A Shocking Turn of Events

As I mentioned in the previous blog post, I have been playing the viola for 7 years. So when my mother told me that my violin skills outshone my viola skills, I was completely shocked. How could I possibly be better at an instrument that I had just picked up? I decided to investigate the situation.

Throughout this week, I kept playing the same songs on both instruments to confirm my mother’s claims. I played Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”, Yiruma’s “Kiss the Rain” , and “He’s A Pirate” from Pirates of the Caribbean. After listening to the recordings of each song, I realized that my mother was right. I am a better violinist.

How is this possible? I use the same technique to play both instruments. Virtually everything was the same except for the sheet music and strings. I spent the rest of the week playing my recordings to different people and asked them the same question: Am I a better violinist or violist?

To my surprise, they all agreed with my mother. The reasoning behind their opinion attributed to the structure of the two instruments.

They found that the higher-pitched E string was more appealing to the ear than the lower-pitched, more mellow C string. I was confused. I thought that higher-pitched sounds were more annoying because people tend to squirm when higher-pitched notes are played. I decided to take a closer look behind this phenomenon.

It turns out that the structure of the violin makes it sound better. The width of its strings makes it easier to improve intonation. The violin’s E string is much thinner than the viola’s C string, which explains why I can never get my lower notes in tune, hence why I sound better on the violin than the viola. Additionally, my vibrato sounds better on the violin because I find it easier to vibrato on thinner strings.

Throughout this week, I have noticed a great improvement in my intonation. I also figured out my scheduling issue and decided that I would practice in the orchestra room every 2 weeks to give me more time to work on my blog posts. In terms of supplies, I will keep my violin at home and possibly borrow a friend’s at school to avoid carrying the instrument around. I am still struggling on my vibrato because I have developed a habit of stopping my vibrato halfway through the note, which ruins the effect of the vibrato. My discovery about my violin skills in comparison to my viola skills has definitely shocked me and makes me question if I picked the right instrument 7 years ago.

I have learned that spending more time on developing a skill does not guarantee success, as shown through my investigation. Sometimes, it is not the individual but the conventions/methods used to develop the skill. I have relied on self-teaching for many of my skills, and this discovery makes me question the effectiveness of self-teaching versus traditional learning with a mentor.

After the events of this week, I plan on focusing more on the violin and making more recordings to show to my family and friends. My goal next week is to play Carlos Gardel’s “Por Una Cabeza” and to start spending more time getting advice from my orchestra teacher to improve my intonation and vibrato.