The first time that I ever saw violin sheet music, I was blown away by the complexity. You see, I was taking violin lessons in the Suzuki method. I was only eight years old at the time, and my teacher felt that I was too young to learn how to read music. The Suzuki method basically teaches you to start with learning by ear. For young learners, this has some definite advantages. It allows you to dive into the music, to develop perfect pitch and musical instincts. Later, you can get caught up in the technicalities and the complexities of music. When you're young, however, it can be great to learn it viscerally.
In some ways, however, I wish I had been more exposed to violin sheet music at a young age. You see, mine is a very analytical minds. A lot of people like to dive into things as a whole, but I would much rather pick them apart piece by piece. Learning music theory is a good way to do that. Starting with violin sheet music, you can learn scales, chords, progressions, and all the rest. It can even be useful in folk music. Fiddle sheet music can show you all kinds of things about the violin that you wouldn't know otherwise. For me, not having the opportunity to work with violin sheet music until I was older left me with the impression that something was missing. Music was still mysterious to me, although I could play it, and I wanted to learn how to understand it.
It was not until I reached middle school that I got to work with violin sheet music. I was working on a piece with my teacher who was as skilled multi-instrumentalist. It was actually a piece of violin piano sheet music. She was a new teacher for me, and very traditional. Although she kept her feelings to herself, I could clearly tell that she disdained the Suzuki method. She was shocked that a talented violinist like myself would not be exposed to violin sheet music at an earlier age. In her mind, it held me back. The violin sheet music that she showed me was very complicated. It was actually one of the hardest things I've ever had to learn. Not only did I have to learn a difficult piece of music, but I had to do it at the same time as I learned violin sheet music. When I was finished, however, music had taken on a whole new dimension for me.
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