Emily has been playing the violin for about a year now I guess. She does okay with the level of songs she is tasked with playing but she doesn't care much for practice so she doesn't excel.

One of her good friends is going to start taking violin lessons soon and so the two of them decided to work on a song together and play a violin duet. Bear in mind her friend, Lilly, had never played the violin before so Emily had to teach her how to do everything; hold the violin, hold the bow, bow positioning, and translating the music on the sheet into things for her fingers and arm to do.

They picked a song that is very rudimentary called the "one finger race." Honestly, I have no idea what the song is supposed to sound like or if it is even a true song or if it is merely a training device Emily learned earlier in her training. Suffice it to say it is a relatively easy violin piece.

Today was the talent show and I think they did a pretty good job considering. Emily clearly didn't teach her exactly how to hold the violin or the bow or posture or all those little fundamental things that can make a huge difference in the long run. But it is pretty much the first time Emily has ever tried to teach someone else a complex skill and I think it went well. To me the talent show for Emily was showing that she could teach Lilly the song.

Just as equally impressive was Lilly getting up there and trying to play this song without really knowing anything about playing a violin. She dove in head first into a task that would make the most hardened showman a little nervous and she did it with aplomb. I was really impressed with her composure and effort in doing something like that in front of her entire school of peers.

Both of them were pretty awesome today and none of it had to do with actually playing "the one finger race"