As a fellow AKB fan i will try to answer to your call as good as i can. In a certain extent, i have also lived the same experience as you. I used to play a classical instrument called "clarinet" for 8 years, having weekly lessons with my teacher as well. Because i was a child i didn't know what was good for me or even what i liked, so i just had to follow the advice of my parents. It took me 8 years to realize that even though i had good times with my fellow instruments mate and teacher, i didn't actually enjoyed playing the instrument any longer and decided to quit. What i mean is that you shouldn't feel guilty to "quit" because of how much you commited yourself to it. The real question is, if you enjoy doing it or not. I, too was perplexed about quitting because i was afraid of letting down my parents or my entourage. On the other hand, playing in order to please someone else shouldn't be the reason to play an instrument. Above all you have to enjoy. It is not wrong doing things for yourself, it just has to be sincere, genuine. If not, you will keep this emptiness you are feeling right now. Therefore, you don't actually loose a part of you. It lives with you forever. Look at Maeda Atsuko. If you ask her, by no means will she say she regret anything in AKB48. It was a part of her, a moment with her nakama (companions) she will cherish for the rest of her life. But time passed, and she moved on to a new path. Acchan the forever Ace let the place to Acchan the actress, but without Acchan the ace, Acchan the actress wouldn't have been born. By quitting you are not denying a part of you, but taking a step forward to a new world instead! If your parents care about you, and feel your seriousness about your decision, then i'm sure they will accept it. As well as Acchan, cherish only the good times you had with your instrument, and put all your efforts on your new goal, which succeed in your school! This is the AKB motto, all things we do, we do it whole-heartedly, because hard work will always be rewarded. There's no room for regrets!
^ Thank you for your post My parents understand and the only thing they're worried about is that in the future what I would do if I don't have a job and I won't be able to teach violin (if I continued I may be able to). They worry that I may regret on the decision of quitting. I think this year my feelings will be fine (I'm in extension music classes at school so I have to play my instrument a few times a week still) but next year I won't be able to play. In all honesty I love my instrument. I love listening to people playing it, I love classical a lot (not as much as pop though) I get happy when people praise how amazing it the instrument is. I have passion towards it. I just played it for about an hour just then and I realised how much I enjoy playing it. I think I know what I want to do now, I'm just going to continue playing it as a hobby, focusing on my studies and in the future after I finish my courses I'm probably going to play again and learn from a different teacher
