The Greatest Lesson My Violin Teacher Ever Taught Me
One of the parents sheepishly asked, “Mr. Chang, do you have… cancer?"
I have a beautiful and personal story to share.
It’s about the radical transformation of my violin teacher, Mr. Chang.
It wasn’t about music at all, but it was the greatest lesson I ever learned from a music teacher.
He told me this story over 10 years ago, when I was 15, but it still helps me to be a better person today!
I think it’ll help you, too, so enjoy!
Here’s a photo I took with Mr. Mac Chang, my violin teacher, when I visited Mac’s Music School last year, to test Lord of the Chords with some kids! (They loved it.)
To me, he will always be the jolliest, most humorous and most nurturing teacher ever.
I always looked forward to his lessons because of his jokes, encouragement and life lessons that he would share through his personal stories.
One day, he shared one of those life stories, after a few very encouraging and funny jokes that got my mother (she sat in sometimes) and I in tears from laughing.
He said, “You know, I wasn’t always like this.”
I was intrigued.
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t always this loveable, fun teacher. In fact, I was one of the scariest, meanest and worst teachers”
I remember making eye contact with mom, and we both had this “Is he for real?” face!
He provided details:
“For years, I used to shout at kids, hit their hands with my bow, kick down their stands, throw their books out the door — I would even break their bows (and then buy them new ones after)!”
I couldn’t believe it. Here was a man who was the embodiment of positivity, saying that he used to be the devil himself.
I mean, we’re talking about the guy who started a music school with THIS as the logo! (Spot the smiley face!)
So of course, I asked him the burning question, “What happened to make THIS much of a change??”
“Well, one night, when I went to bed, I just thought to myself, ‘Isn’t it exhausting teaching this way?’, and the next day, I changed!”
“Just like that?”, I asked.
“Just like that!”, he answered.
“The next day, I began to joke, smile, and encourage my students. The students loved it! But their parents were spooked.”
“One of them even came up to me after class and asked, ‘Mr. Chang, do you have… cancer?’”
We burst into laughter, and that’s how I learned one of life’s greatest lessons — that radical change can happen overnight — just like that!
All it takes is a decision to change. No dramatic story, no 12-step process, and thankfully, no cancer!
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