I felt I had a bit of inspiration recently. As violinists, I am convinced that our strengths, attributes and intentions as individual people come out in our playing! Both directly and indirectly, whether obvious or more subtly. If someone is sorrowing in their heart, it will come across in the musical phrase . . . even if only in the nuances of the heartfelt rises and falls of the dynamics in a single note if the violinist is otherwise able to contain their tears. (And really, who hasn’t cried on their violin? Seems like a rite of passage. But I digress.)

If someone is confident, courageous, and even fearless in the moment, it will be felt in the individual electricity of rhythms, articulation, tempo, and motifs. Kindness can be felt as well, or interpreted by watching a performer's sublime countenance.

What we aim to improve in our moral qualities will be noted in our performance. What we bring to our character, we bring to our expression, which will emerge in our playing. Thus, allow me the audacity of claiming that the more sincerely I work on being the kind of friend/person I want to be, the better I will sound on the violin! And not just through some fake sense of projection or acting. (Because we do have to do that at times too. Though, by the same token, when I say, "I'm just going to pretend I like this song and play it beautifully for the sake of the audience," I end up putting more feeling into it and end up liking it myself, at least a little better than I did before. Fake it ‘til you make it, right?)

The best of who we are will be how we’re perceived by those who are intently watching and listening to us, with good intentions themselves. And in turn, working on our music with integrity of purpose (not solely to earn money or to prove we're better than the competition, but even more intensely for the sake of pure beauty and progression) helps us become more sensitive as individuals!

And so, it's a never-ending cycle that builds upon itself. As Shinichi Suzuki proposed, "Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth, and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart." And then, when incorporated into our personality, these same traits get processed back into our playing. An early Latter-day Saint prophet said that happiness will be the end result in our lives if we follow the path that leads to it.*

In other words, it’s true both ways. Like the chicken and the egg debate. The origin of beauty, in any arena, will transcend the means in which it is pursued or portrayed (whether through words, good works of service, or playing the violin!) and become the end we’re searching for.

*See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 255–56.