Not my Forte. My instrument hadn’t arrived in the mail yet, it was ordered from California from a violin company that offered my preferred instrument in sizes that fit better to my smaller build. But there I was on the first day of after school orchestra in 7th grade, borrowing my teacher’s 16 inch instrument, which to my deformed arm, felt like a mile in length.
“This note is A,” my teacher pointed to the treble clef staff on the board, “but not for Vicky.” ‘Not for Vicky’. That referred to the fact that I was the only person who chose to learn the viola. I was the only one who dove into the world of an unknown instrument that was based on a completely different language: alto clef. It is the one clef used solely by violists and detested by other musicians, but I thought that was unique. I wanted to be unique. That started my process of learning the viola, reading and trying to utilize a foreign tongue. All around me exerted the pressure of the violinists who along with this, have already learned an instrument in band, securing their learning processes to be simple. While their minds had already grasped the cute acronyms for reading the notes on the treble clef staff, “E-G-B-D-F, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”, I didn't share their ease. Back then, I always confused the notes “F” and “D”, because …show more content…
The fact that it was my first instrument probably had something to contribute to my ‘music dyslexia’. They say that the first instrument you learn is the hardest. I’m not sure who “they” were, but back then, it still got to me. The fact that I had the roughest time not catching onto what each note was what dejected me to the point that during my private lessons, that I was forced to take in order to get better, the thought of quitting always lingered in my
“This note is A,” my teacher pointed to the treble clef staff on the board, “but not for Vicky.” ‘Not for Vicky’. That referred to the fact that I was the only person who chose to learn the viola. I was the only one who dove into the world of an unknown instrument that was based on a completely different language: alto clef. It is the one clef used solely by violists and detested by other musicians, but I thought that was unique. I wanted to be unique. That started my process of learning the viola, reading and trying to utilize a foreign tongue. All around me exerted the pressure of the violinists who along with this, have already learned an instrument in band, securing their learning processes to be simple. While their minds had already grasped the cute acronyms for reading the notes on the treble clef staff, “E-G-B-D-F, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”, I didn't share their ease. Back then, I always confused the notes “F” and “D”, because …show more content…
The fact that it was my first instrument probably had something to contribute to my ‘music dyslexia’. They say that the first instrument you learn is the hardest. I’m not sure who “they” were, but back then, it still got to me. The fact that I had the roughest time not catching onto what each note was what dejected me to the point that during my private lessons, that I was forced to take in order to get better, the thought of quitting always lingered in my