Hello, humans.
Unfortunately, the first story to be told on 'blue life of bianca' is doomed to be a melancholy one, with much sadness and many tears-shed-from-the-depths-of-ones'-soul moments involved.
It was last Friday. The end of one of the longest weeks imaginable.And of course, it was time to start practicing Violin.I am strongly encouraged by my teacher (who just recently was recognized as the Best String Educator in the State!) to practice at least two hours a day.I have a hard time meeting this quota for the rest of the week, but I usually don't have a problem on Fridays.
I had, the week before, acquired a brand new set of strings (yay!) because One, I needed them (I haven't changed my strings in over two years). And Two, my school orchestra teacher is requiring us to get an extra set as we are going to New York City in March on our Annual Tour!
So there I was on a Friday afternoon, practicing my scales, thinking about the brand new set of strings calling and beckoning me to change them as soon as possible.I had been wanting to change my strings all week, but could never find the opportune moment to do so. I always had lessons that night or orchestra the next day, and the time was never ripe.I made the idiotic decision that
right then was the right time, and nothing was going to stop me! I was
Dead Wrong.
So there I was, sitting on the couch with my violin, with the new strings in hand.
I was ready to go to work!In my excitement and haste, I forgot to do something excruciatingly important.
I forgot to look up how to do it.I was perfectly confident I knew exactly what I was doing, as I have changed strings before.But in all of my 12 years of Violinistic experiences, I had never changed a full set of strings before at one time.
So I took all of them off at once. I know, all of you fellow violinists are groaning inside from the stupidity of this simple action. And you all know what the outcome was.
The bridge came off.
In that moment of overconfidence and general stupidity, I had forgotten something I hadn't thought about in years.The bridge is not 'attached' to the actual violin, per se. It is held there by the tension of the strings and is, therefore, under a great deal of pressure.
I had taken all of the tension off, and the bridge came with it.
I sat in horror and dismay as I stared at the sad little bridge in my lap.
I didn't know what to do.My Mum gave me an excellent suggestion, which was what I should have done in the first place.I researched how to restring a violin on YouTube. I sat for about half an hour trying to figure out which peg the A and E strings go on. I couldn't, so I just left it at having the G and D strings ready and strung.
My Mum gave another excellent suggestion. She suggested I borrow my neighbor/friends' violin for that day and the next. I called ahead to her mum and got an ok. I felt a little awkward walking into their house unannounced and no one home, taking a violin.
Her mum said that the violin would be out of tune.Ha! Understatement of the week!
The strings were practically falling off!As I was tuning, I could still smell the 'new violin' smell on the instrument.I hadn't experienced that smell since I was in the fourth grade!I was in the moment until I had gotten to the E string.E strings are always tricky. They're the thinnest of the four, and they break really easily.
I was going extra slow, and was almost there when SNABOOM!
I blinked, and the bridge was gone!Chloe and I looked high and low for it, but all we could find was a little foot from the base of the bridge. It wasn't for another thirty minutes and a few sincere prayers when I thought to look underneath the chin rest.I had thought of it before, but apparently didn't look thoroughly enough.
I shook it again, and, sure enough, the bridge came out.Again, this time with real, wet tears, I cried over the broken bridge.It wasn't mine, and I felt awful.
Luckily for me (I feel bad for her),the owner had quit orchestra and hasn't played since Christmas.
I called her Mum back, and she took it very well. Since she is one of the sweetest and forgiving people alive, her only worry was what I would do without a violin for orchestra rehearsal the next day!
I decided to go to Summerhay's Music Center to get it repaired myself the next day.
Next day came, and, as usual, I went to Orchestra at 7:00 till 11:00.I brought my Violin, and a section coach lent me her violin and used mine. She helped me finish string it and adjusted the bridge so it wouldn't fall over. She had to stop frequently anyway to write notes for how we could improve.
After that, I went home and went straight to Summerhay's.I am a very cautious driver, and the drive would take me about 20 minutes on a busy and fast road.Boy, was I nervous.
I even missed the turn. I went through a few back roads to avoid two huge left turns onto the huge road.
I eventually made it.The guy said that it would take about two weeks to create a new bridge.
I left feeling accomplished, but embarrassed at my stupidity.From now on, I'm going to think about what I'm doing instead of plowing ahead, confident in my own knowledge and brilliance.
Love y'all!
Bianca
