Three hundred pairs of eyes sat before me: friends, family, and strangers. They came to India from all over the world. As I sat tuning and applying rosin while waiting for the master of ceremonies to finish speaking, I surveyed the hall and found my grandparents greeting guests with infectious excitement. I thought how grateful I was to receive an opportunity to play Carnatic violin in a concert hall in India. Carnatic music is a devotional art form that originates from South India. I grew excited and impatient, not nervous, because I knew how hard I worked to get there: practicing for hours, convincing my brother to keep taalam (the beat), listening to recordings, and debating with my parents. Concert day was spectacular, but the values learned building up to the concert were priceless.
This three-hour solo recital, dubbed arangetram in Indian culture, was the culmination of ten years of learning the violin. After assembling a list of songs to perform, I spent between two and five hours every day practicing. My brother helped me for hours …show more content…
In order to develop musicality, my own musical interpretation, my time was spent listening to renderings of the songs planned to perform and developing the theory and knowledge necessary. I spent hours listening to others to stimulate my creativity. In India, I had the opportunity to go to concert halls and immerse myself in music. Furthermore, the opportunity to go to temples, the inspirations for Carnatic music, was truly humbling. My love for Carnatic music grew from these experiences. At these concerts and cultural scenes, many musicians offered me advice for my concert. Heeding advice from fellow musicians, family, and friends strengthened my knowledge and was central to the preparation for the
This three-hour solo recital, dubbed arangetram in Indian culture, was the culmination of ten years of learning the violin. After assembling a list of songs to perform, I spent between two and five hours every day practicing. My brother helped me for hours …show more content…
In order to develop musicality, my own musical interpretation, my time was spent listening to renderings of the songs planned to perform and developing the theory and knowledge necessary. I spent hours listening to others to stimulate my creativity. In India, I had the opportunity to go to concert halls and immerse myself in music. Furthermore, the opportunity to go to temples, the inspirations for Carnatic music, was truly humbling. My love for Carnatic music grew from these experiences. At these concerts and cultural scenes, many musicians offered me advice for my concert. Heeding advice from fellow musicians, family, and friends strengthened my knowledge and was central to the preparation for the