My playing has suffered as settling into the new place has taken precedence.  I did practice for a bit one of the first nights we were here, last Saturday – it was lovely to stroll around our empty new place and play the violin.  But since then, the movers came and went and we’ve been getting everything unpacked and set up.  I’ve also been battling a cold and playing catch-up at work.  Excuses, in other words – excuses!

But I was happy to get home from work at a reasonable time last night, and I prioritized playing.  The session began inauspiciously – when I opened the case I found that two of my strings had loosened completely from their pegs.  While I fully expected to need a good tune-up due to the rapid onset of winter here in Chicago, I’ve never seen two strings do that before (it’s not unheard of for one to jump ship).  My instrument always takes a bit to adjust to big shifts in humidity.

Undeterred, I tuned it up and played for a good while.  As always after a break of almost a week, I had to take a moment to regain my footing.  I warmed up with lots of scales, re-tuning a few times as those freshly re-tightened G and A strings continued to act out, and then ran through a bunch of my favorite Suzuki tunes. And by the end I was working on the new concerto as if I hadn’t missed a beat of practice.  I daresay my vibrato was even somewhat improved for the break.

We’re still waiting on some new furniture and we aren’t fully settled yet; I’m not sure where my permanent playing home will be when the dust is settled.  But wherever I land the space will have more bowing room than my old space, that’s for sure.  In the meantime, I’ve dusted off the in-violin humidifier in a hope to keep the strings happy.

Thanks for reading.

Ryan