In more positive kid notes
Sep. 4th, 2019 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oloriel(or so I hope!) Felix has signed up for his school's orchestra all of his own accord.
It's not actually an orchestra yet. It's a cooperational project with the local music school that only started last year, in which the music school offers weekly lessons in The Instrument Of Your Choice* after lessons, and once the children have reached some basic proficiency, they will be thrown together to play at school festivities and other highlights of the local event calendar. These lessons are 60% cheaper than the normal music school lessons, but the downside is that you have to play in the orchestra, too.
Knowing Felix' impatience and his sensibility to dissonance, I didn't want to encourage him too much when the offer was published earlier in the year (our first forays into the music school ended with him covering his ears and refusing to try anything!), but he went to the try-outs by himself. Before the holidays, he declared that he wanted to play clarinet, but after their first trial lesson today, he announced that euphonium, horn or trombone were also to his liking. So the teachers of the music school will get to decide what he ends up learning. We have been told that they will base their decision not only on the needs of the orchestra-to-be, but also on their impression of what the child will be good at. We will see what that turns out to be!
The astounding offer includes a (rental) instrument AND the insurance for said instrument (both of which would normally cost extra). Since our town is notoriously close to bankruptcy, I can only assume that the music school are getting their money (that is the 60%, rental fee and insurance that we parents aren't paying) from the school's booster club.
Anyway, that's a very exciting development. I just hope Felix will learn to deal with the downsides of learning an instrument (regular practice... :P) and playing in an orchestra (having to play in tune with other people...)! If he does, this will be a valuable experience for him. Fingers crossed!
- - -
*assuming that your choice is either transverse flute, clarinet, euphonium, trombone, trumpet or French horn.
It's not actually an orchestra yet. It's a cooperational project with the local music school that only started last year, in which the music school offers weekly lessons in The Instrument Of Your Choice* after lessons, and once the children have reached some basic proficiency, they will be thrown together to play at school festivities and other highlights of the local event calendar. These lessons are 60% cheaper than the normal music school lessons, but the downside is that you have to play in the orchestra, too.
Knowing Felix' impatience and his sensibility to dissonance, I didn't want to encourage him too much when the offer was published earlier in the year (our first forays into the music school ended with him covering his ears and refusing to try anything!), but he went to the try-outs by himself. Before the holidays, he declared that he wanted to play clarinet, but after their first trial lesson today, he announced that euphonium, horn or trombone were also to his liking. So the teachers of the music school will get to decide what he ends up learning. We have been told that they will base their decision not only on the needs of the orchestra-to-be, but also on their impression of what the child will be good at. We will see what that turns out to be!
The astounding offer includes a (rental) instrument AND the insurance for said instrument (both of which would normally cost extra). Since our town is notoriously close to bankruptcy, I can only assume that the music school are getting their money (that is the 60%, rental fee and insurance that we parents aren't paying) from the school's booster club.
Anyway, that's a very exciting development. I just hope Felix will learn to deal with the downsides of learning an instrument (regular practice... :P) and playing in an orchestra (having to play in tune with other people...)! If he does, this will be a valuable experience for him. Fingers crossed!
- - -
*assuming that your choice is either transverse flute, clarinet, euphonium, trombone, trumpet or French horn.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-04 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-05 09:29 am (UTC)I played the piano for ten years and my mother certainly did make me practice. But I never reached her proficiency - nor her joy in playing, to be honest. (She often came home from work and sat down at the piano for half an hour! She felt better afterwards! For me, practicing was always a chore, and it took a long time until I could play things just for the fun of it.)
no subject
Date: 2019-09-04 08:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-09-05 09:29 am (UTC)