![]() It’s a formulation that has been around for a hundred years, but the age at which kids begin has inched lower over time. ![]() A common violin teacher’s maxim that Wagner quotes is: “I do not need prodigy pupils, only gifted mothers.”Ī child’s ability to successfully climb the violin ladder depends on a triad of actors: the performer him or herself, the parent, and the teacher. In the early years of soloist-track training, parents are the “assistants” who initiate the child into playing, find an instructor, enforce the practice regimen, provide transportation, pay training costs, and navigate professional networks on their child’s behalf. No toddler holds a bow of their own volition that choice belongs to the parents. Violin virtuosos have to choose their job at various points, but none of them makes the first choice to join the profession. Why would anyone choose that kind of life?Ī five-year-old can choose a movie or an ice cream flavor, but the verb “to choose” is a stretch when it comes to a career path. For Izabela Wagner’s study Producing Excellence: The Making of Virtuosos she interviewed nearly 100 prodigies, and what she found is best put by one former soloist, “For every ten students, one will attempt suicide, one will become mentally ill, two will become alcoholics, two will slam doors and jettison the violin out the window, three will work as violinists, and perhaps one will become a soloist.” For aspiring violinists and their parents-including Wagner herself-those are not good chances. There’s no surefire way to become an elite violin soloist, but there’s one thing in particular you can do to help your odds: Be born to musician parents.
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