Levels and Metronomes

Sunday, July 11, 2021 by Sheridan Currie | Uncategorized

As my students who come to my home for lessons have noticed lately, I have been in the process of adding sound-dampening (not quite soundproofing) to my studio.  I’ll post later about the products and materials I am using to accomplish this, but I wanted to share something I noticed as I was installing some foam acoustical panels the other day. 



I have put off putting these suckers up on my walls for months, because I am a perfectionist with a high capacity for attention to detail.  (This has made me a very good viola player, but one of the many curses of perfectionism is the inability to start a project because of the fear of not getting it "good enough."  There are countless examples of this in my life. But, I digress…)


Step one in putting up the panels was to measure, measure, measure.  Step two was to mark on the wall (using a level, of course) where the tiles would go.  


It is a darned good thing I used that level.  Honestly, as I was working, I doubted the thing was correct.  (Of course it’s correct- it’s a bubble in water.  Laws of physics don’t lie.)  But as I was marking what turned out to be perfectly straight, level lines, my eyes were telling me that those lines were not level. At. All.  Had I “eyeballed it,” trusting my eyes rather than the laws of physics, my students would now be walking into my studio feeling like they’re in a funhouse. 



It immediately made me think of the frustration many students feel when trying to use a metronome.  “I can’t stay with the metronome!  It keeps slowing down and speeding up!” 


Of course, the metronome isn’t changing speeds at all, it’s simply our flawed perception of time that makes it seem that way.  Which is precisely why we need to use one!  We use the metronome to train our internal pulse, to make it more true.  It’s like a reality check for our sense of timing. What looked level and true to my eyes turned out not to be.  Similarly, what  “feels” steady and even, especially when so much of your brain is preoccupied with the enormously complex task of making a wooden box sing, can often turn out to be quite the opposite. 


Happy Summer!

Wednesday, June 30, 2021 by Sheridan Currie | Uncategorized

Summer is well underway, and I'm just now getting around to sharing this collage of photos from our Spring Recital.  Held at the beautiful Paw Paw Pavilion at Hills and Dales Park, it was a fantastic capstone to a highly unusual year.  The rain held off, and the cicadas joined in the harmony!  It was definitely a recital to remember. 

Lighting in the shelter wasn't great, so I was glad I brought along a battery-powered stand light. A few people have asked me about it, so I'm including a link below - it's very inexpensive, and works for reading in bed, too:



All in all, I'm grateful we had the opportunity to showcase everyone's hard work, in front of an actual, live audience! May we not take that for granted again! 

Until next time, happy practicing ♬