Cami Shaskin

Violin Blog



Post Highlight:

All About Tone
10 APR 2021

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
    Apr
        18 - A Day in the Life
    May
        02 - Oops!
    Jun
        14 - A Science or an Art?
    Jul
        15 - A Difficult Post
    Aug
        01 - Character Transference
    Sep
        20 - Anxiety Interview
    Oct
        02 - Sounds of Italy
    Nov
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    Dec
         No posts to display.


Posts


Cars3 & Coaching
23 Mar 2022

Never overlook inspiration, even when you find it in the oddest of places . . . . I watched Cars 3 with my husband the other day. This was one of those rare, special movie sequels that did not disappoint. Through a number of unexpected twists and turns in the plot, the movie culminated by glorifying coaching/teaching as a career, which I appreciated, since I find myself in the role of a music teacher, but sometimes need to be reminded of the vision behind what I do. But the thing that really inspired me about this film was the scene where Lightning McQueen asks the legendary "Smoky" for help. Now, normally, McQueen comes across as a little bit cocky. He's a great guy, but you see him go through many growing processes throughout these films to get there. He tells a character in this film that, starting with his very first race, he "never thought he couldn't do it." In other words, he got used to winning from a young age and always saw himself as a winner. Very effective in achieving what you want to achieve in life . . . ? But it impressed me in this show when he got to the point where he no longer had the answers. When he talked to Smoky, he candidly admitted he didn't know what kind of help he was looking for, but that he knew he needed help. He asked for it sincerely and humbly.

I posted a version of this on my other blog, myquestionsandreflections.blogspot.com, a few years back. And then I kept thinking about it, and thinking about it . . .

Like Lightning McQueen, I’ve gone through my own gradual transition from performance days to days focused more and more on teaching—from the time as a youngster when I “never thought I couldn’t do it,” to now. This transition’s not always easy. I miss the glory days!

Like McQueen, I don’t feel I’ve somehow become less talented, and I certainly haven’t “given up racing.” I love performing when given the chance. But what has floored me over the past two years is how much I’ve enjoyed teaching, too!

Part of it is I’m more comfortable with my role, the older I get. I’m more comfortable within the growing age gap between me and high-schooler’s. There’s a distance between us now that engenders respect. And I’m not as nervous, knowing I’m one of a distinctly older generation who is in a more natural position to pass on wisdom.

A big part of the enjoyment is that I’ve earned the respect of colleagues. Just as sibling rivalry lessens when kids become adults and no longer have to live under the same roof, peer-to-peer competition lessens when many of my friends and myself have moved on to a different stage of life with different priorities, without as many scholarships or cash competitions to vie for. Some of us have kids of our own. We do want young people to succeed.

Of course, there are more practical reasons for this teaching enjoyment, too. I’ve been burned too many times in my teaching career to not be careful about future burnout. I’ve been blessed to only teach part time. For me, this is what works. I don’t do grading or daily lesson plans. I'm not accountable to a distant administration. I keep variety abounding: public and private teaching, different roles (being a beginning Suzuki private violin teacher, conducting a youth symphony, being a community ambassador for music education, running sectionals, judging festivals, and giving presentations in various schools, as well as teaching religion classes to adults and teenagers), a broad range of ages, a diversity of environments, etc. In a nutshell: respect, age, sensible hours, and variety have all helped me in this transition.

But even though I see these natural, positive changes, I’m still completely shocked at how capable and excited I feel as a teacher, and how much I’m enjoying being a cheerleader of the next generation, rather than focusing primarily on my own solo career. See a prior post about past experiences for some contrast. There are some good kids out there! Life will be full of hard knocks for them. I want to be one who eases their own difficult transitions. I’m glad I have a chance to love and encourage them!

Spoiler alert, if you haven’t seen Cars 3: Lightning McQueen allows someone else to finish his potentially final race under his own number. Not just anyone. Someone who has proven her talent, been a friend, and undergone much of the same training. And he does a great job coaching her along the way. By giving up the glory, he gets to share in it with her. It’s a win-win situation for both of them! He was acting unselfishly, but the rewards found him anyway.

I guess for me, the moral of the story is, even when we’re less than perfect, the more we try to live for others, the better chance good karma will find us. Plus, regardless of the outcome or the road conditions, it’s best to take a few friends with us for the journey of life.

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one less traveled by.” (Robert Frost)
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