By Jamison Cooper
THEN
The strings seem flat, silver, light. No formal connection to pitch. Just noise. Noise that makes pretty and ugly sounds. I feel angry? Play a crappy cacophony. I feel happy? Play one single pretty note. Keep its pure state. Play too much and the bow will scratch or hit the bridge from too much resin. Leave that feeling—that note—alone and keep it from your inexperience. Leave it as unadulterated happiness—PERFECTION.
NOW
The notes seem to flood my mind, racing to get out. Tears fall from my face to the violin, my fingers shaking, creating an intense vibrato. They go up and down the fingerboard, often sliding, but I pay no mind. Slurred eighths for a change in tone stay on a consistent path. This is it. These are the feelings I want to convey and the feelings I need to expose. Out in the open for me to see, written down in their natural state. The tears are not for sadness, but rather for my success. I’ve made it, and this music is my embodiment of that—PERFECTION.
Jamison Cooper is a student at the Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP) of the School District of Philadelphia.