Monday, August 01, 2005

Fiddler on the second floor!

I touched a violin again after almost 8 years on yesterday! Last time I remember, we were at CIT for Harmony-97 when I borrowed a friend's violin (who was there to compete in the classical music events) and made a fool of myself by offering to play for the other guys. This time, I had no audience and I let my hair down, well sorta. I should have realised that I was not exactly playing well, when about a minute into the exercise, M excused herself from the hall to get some work done. But my senses were clouded by the exhilaration of playing after a long time.

First, in order to get the tuning right (N, who owned the violin had not played for a couple of years at least), I tried to play Jana Gana Mana and it was not too much trouble. I seemed to have got it right as soon as I was able fix the tuning. Thus emboldened, I tried to play the simple Vara Veena and nailed it (without too much improv) in the 5th try. Next I tried Ra Ra Venu and gave up halfway when my fingers refused to move as fast as my mind willed them too. I thought mebbe the dryness on my finger tips were the cause, but since N was not at home, I did not want to do anything, especially since I was playing without her permission (she did not mind when I told her later). So I tried to play something slower, another geetham - Mandhara Dhara Re and I found that I actually sucked. And try as much as I did, I couldn't get my fingers to move to the tune of Tulasi Dhala! So on the whole, it was a downhill journey.

But the future is not completely dark. I could come to some conclusions pretty easily, once I put the violin down after 15 minutes.
  1. I haven't exactly lost the feel of it, but I am not completely there either..
  2. I should probably start playing again, now that I don't have to choose between the violin and the cricket bat.
  3. My fingers are longer now.
Suddenly I feel the urge to get back and play the violin again. I realise, now that cricket and music are not competing for my time, I might just be able to play without worrying that my friends are having fun without me. This was mainly the case when I learnt it while at school. Usually my classes were scheduled by my mom who wanted to use it as a tool to keep me from getting into trouble (apparently cricket was "trouble") and soon it became a case of me being mentally absent while being physically present! I actually have had the whole story of my violin lessons as a (unfinished) draft for quite sometime now. Maybe one of these days, I will post it.

And I should probably ask my people to take my violin out of storage at home in Chennai and get it serviced or something. My mom would certainly be happy.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

heh. Yet another victim of alley cricket, eh? How many more woulda-been musicians will that wretched form of cricket devour?!
Once you get that violin squeak-free, record&post some of it online. Some kind of Hendrix-ian version of Jana Gana Mana on the violin would be a great start! :)

capriciously_me said...

naan manoj maadiri ellam ethi vida poradhilla...plz, nalla kathuttapram online podunga...oru avasaramum illai :P

BZ said...

wow another music person?? :))

I learnt Violin once upon a time. Totally lost touch with it. Feeling guilty now :(

btw: how r u doing? long time!

NS said...

After all this you say you have no knowledge of music??!! too much!!

Enakku romba naala violin kathukkanum appadinu aasai.. But my dad was dead against it, after seeing the way I tortured my paatu master... Paatu kathunda thaan violin appadinu strict condition..:(

But still I hope to get my hands on a violin someday...:) Its such a beautiful instrument... the thought of a violin reminds me of How to name it... and you have mentioned Tulasi dhala also...:( let me atleast listen to it right away!:D

J said...

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoH, u play a musical instrument? Darn cool! :)

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

Err... your posts remind me of my attempts to play my friends' guitar at college. After a few ting-tongs here and there, he came to the conclusion (amazingly fast for a person of his nature) that teh guitar and me were not typically 'made for each other'. All the best for your endeavour, though.

dev2r said...

I learnt the violin for 4 days... until a spider bit me in the class and I stopped going. Even insects hated my playing.

anantha said...

Dev: You sure that was in your violin class and not in some secret Bio-tech lab in the BHEL campus...? LOL

Sudipta: Thanks. Surely I am better than that ;) lol....

J: I play the keyboard too! I mean, I learnt to play the violin and as some learned ppl say, its all a matter of how you use those 8 notes. So, I *could* play the oboe too! :D

Nithya: No, seriously. I can't identify raagas and I can't start playing just by hearing a song, inspite of having learnt music. Which is why I said I don't have knowledge. I can however identify similarities in tunes. For example: Yennai Konjam Mattiri (Kaakha Kaakha) and Tirunelveli Halwa Da (Saami)!

SK: Doing ok.. what about you?

CM: Podcasting is definitely out of question! So, don't worry. I won't subject you to any more torture than you already face reading the bile I spew here.. hehe...

Manoj: Nah.. I think *cricket* lost a wonderful talent due to my confusion. I was developing into a all rounder in the Kapil Dev mold ;) Seri.. romba pesitten! Btw, talking about playing Jimi Hendrix on the violin...Friday night, on this channel PAX, I saw this programme called America's Most Talented Kids. Adhula there was this pre-teen who played some Jimi Hendrix song on the violin all the while running around on the stage just like Jimi Hendrix would have done with his guitar. And the violin was oddly shaped (electric?) I think made specifically for rock concerts! But he seemed to rock! Adhu dhaan Sunday violin paatha odane, tried to take it out and play! But as I told CM, no way am I gonna post it online. Remba Over adhu!

Anonymous said...

"Indha veetula ella music instrument'layum kai vaekkara orey aal ivandhaan"
:-)

Whats happening dude ?

-Prabhu

sensiblystoned said...

What do you mean, am in town? where else could I go :)

GratisGab said...

Anti boy....now this is definitely a nicer way of revealing your softer side :)

Stick to it....

Me said...

physically present mentally absent

dont tell me abt it spent 7 yrs like that in my paatu class...

J said...

