We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Eli Ann. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Eli Ann below.

Eli Ann, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started formally learning when I was 7 years old taking private piano lessons. A few years later, I became really interested in learning the violin, and the rest was history. I had simultaneously been involved in a musical theater program growing up that really trained my ear to pick out and sing harmonies easily. Violin won me over in high school where I became very dedicated to the craft and it took me into my undergraduate music conservatory studies.

Looking back, I wish my violin training was more versatile. Being classically trained, I was never encouraged to learn music by ear or improvise, which is a skill that seemed out of reach for a long time. I attempted to branch out on my own in college, arranging pop songs for strings and joining a folk rock band. I also joined the university choir and changed my major from violin performance to music composition to expand my overall skillset.

I think one big obstacle for me was not really knowing where to start in learning how to improvise and the skills that go with that. I didn’t have many examples to look up to nor peers to learn alongside with in the strings world that I was immersed in during my studies. I think I could have pushed myself more in spite of these obstacles, but I am feeling way more confident in these skills today, and still aim to learn more each day!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always known since I was a kid that I would pursue a musical path. Violin has always been a joy for me to practice and perform for around two decades now, and these days I especially enjoy sharing the magic of music for those once-in-a-lifetime moments and events. As a violinist, I pride myself on being able to learn any requested song, or write and record a custom strings arrangement. I also run my own live sound with a personal PA system and play with backing tracks, essentially DJ-ing my performance as well for these special occasions. I love that I get to incorporate these other skills I’ve learned along to way to provide a truly customized experience for my clients!

Another passion of mine is working with other artists and singer-songwriters. As a singer-songwriter myself, I know the magic that a stringed instrument can provide for a recorded track or a live show. I enjoy helping create the magic on any song and serving the artist’s creation in this way. These collaborations have led to some incredible experiences. I’ve had the pleasure of performing on tour across the U.S. with a few indie bands, and I’ve performed at iconic LA venues with some amazing local artists. There are even tracks that I recorded on for some indie bands years ago that now have millions of streams.

I am so grateful for all of these experiences and I truly love working with other talented musicians and creatives in any capacity. Some memorable residencies I’ve had include performing with Mostly Kosher for multiple holiday seasons at Disney California Adventure and one season at EPCOT. I also had the unique opportunity to play violin on the Santa Monica Pier Carousel, a National Historic Landmark, while it was in motion for a theater production.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had taken advantage of online resources sooner when it came to branching out as a more creative strings player. Christian Howe’s online Creative Strings Academy helped me really understand the foundations of learning how to improvise. It was so encouraging connecting with other string players on the Zoom classes. I think YouTube is also a great resource for learning and getting inspired by live performances and finding other educational materials. The ability to slowdown the playback speed is a game changer when trying to learn music by ear as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being an artist feels like the most human thing to do. Besides being a violinist, I am also a singer and songwriter, and the emotional processing and self-expression that is inherent to the practice really helps me to tap into the soul of life to ask and live the deeper questions. I also strive to have my violin playing emulate the raw expression of a singer. I’ve always been drawn to lyrics when I listen to songs, and I aim to convey those emotions even when I am playing a song’s melody on violin. Mostly, I love that being a creative of any kind is all about the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.eliannmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eliannofficial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@eliannofficial
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@eliannofficial

Image Credits

Char Marl
Nicole Hanson
Trevor Morrison
Michael Wolfe