(WARNING: This post may veer off into annoying exclamation points.  Like this!) 

 This past business trip to DC turned out to be a little expensive.

I finally bought My. Own. Violin.

MINE!

A REAL VIOLIN!

FOR ME!

An actual, respectable violin, as opposed to the vaguely violin-shaped-object I had been playing.

And it comes in TODAY!

I went to Potter’s Violins in Bethesda, which turned out to be thankfully a brief bus ride from the Bethesda Metro station, and on my way from Rockville to the airport.  I almost felt like a poseur even walking in the door.  I have been playing for less than a year,  I know NOTHING about what I am doing other than I have a good tonal ear.  I planned the side trip based on a recommendation from my teacher, and a few reviews in music magazines.

They were blessedly kind and patient and helpful without once being condescending.  They helped me range the selection of appropriate instruments by tone, played for me, pointed out the finer points of deciding what sound was best for me, and treated me like a real violinist.  I am very grateful for their kindness.  I learned more about selecting and maintaining violins in that hour than I think I could have in weeks on the internet.

The violin I bought is a student violin – I have no illusions regarding where it rates on the incredibly large spectrum of instruments.  But it is a violin with a little bit of soul.  It is a violin that wants to be loved and sings when you touch it.  I know that sounds silly, but it’s the closest I can come to explaining the feeling I get from handling it.  And the bow!  A bow that actually knows the difference between a whisper and a wail.  I am in ecstasy, I tell you!

I also know that in a few years, I will likely replace it with another violin, of even better quality.  I will never be playing the six and seven figure instruments that real virtuosos use, but every player, if you progress “outplays” their violin and suddenly finds themselves looking to the next price bracket.

But shhhhhh.  Don’t talk about that now.

For now, I am seriously in love.