The teacher who wrote the musical, that I conducted the pit orchestra for, asked me after one of the performances, “How long have you been playing the violin?”

I answered. “Two years.”

She looked at me funny, “I thought you had played forever?”

I shook my head. “I’m a flute teacher. I’ve played the flute forever, but I’m a violin beginner.”

She was surprised because I arranged the music for the orchestra and seemed to know what to do with the violinists.

I found that being a beginner was helpful in arranging the violin parts for the elementary students. I didn’t write parts that I couldn’t play.

It was fun that she thought I had played the violin for longer than I had played. Though if she had ever heard me play violin, she would have known I was a beginner.