17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Cello: Part 2.

So, it's not the cello anymore...

It's the accordian.

Just kidding.

My daughter has chosen to play the violin. We have taken her to concerts showcasing violin, cello and piano, expressed that the school would like her to play the cello, and we have a piano in our home, and she says: VIOLIN.

I explained this to the school's music principal and her response was: "Stringplayers will be stringplayers."

What does that mean?

I have been trying to figure it out. I have been looking for blogs, I typed in orchestra.blogspot....don't go there....did you know porn came in word/blog form as well? Random.

I have been communicating with her violin teacher. Why must I rent a violin for 200+ a year or purchase one for 600+ when there are some really great, teacher-approved one's on ebay for 14.99? And PINK to boot...

What are these books going to tell me about being the parent of a string player? I am scared/nervous/excited to read them.

What will my child all of a sudden know so much about, that I never learned? Where will this path take her? How will she survive being the only violinist in our family? How will I keep the violin from my exuberant 2-year-old? Where will I hide it? How will practicing go? Will we still be friends? What will it be like being the mom of a string-player? Will we become violin-groupies? Will we all of a sudden want tickets to see Joshua Bell?

Or will we just be our normal selves? Will life change very little, and just be enriched by our little stringplayer? Will we have mini-concerts for family night now? Where is life going....and what will this violin do to change it?????

At least it won't get caught in the subway doors....like the cello was going to.


4 Comments:

  • Congratulations of the future musician. My nine year old is also a violinist in training. First, we keep her instrument on the top shelf of her closet, well out of reach of 2 year old brother and 1 year old sister. Second, we allow our younger kids to sow their musical oats with pots and pans and spoons in the kitchen while she practices in her room, it seems to keep everyone happy. We use the Suzuki method as well, which makes it easy to track what she has learned, song by song. The method is great, there is such a feeling of accomplishment on her part when she has mastered a song and gets to move onto a new one.
    posted by Blogger Scherer at 6/21/2007 07:01:00 AM  



  • If you really want her to practice, you need to make the instrument accessible. We like to hang them on the wall (they make great decorations) or put them in a stand on a table. And buy one of those $14.99 ones on ebay in a tiny size (1/10 or 1/16) for your 2 year old. Then keep it positive the first couple of years and soon you will truly enjoy hearing her play!
    posted by Blogger Brick Builder at 6/21/2007 02:30:00 PM  



  • I am excited for her to play the violin! Then maybe she and Princess can do a fiddle duet when they are roommates at BYU :).

    Although when I think about Princess playing the violin, I have never thought quite as much about the long term consequences on our family life. But we might consider hitting a Joshua Bell concert with you guys someday.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 6/22/2007 10:33:00 AM  



  • “String players will be string players”… I grew up playing the violin and laughed when I read this quote. It is very true although not a hard and fast rule. It means that string players can be… difficult/ a little prima donna -ish. As with many things this is, in my experience, a manifestation of pushy parents rather than difficult kids. But take heart, it taught me how to effectively interact with all sorts of different/quirky personalities as well as other valuable life skills (determination, confidence, team work etc.). Also, not all string player parents are pushy – my parents were the farthest from that and my playing brought a lot of joy and funny experiences to the entire family. Have fun and try to ignore the initial squeaks – it gets better, I promise!
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 6/22/2007 11:11:00 AM  



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