"What 'sing' really means." by Peter

After playing my violin scholastically for over a decade, I stopped for some reason I cannot really explain. Before I knew it, five years had passed and I had not even opened the case. As inexplicable as were my reasons for stopping, I decided it was time to pick her up again. Obviously new strings were a priority and I lucked out that Everjoy Music was close to my work. Patrick helped me pick out a set of strings, breaking the Dominant rut I have always been in and I asked about the tone optimization I had read about on this website. It sounded like a great merge of guidance and repair. Patrick worked with my schedule and got me an appointment within a few days. My violin is worth far more to me than any appraisal I have heard. Although it is a great sounding instrument, the value to me was that it belonged to my Grandmother, whom I never met. When I brought it in, it took two minutes and I was perfectly comfortable, even thankful, that it was in Patrick’s hands. He told me the history of the prior repairs as if he had read it in CarFax. He explained and demonstrated everything he believed would improve the sound and playing experience. Repairs, bows and cases all laid out so I could choose what was within my budget. However, the best part I was not prepared for. When I returned to pickup my violin, Patrick pointed out all that he had done and then left me with the instrument and went in the back of the store for a moment. I plucked a string and listened to the sound fill the room and carry on for longer than I ever thought possible. A few strokes with the bow and I just stopped to listen to it “sing.” Patrick came back in and caught me with a huge grin on my face. He understood that I had just learned what it means when an instrument truly “sings.”