About Violin Alchemist

I am a classically trained violinist. In 2001, when I was 26 years old, I woke up one morning with my entire left side paralyzed. After some tests, I was diagnosed with MS and began the long road to recovering my mobility, learning to walk again, doing basic things around the house, and, of course, playing the violin. Even before I could raise my left arm, I began to practice.

I had a huge brain injury. I had atrophy. Three weeks after the initial onset I could clench my hand but then I couldn't open it up again, and that was considered a good day. I had all kinds of tension in my right side from dragging my left side around, and from having to do everything one-handed and one-legged. My whole body was a disaster. But fortunately (or unfortunately) I'm also just slightly insane: I decided that if I had learn to play the violin all over again, at least I should fix all of my old technique problems. I wasn't even really sure what my problems were, but I knew I had them. And I realized that no violin teacher would have any idea what to do with me. I set out to do it myself.

I wanted playing the violin to be easy, easier than it was pre-paralysis. I did a little reading, a lot of practicing (as much as my body could take, which was only 10 minutes at first), and a lot of listening to my chiropractor and to my physical therapists. I made up exercises to trick my body into doing what I wanted it to do. After a few years, I began to teach violin and saw that my exercises worked for "normal" people — except that the results came much more quickly.

A lot of my exercises are weird. I can almost guarantee that you will feel silly doing some of them. Hang curtains. :-) If you can, do them with a practice partner, or ask your violin teacher to help you with them. I refine my exercises all the time; I hope that this weblog will help me keep track of my ideas and improve your technique (and mine!) at the same time. Please comment on a post if you have a question about it, or if you've found a better way — I'd love to hear from you!

— Violin Alchemist