For love of music

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER
The Independent

FLATWOODS January 13, 2008 10:13 am

— Jessica Melvin and John Adkins are an unlikely student and teacher pair.
Adkins, 63, is owner of The Framing Bird in Flatwoods and a volunteer at the Paramount Arts Center. Melvin is a shy, stylish 16-year-old and a sophomore at Russell High School.
Yet, once each month Adkins, the student, and Melvin, the teacher, come together to share their passion for string and bow.
“I always wanted to play some kind of instrument, especially the violin,” Adkins said. “I just love the sweet sound of it.
“Everybody wants to learn to play some instrument, but you’re so busy when you’re younger — working, going to school. You just don’t have time,” he said.
Last year, Adkins found some time despite being a grandfather and running his small business. Four years after purchasing a violin off the Internet, he finally picked it up and learned to play.
“I decided I’d take some lessons,” he said. Adkins began learning over the summer from instructor Kathy Chamis but, as fall approached and her regular students began returning, Adkins stopped.
Then a friend of his, who also knew Melvin’s grandparents, suggested she may be able to help him learn.
Although surprised at the request and uncertain about her ability to teach, Melvin accepted the challenge welcomed the new experience.
“He seemed like a nice guy,” Melivn said. “I figured it would be neat to help someone else learn to play.”
Melvin began playing at the age of 10, drawn, like Adkins, to the beauty of the instrument and its rich sound.
“Since I was little I always wanted to play,” she said.
On the day of her fourth-grade orientation at McDowell Elementary, Melvin spotted the orchestra table and jumped at her chance to learn.
“I pretty much begged my mom to let me join and she let me,” she said.
Melvin continued playing through grade school and is now a member of Russell’s high school orchestra. She also plays in the smaller, elite Chamber Orchestra at the school under the direction of Jason Chapman.
Through the program, Melvin has played in concert halls in Boston, New York and Chicago. This spring, Melvin will travel to Cambridge University in London with the orchestra to play.
Although still learning, Melvin “is an excellent teacher,” Adkins said.
When the pair begins playing together in Adkins’ frame shop on Saturday, Melvin’s sharp ear quickly picks up that Adkins’ e note is sharp. After tuning his instrument, she continues the lesson guiding Adkins through the first few lines of “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
“Go a little slower and I’ll play with you,” she said after Adkins’ first few attempts. When he miscounts a note skipping a beat, Melvin instructs.
Again, Adkins plays through the note too quickly and again Melvin patiently points out the mistake.
“Try to make sure you get the two beats in there. You are still a little slow,” she says, adding, “I would just practice that one and try to get all those notes.”
Later, when the pair moves on to scales, a smile quickly spreads across Melvin’s faces and she giggles at Adkins wincing as a note squeaks awkwardly out of his violin.
“You’re not really doing anything wrong,” she tells him. “Sometimes (the note) just sounds different because of your strings. You are playing it right,” she said, “You just need to practice. You just have to figure out how much you need to move your bow across the string.”
Adkins takes her suggestions and vows to practice. He’s the first one to say he’s got a way to go but says he is undeterred by the challenge.
“For my own satisfaction, I just want to play halfway decent,” he said. “The more lessons I take, the more I enjoy it.”
CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.

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