String

You probably wouldn't think it if you knew me, but I used to be an Orchestra junkie.  I loved orchestra, it was like the most amazing thing ever, such an amazing buzz.

I never missed one, I'd come in hung over, sick... every monday morning at 8am I had a lesson, and every Friday at 8am I had orchestra.  Yeah, I used to drag my ass out of bed for this.  I was a music geek, 'lolol I wish I was a fermata  so I could hold you'.

So lame.  I was the chubby kid (this is before and after the skinny kid) with the Viola (should have been a Violin dammit! ¬_¬), and it was cool cause I could tell you the difference between legato and pizzicato and read the Alto clef.

I never persued it though, mostly because I didn't think I was good enough.  I still don't - I have no natural aptitude for music, it took an immense amount of work for me to play how I play now, and in all honestly, even now I'm pretty poor.

Whatever.  I went from a rubbishy school orchestra (5 violins, 2 flutes if lucky, maybe a clarinet, 1 cellist and me, all averaging grade 2) to London Youth Orc, to QM college orc to QM Sinfonia - a proper orchestra with auditions and... a professional conductor!

Not only this, but I'm 1/4th of the QM String quartet - 2 violins, a cellist and me.  We play Palladio so many times we think our hands are going to fall off, but we sound good (here's the tune http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sluHJGcxek ).

I guess I'm no longer a terrible Violist?  I don't know, but the Viola is the one thing in my life I've seen through properly.

I just absolutely love playing in an Orchestra.  I go a few months without doing so and I get withdrawal symptops and start shaking like a crack addict.  I listen to big Orchestra pieces and feel like I'm missing out.  Whenever I watch a movie, I pay the most attention to the score, I pick out chords and instruments and seperate them from the film.  And whenever I used to hear songs, I never wanted to be the singer, nah I wanted to be the guitarist/cellist/violinist in the back.

My biggest regret I think (bigger than screwing up my A levels and not studying, which is really saying something) is that I didn't learn the Piano.  And if that's my biggest regret in life thus far, I think I'm doing pretty alright!