I first started playing a strong instrument at the age of 8. I started on violin, and my teacher was Frau Hiller. She had a studio in Trier in Germany, and she was just about the most energetic and happy German I think I ever met. She was made to teach music to little kids, and while I'm sure I wasn't always happy to go to my lessons when I was younger, I do remember enjoying the lessons. She picked such fun music for me to learn, and almost all of it was traditional German music printed on sheets of paper with what looked like drawings she had drawn herself. She would use green ink to designate the number finger I was supposed to use on the E string, and red ink for the A string to help me learn how to play music, even when I wasn't reading actual notes. The first lesson, we created a foot mat for me, which I would use for each lesson to help me know how to stand when playing and when at rest. If I remember correctly, mine was yellow. She would use fun magnetized animals to help me understand how much bow to use, and at the end of each lesson, she would let me choose a stamp to stamp on my card. She had a piece of paper on which we would stamp something at the end of each lesson as a prize for a lesson well-done. I remember that the walls of the studio were covered in yellow sheets or something to give it a bright, happy feel.
I remember my first recital. I would play a piece with other students in her studio, and I'm pretty sure it was in a church of some kind. I do think that I was a pretty good violinist at that age, and I remember that before we started our warm-up rehearsal for the recital, Frau Hiller had me come out in front of the other students to lead them. Well, I had never done anything like that before, and I became super nervous, and messed up a TON! She had me go stand back in my position after that, but I will always feel proud and happy of the fact that I was good then and I had a teacher who believed in me and recognized my talent. I had teachers later in life, some that did believe in me, and others that didn't, but Frau Hiller was the first to help me recognize that I was pretty good at music.
Those trips each Friday to Trier were basically foreshadowing what we would be doing later in life for music lessons. Trier was a 45 minute drive away, but Mommy would drive us every single week, and when we got older, we began taking lessons in Philadelphia, a solid 4 hours away from State College. There's no stopping music in this family, or the memories that come along with them. After each lesson in Trier, we would stop at the McDonald's on the way out, and get McFlurries. I still have affection for McFlurries because they always make me think of my first violin lessons in Trier with Frau Hiller, and the drive with Mommy, who would continue to support all of us in our musical careers.
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