Karel Zadražil

"Well, the violin maker's normal apprenticeship was three years. But then there were these extensions, and I had six years total. And even after that, if you didn't know something, I can tell you that we could have come to anybody at any time, both Mr. Vávra and Mr. Pötzl, and they would have explained everything. Even though they didn't teach us anymore, we were already in our senior year. After those three years, we were further along, so when we wanted to know, maybe we didn't trust the person who taught us, it was just kind of natural. Not like 'tell me something', we didn't do anything other than ask. And they would tell us everything. Both Vávra and Pötzl. That was very important. Because, you know, it's simple to say 'violin', but there are so many things that are just very, very complex. It's important to do it precisely. And it depends on what you like, how much you enjoy it. How hard you try. And that's all terribly important. You know, it's not just the violin. It's gonna be in a lot of fields. It's the person - it depends on who's learning it, and it depends on who's teaching it. And that's what I've been lucky in all my life."