Cami Shaskin

Violin Blog



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Autopilot
18 MAR 2023

About


This blog is about all things violin. It is meant to educate, inspire, and provide resources for parents, teachers, and students. The author takes full responsibility for the viewpoints expressed here. In instances where she quotes ideas from others, she pledges to cite her sources as fully, responsibly, and accurately as possible. Topics will include book reviews, technique tips, entertaining anecdotes, quotes, jokes, educational findings, instrument care suggestions, violin in the news, repertoire lists, etc.

Cami J. Shaskin graduated with her master's degree in Music Education in 2008. Violin has always been her primary instrument, since beginning private lessons at age five. See camishaskinviolin.com/info for her music résumé, or click on Spotlights for historical recordings. Cami has enjoyed an array of experiences in writing, from penning award-winning articles as a journalism staff writer in high school, tutoring peers at BYU's Writing Center, earning a Writing Fellows scholarship and a minor in Language and Computers, and later becoming a published author. She recently picked up web programming as a hobby, earning a certificate in Web Programming and Development from the local community college. This blog has been a collaborative effort between her and her husband, who is a Web Developer by profession. Together, they designed and coded this blog and its original content "from scratch."

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2021
    Jan
        16 - Welcome to My Blog
        23 - Violin Teaching Kits
        30 - The Power of Inspiration
    Feb
        06 - Valuable Techniques
        07 - From the Top
        13 - In Honor of Valentine's Day
        20 - Violin Jokes
        28 - Beginning Orchestra Teaching
    Mar
        06 - Singing in Orchestra
        13 - Nurtured by Love
        21 - Helpful Websites
        27 - Unique Case Uses
    Apr
        02 - Favorite Music Quotes
        10 - All About Tone
        17 - Unique Composer Stories
        24 - Teaching Values
    May
        02 - Believing Teachers?
        15 - Violin in Art & Architecture
        23 - A Solo Repertoire List
        29 - Our Quartet
    Jun
        20 - Theft and Other Lessons
        26 - Violin Bridge Tips
    Jul
        07 - Clever Violin Memes
        20 - Horses and Lions
    Aug
        04 - Music During Covid
        16 - Favorite Music
    Sep
        12 - Being There
    Oct
        16 - Sight Reading Tips
    Nov
        05 - Why It's the Frog
    Dec
        20 - Bach on the Brain
        30 - Impact for Life
2022
    Jan
        23 - Tendonitis Helps
    Feb
        21 - An Old Performance
    Mar
        23 - Cars3 & Coaching
    Apr
        28 - Buying a Violin for Dummies
        29 - Preferred Brands
    May
        27 - Love: A Calling
    Jun
        20 - Gratitude for Idaho Shop
    Jul
        19 - Violinist Interviews Books
    Aug
        08 - Music Opens Doors
        23 - Top Classical Tunes for Violin
    Sep
    Oct
        11 - 100 Days of Listening
    Nov
        27 - Useful Analogies
    Dec
        28 - A Humorous Anecdote
2023
    Jan
        14 - Favorite Concertos & Sonatas
    Feb
        15 - Our Commonality
    Mar
        10 - Extras
        18 - Autopilot
    Apr
    May
    Jun
        06 - Motivation
        07 - Starting Lessons Again
    Jul
        08 - A Tale of Three Cloths
    Aug
        26 - The Ink
    Sep
        23 - Raw and Real Recital Reactions
    Oct
        18 - In Honor of Halloween
    Nov
        26 - Music Copyright
    Dec
        13 - Memes: Fun Facebook Finds
2024
    Jan
        15 - Fame and Fortune
    Feb
        05 - Details and the Big Picture
    Mar
        14 - Intermission
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Posts


Love: A Calling
27 May 2022

There’s a rich, full feeling when you do anything with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

The history of the group is remarkable. Their weekly Sunday half-hour program, Music and the Spoken Word, constitutes the longest continuous network broadcast in all the world, in place every single week since 1929, including through world wars, plagues, tornadoes, and other forms of world suffering. All of the 500 top-notch musicians in the bells, orchestra, and choir (who all went through an audition process that demanded extremely high skill at the very least and was usually extremely competitive) are volunteers! As Lloyd Newell, the Choir’s announcer and former CNN anchor, would say, “It’s a remarkable thing to consider.” This organization is completely unique! People serve because they want to.

And why not? From an insider’s perspective, Choir members are regularly so gracious, telling us in the orchestra how “amazing [we] sound” and how the Orchestra at Temple Square has definitely helped to boost the overall sound of the Tabernacle Choir. The conductors are energetic and inspired. The organists are brilliant with their technique. All the musicians in that room probably have thousands of years of experience cumulatively.

But none of that can fully explain what creates this peaceful sauna of warmth in my heart. It goes beyond unity. It goes beyond grace. It goes beyond volunteerism. Of course, the work is enjoyable. But a challenge. And at the pace the Choir keeps with it’s rigorous performance schedule, there’s plenty of mental and spiritual exhaustion, let me tell you.

For those who travel long distances, up to 100 miles, which can include places as far away as Idaho and Wyoming, early Sunday mornings are the norm. Some years, circumstances call for a donation of over 30 hours of playing time in a week, not counting the time spent traveling to performances.

We perform more than we rehearse--in front of throngs of people who come from all over the place . . . . In a Church of Jesus Christ "Everything Creative" radio interview highlighting the Orchestra at Temple Square, I recounted how, at Christmas time, we often get to sight read two hour’s worth of challenging new music, one or two rehearsals before playing a series of concerts in front of 20,000 people. Of course, that doesn't include the millions who see many of our performances online.

Yes, all of these things contribute to the amazing spirit of this ensemble, but there’s a sacred sense that’s hard to explain about top-notch local musicians—musicians who could be making $100/hr giving of their music elsewhere—putting all their gifts on their individual altar of consecration; giving up the worldly accolades that they could have chosen instead; and then allowing God to pull at their heart strings and demand even more than they ever thought they could give!

The blessings do flow for those willing to be brave enough to give more than they ever deemed possible. One of those blessings is that feeling I mentioned. . . It is hard to explain, but here’s my meager attempt: It’s stunning. And mild. And powerful. Indeed, it’s the Savior’s influence that permeates this group. Not by any merit of the individuals (a religious discourse in itself). We members pray for that spiritual influence despite our weaknesses. I count it a true privilege to dedicate so much of my life (part time for over twenty years!) to missionary work in the Savior’s cause, among such humble warriors, where we all use music as our secondary tool. The first tool?

Well, I would have to call it the Spirit, or in other words, God’s Love!!

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