:-O

dont temme u sing too!!!
Sigh, i havent met anyone as talented as aNTi... ok, i havent met him, but nevermind :)

anantha said...

J: lol... I take that this was your way of complimenting me. Ok, ya... you might be sarcastic, but let me take my chances :D

Me: Happens to the best of us, I guess! :)

Gabby: Thanks :p

SensiblyStoned: I met someone over the weekend who told me that you had left for Calif da!

Prabhu: Nm da...!

Vee Cee said...

Anti - Violin veraya! Kalakku!

IBH said...

mmmm i guess the only instrument I learnt properly was drums..but now compeltely out of touch after marriage and coming to US..
now get back and start learnig is what my resolution is:)

anantha said...

IBH: Drums..hmmm.. One of my violin classes had a whole lot of instruments incl. a drum set and whenever I was early that was what I was doing, until one day the master frowned and told me not to touch any of the other instruments!

vc: Romba ellam illa. summa jujubeee kaaga dhaan ;)

Visithra said...

Ahha violin too ? Vaareh va! ;)))

anantha said...

Visithra: Romba naal aachu.. aana kathukitten chinna vayasula...

anantha said...

Mess: Machi.. eppadi keera? Romba thirvilayaadal, manmadha leelaigal ellam jaasthi aayiduthu nu kelvi patten... Iru, onga amma kitta pottu vidaren ;)
Ennakum adhe problem dhaan! Finger placement kashtama pochu! Luckily no one was around listening to me play. Irundha oru janthu kandukave illa. Edho abaswaram nu free a vittuta nenaikaren.
Aaana naan onnu yosichen. Violin seems to have been the most popular musical instrument for children in the 1990s! Pora pokka paatha, innum pathu varshathula, gattam vasikka yaarum irruka maata nenaikaren!

capriciously_me said...

dey mess...neeyuma? andha violin enna dhaan paavum pannucho...ellarum intha scene vidareenga...ennoda adutha post-la naan veenai kathuttennu ezhuda poren...btw, un leelaigal romba dhooram travel paniduchu pola iruke!!

anantha said...

CM: Avan en settu. Avana pathi ennaku theriyadha enna? And btw, vasikka theriyum adhanaal scene vidarom! Enna naan sollaradhu? :)

Ram C said...

good that you had the opportuntity to learn at your younger age.. I didn't have that chance.. even in some other form (not necessarily violin).

continue..

anantha said...

Mess: Avan sonnana... illa yaar sonna.. nu marandhuduthu...

Srividya said...

Anti, I know exactly how u feel. When I was a kid, I was forced to go to paatu class and I simply hated it...then came a time when I wanted to learn but didn't have the time.I then realised that there are some precious things in life which give us so much peace within, that we have to make up our minds to pursue them.Now that I resumed paatu class..I realise what I've been missing!
so...keep playing, this time Vara veena..next time Mandhara dhaare :)

anantha said...

Chiyaan: Eppadi keera? Romba naal aachu :) Keep visiting...

Leon said...

My parents found out ages ago that I wasn't musically inclined.. So cricket it was for me.. ;-)

I sort of have a fancy for the violin.. though...

anantha said...

Viji: Thanx... Actually I did not try to spot myself :) The mention itself made me smile. But sollitta la.. poi try panren...and ya.. Happy friendship day to you too...

Leon: Actually i think i was decent and I was asked to try, try, try again, till I got better! lol..

GratisGab said...

Enna-da, new post time ella?

Not bad huh? :)

anantha said...

Gabby: Yenti idhi. Tamizh baaga maatlaaduthave! Eppudinchi? :D
Twiddling thumbs and waiting for a lot of things. Soon, I guess...

GratisGab said...

LOL! Your Gult is as good as my Tam. We rock.

Twin-Gemini said...

And I have been trying to learn the keyboard for sometime now, just that I cant seem to allot some time for it :-)

nauky said...

you have achieved some cool results with this blog.

anantha said...

Nauk: Thanx....

Twin: Hmmm...keyboard huh? Cool..

Gabby: Ya, we rock... yes we do!

Visithra said...

Anti enna missing in action? MIA pudikummo? :)

Expert Reviewer said...

Nice to hear about the reviving process... :) atb ..

Anonymous said...

Off topic. The 'superman thing' stays more than a minute. And carefulla parthen. It was like the logo that superman wears - a big red 'S' on a yellow diamond shape.

anantha said...

Krithika: Is that so? Mine stays only for just around a minute. I even timed it roughly...And its "like" the Superman logo, but not exactly the same.. Trivia for you :D

Sudha Narayanan: Thanx Sudha for the best wishes.. Can't place you though. Anyways, welcome on here..

Visithra: Hope to be back soon.. konjam scene tight inga...

dev2r said...

Hey Anti,

Nice favicon. Technically, it should be a superman logo with a slash across it. :D

anantha said...

Dev: Trivia dude.. Trivia :D Thats the reason why I did not go with my original choice, which is what you have suggested.

dev2r said...

Was never a big fan of the Superman series, but Wikipedia pointed me to... Bizarro?

anantha said...

Dev: Yup... Bizarro who *could* be termed the anti-Superman!

Zeppelin said...

dey raskkkell !! (vadivel style)

never knew you played the violin man.... :) Really glad to know .... cos I am on the same boat as far violin playing is concerned... :)

and yes I did not realize it was 4 years exact until I was coming back home on 17th evening.... the LED display on the bus suddenly rang a bell.... !!

cheers!
-ak

Anonymous said...

Ha, thanks to your commenting system and wikipedia, I found the answer to the trivia. :) Must have seen the Lois and Clarke shows, never fancied them much.