fortune
    Feb
        05 - Details and the Big Picture
    Mar
        14 - Intermission
    Apr
        18 - A Day in the Life
    May
        02 - Oops!
    Jun
        14 - A Science or an Art?
    Jul
        15 - A Difficult Post
    Aug
        01 - Character Transference
    Sep
        20 - Anxiety Interview
    Oct
        02 - Sounds of Italy
    Nov
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    Dec
         No posts to display.


Posts


A Day in the Life
18 Apr 2024
Note: Thank you to my subscribers who responded to my brief survey I emailed out last month. In response to, "Do you have a favorite post?" Here were some of the answers anonymously received:

"Definitely the one about strings."
" . . . the stolen violin story was memorable."

Here are two of the requested future topics from the anonymous feedback I received:

"Thoughts on composing"
"Stories of your adventures!"

As an aside, other requests were for teaching experiences-advice for dealing with difficult personalities and situations, which is a great thing to address, and tips on memorization and performance anxiety. Excellent suggestions; thanks! For anyone reading this, it may interest you to realize that there is a search bar and archive on the left of all my posts on this site, including this one here on the topic of audition sight reading anxiety, with some anecdotes of a famous composer's performance anxiety near the bottom. I intend to address each of these topics in depth later. We're never alone in our experiences! And if, as a subscriber, you have yet to respond to the survey, there's still time! I'd welcome your feedback.

But, for now, dear reader, to start off, here is a new adventure I can share. This would be, from my viewpoint, "A Day in the Life of a Professional Violinist," from my experiences this week.

One rehearsal, finishing a half hour before the concert. That’s it! All professional musicians. Six first violinists. Five second violins. Practically a chamber orchestra, with wind, brass, and percussion sections joining the fun to fill out the symphony, and five actors/actresses adding their contributions. The repertoire is Justin Locke's Peter VS. the Wolf, a court case story and free adaptation--with a hilarious twist--on the children's symphonic classic by Prokofiev. I am playing the first violin part, which happens to be my favorite.

Time for a quick snack backstage for lunch and a breath mint. (Oops, did I forget the lipstick . . . ?) It’s time.

The setting is a chilly April afternoon for an Education Concert with the Helena Symphony. Kids are bussed in from schools from multiple counties. The roar from the crowd is mildly disarming. Sponsors have stepped up and paid funds to make this experience possible. Expectations are high. You’re one of the elite. There’s no room for error, and if you do make a silly mistake, you are on alert, thinking that the concertmaster probably notices it from his post a few feet away or the stage manager (also a violinist) or conductor are aware. God too. And there’s no automatic forgiveness for slip-ups. Because they all know you are capable of doing better. At least, you hope so. You hope they remember . . . . You're nervous. They’ve heard you in audition or rehearsal, after all. And they are entrusting you with this. The stakes are high. Nearly 2,000 fourth and fifth graders are in the audience in tiered seating with their eyes glued on individual performers, determining their own future goals in the world of music based on what they see. You might rightly wonder if all this pressure is overwhelming and debilitating. It certainly remains a lurking possibility.

And yet this expectation to do your very best, nigh perfect, feels achievable somehow and can even be a motivating force, almost electric. “We’re counting on you and you can do it, because everything you do matters” is the sense I got from that experience! No time to think about the travel adventures, fatigue, financial fraud, stiff back, wonderful hotel managers, hungry stomach, and sense of wary awe from last night's experience in a dark, depressing, yet creative, sketchy, and eclectic street while all alone in an unfamiliar town 90 miles away from where you are now.

You made it to this moment! Right now, you find yourself grateful to be part of a group where all blended sound is glorious, the precision is impressive, and you suspect some of the players' experience clearly exceeds your own! The section members around you are inspiring. You’re all in this together, and it is a delight to collaborate, if slightly nerve-wracking. What a ride!

You're in complete awe, admiring the talents of the section leaders and the preparation and skill of the guest conductor, realizing they’re the real deal. When you can learn from them in any way, simply from listening and observing everything in their playing and professional treatment of others, you are all the better for it. You feel privileged to be able to rub shoulders with these remarkable people who have sacrificed more hours and focused dedication than one can recount in pursuit of their art.

It is indeed art. Experiencing music and rehearsing with musicians of this caliber truly is like seeing an original masterpiece of art made by a famous painter. Or one who is yet undiscovered, but nonetheless remarkable in talent. Or seeing a quality magic show for the inspiration offered.

The whole inspiring experience is like stumbling on a gemstone in a dimly lit cave. You realize you are fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. And when you pick up the stone, it's not just the stone of opportunity shining. You’re part of this cave. It’s up to you whether you’ll enhance this scene. It is your time to make your efforts count—to do your part to shine with your contribution, as humbly and accurately and beautifully as you can!

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This content has been proven to be completely dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, and made from code not treated with rBST. No animals were harmed in the making of this blog. The views presented do not necessarily represent the views of Ms. Shaskin's neighbors, kin, the U.S. government, or a mysterious worldwide network of musicians. Any reproduction, retransmission or reposting of content without crediting the author (basically me) is prohibited. Free Wi-Fi not included. If this is a life-threatening emergency, close your browser and dial 911.

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