MINNEAPOLIS -- A violin can make the sweetest sounds, but only if the player is right-handed. Unlike a guitar which can be easily reversed, a violin is more complicated. But the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis has made that happen for a 10-year-old student.
George Muller, 10, of Minneapolis won a school lottery to take violin lessons at the MacPhail, but 5th grader George cannot play a violin right-handed.
"He was born with aphalangia. It is underdeveloped hand," said Amy Muller, George's mother. "He has one finger bone in each of his fingers, rather than three."
When George was an infant, a surgeon transplanted bones from his toes to the fingers of his left hand, giving him a way to grasp a baseball bat and, luckily, a violin bow. However, that did not solve the problem of the standard violin, which is only to be played right-handed.
MacPhail violin teacher Teresa Campbell assured George that the then 3rd grader would be able to play. She took one of the violins at MacPhail and reversed the strings.
"When the high string could normally be, make that the low string for George. So, everything is completely mirror-image," explained Campbell.
The chin rest also had to be moved to the other side of the instrument and the bridge, held in place by the weight of the strings, had to be turned around. George was able to play the modified violin, but something in the sound was missing.
"It is the construction on the inside of the violin that makes the violin ring the way it is supposed to. So, his old violin when you play a note, you play it and it just sort of stops. What it should do is ring and ring and ring and ring," said Campbell.
They turned to Claire Givens of the Claire Givens Violin Shop for help. It was quickly clear that they needed a completely new violin in order for George to progress as a violinist.
"We started calling our various [violin] makers all over the world that we have worked with for years and we did find one who was willing to do this for us. He has a workshop in Beijing," Givens said.
George Muller was to hold her first left-handed violin. "He is the first person that we have worked with and we have been in this business for 33 years. So, we were slightly thrown for a loop with this request," said Givens.
Not just any material will work for a proper violin.
"It is a very specific kind of wood that we refer to as 'tone' wood. It actually allows vibration to create beautiful sound," explained Givens.
Thus, on Wednesday, MacPhail Center President and CEO Paul Babcock called George an "inspiration" and a pace-setter for "left-handers."
Babcock was able to preside at a ceremony in the MacPhail auditorium as Claire Givens presented George with a brand new violin made specifically for him. After a few passes with his bow over the newly set up strings, George pronounced it "different" from the modified instrument he had been using.
"Yeah, it sounds different. It sounds better. [The older violin] sometimes kind of, I do not know, it did not sound really good. This one sounds a lot better," said George.
"This just kind of opens up a whole new avenue for him to keep on growing in his violin playing. So, it is a huge asset. It is a wonderful gift," commented Mark Muller, George's father.
The new violin and its case carried a $1300 price tag. Givens Violins contributed $800. The rest of the money came from MacPhail donor James Davies. George played both violins on Wednesday with a new bow. That was a gift from his parents.
For the first time, teacher Campbell and her young student were able to play together with each using a proper instrument. Campbell said George is one of her best students.
"He is really incredible to watch because he is so focused and he really gets inside his own head and his own body to play and experience what he is doing," said Campbell.
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
You Might Be Interested In