Look for Inspiration to Set Your Goals

When studying music it’s always good to have goals: to learn Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, to start a Metallica tribute band, to audition for the orchestra or learn to shred like Slash.

It also helps to have a little inspiration. For me, inspiration came from the string group Bond.

I was already listening to violinist Vanessa Mae, who blew my 11-year-old mind with her rock and roll version of Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” but it was Bond who really sparked my interest and desire to do some out-of-the-box things.

I remember the first time I heard Bond: I was with my mom in Wal-Mart. We suddenly became aware of the music playing over the speakers in the store, and it was awesome! It was Bond!

We rushed to the music department and bought Bond’s first album “Born.” I’ve loved and followed them ever since.

It was—and still is—musicians like Vanessa Mae and Bond who showed me that classical music doesn’t have to be boring, stuffy, stuck up or pretentious.

Since discovering Bond’s brand of classical music, I have been trying to figure out how to plug-in, rock out and create my own brand of classical music. That’s my inspiration. That’s my goal. What’s yours? Find it and create something awesome!