“As a group, you’re more accountable when you’re with other people. So when you’re practicing you’re like, “I don’t want to be the person in the group who’s not at the same level as everyone else.” And it’s nice. It’s not even in a competitive way. It just keeps you honest, making sure that you’re doing your part because as we’re progressing through the semester, you can see people are getting better, and you just don’t want to be the one who’s the straggler, or the one who’s not pulling their weight. So I enjoy that aspect of the group classes because it really keeps you on track in that way. And you know, we share our challenges. You realize what you’re struggling with is not unique to you. The entire group is going through the same thing. At the end of the semester you know where you started, and where you ended. You can definitely see that change and that development, which is the most important thing anyway. I think that’s the end goal of music, right? Is to play as a group, I think. Like ultimately you want to be able to play as a group. You’re scared of failing. You grow up with certain things. You go into your career and you get good at that. And then you think of, “How much has it taken you to get good?” And you look at all the work you’ve put in that and you’re like “How much of that can I put into violin?” So you try to do that equivalence thing which I think is a wrong way to look at it. Having done this now for about 5 years, I think the beauty is in the process. The goal is just saying, “I want to just pursue something consistently,” and enjoy the process, the growth, the development. Cause for me that’s the most rewarding thing of this whole past 5 years I’ve been doing this. Whenever I try to find something new, I’ll always go through a phase of finding a million excuses not to do it. Whether it’s violin or working out or running a marathon or whatever, you find a million reasons not to do it and then I hit that inflection in my mind where I just need to find one reason and I’ll do it. Just find one reason and that’s it. Forget about all the excuses. They’ll always be there.”

James

“The group classes, in particular, they are fun. I enjoy them a lot! Having the class as part of my routine has helped me a lot to get through the quarantine. So actually I think it’s a great time to start the class! You just practice. You get better. It just works that way.”

Rocio

“Hillary I’ve found the group classes very motivating on a couple levels. First of all, I like the social aspect and I feel like I really got the know the other classmates a lot better in this strange interaction, getting beyond the “I’m afraid to play in front of other people.” Everybody is doing it, so we all just take our own stab at it. I get more motivation knowing I have to play in front of other people, besides just making up excuses for one teacher.” Did I have any fears when I was about to start violin again? Oh, I was mortified. I played in my youth and then I didn’t play for 40 years. When I picked up my violin (I brought it to a luthier to get it re-adjusted and everything) I was too embarrassed to even test it out in front of him. When I found what Antoinette offered, I thought, “Well, let me do group [violin classes, as opposed to private lessons] because it just sounds more fun. I think there is a world of in between not playing and playing professionally. And we do have so much available to us to enjoy and learn together. I feel better having done it!”

Hillary

“The transition to online learning has felt seamless, and it really motivated me to practice more, to keep up with everyone. For some reason as a group, even if we don't think we individually sound great together, we always sound really awesome. I think it’s really intimidating to start the violin. I started in my 30’s and it’s the first time I ever picked up the instrument because I wanted to play it ever since I was a kid. It can get discouraging, but when you see that there’s other people. “Hey there’s all these other crazy people who also think they can do this,” and you struggle together and then you make a sound. Even though I’m a little self-critical, it keeps you motivated. Nothing is magic, everything is practice. And it’s just “be patient” and it’s easier when you’re doing that with a nice group of people who are also in the struggle, and it’s just awesome! “Is group class hard?” I’d say that’s a no! Is anything worthwhile not hard? I didn’t want to fail. I was thinking, “I’m an adult. I’m too old for this. This is what children do. There’s a little kid straight out of the womb who’s way better than I am. Why would I do this? Am I just being ridiculous?” It was mostly my self-doubt. “Why do I think I can do this? It’s the hardest instrument.” But you absolutely can. It opens a whole world of music. I listen to movie scores and I appreciate the work that went into that, how beautiful it sounds and how much I know they put in to make it sound like that. I love it and appreciate it. And the fact that I can even be in that little circle – someone called me a musician when I was carrying my case and I was like, “I’m not – I just – no, no, no, you’re silly, I’m just an adult beginner.” And he’s like, “No, welcome. You’re a musician.” It made me feel so good and it’s just a great community to be a part of. So just do it!”

Felicia