My father’s Bach
Every day I play a piece of Bach. I’ve now been working on some of his Sonatas for solo violin for over 40 years. A few days ago, I was playing the Andante BWV 1003 and felt that I have known this piece for even longer. I confirmed this by looking through the sheet music I inherited from my father and recognized his fingerings for this movement, above the music staff in his angular handwriting. He must have studied this piece carefully, after his escape from East Germany, in the midst of his violin studies at conservatory. I was born during this time – so I most probably even heard this piece from inside my mother’s womb!
Here a first update about making music with pleasure
I’m happy to announce that I’ve started to play in a jazz band! With just two years of saxophone lessons and two appearances at my own house concerts, I was pleasantly surprised when a friend invited me to play in her band. In spite of all the prophecies of doom inside, I pushed my doubts aside and accepted. So now I’m enjoying the familiarity of music-making, but also the completely new experience of jazz improvisation during our rehearsals. As an amateur, I allow myself to make any mistake, so necessary for guilt-free learning, and I even dare to sing!
Just like I’ve always wanted to do
Last week I started my coaching sessions. Just like my very first dance lesson, it started off a little uncomfortably. During preliminary explorations, I quickly found a natural spontaneity and empathy and could follow through, relying on experiences and knowledge from all my training. Receiving a compliment from my conversation partner at the end felt very good – I’m looking forward to our future discussions!
This morning I placed my music coaching practice on Google Maps. With this step I hope to become more visible again, and can go on a well-deserved vacation tomorrow!