Nanny Music #32 – What do you do

Tags

Classical music, Compact Disc, Fiddle, Lia, Music, Music education, Teacher, Violin

After the kids won the talent show, someone approach to me and asked who is their teacher. He assumed I will say the names well-known locally. Well, one of their teacher, Calvin Dyck, teaches Lia classical music is a famous musician who owned a doctor degree. But that’s not the reason I chose him for the lessons. He has a very powerful colorful style and uses a fun method to teach. And he loves fiddle music. I was amazed by the detail and expression he brought into music and surely he made a big change to the kids performance. I understands why others always want to know who is the kids’ teacher, most parents want the best for their children and if they can get the same teacher as my kids, they will give their children a jump-start.

My children might be lucky to have different teacher to help them through different stages. Their second classical teacher force them to read music instead of copy him. He also took out the tape on their violin from the previous teacher to train them get in tone by ears and it really open another chapter. Their third teacher speed up their path by introduce fun pieces. And their last teacher is like a martial art master bring them into power and style which are not on the paper. When they were 8 and 9, fiddle master Calvin Vollrath took them in his own class in the fiddle camp, a pioneer step no one else dare to do. he gave them a chance to learn in professional level at very young age.

Yes those good teachers make significant changes. Buy when my son start to teach as charity, Dr Dyck told him, he can’t just teach anyone, but only the one who want to learn. I found out later it is true. But not just about the kid but also the parents. Kai has a couple brilliant students who learn fast. We helped them get a donated violin and drove Kai to their place to teach for free. We suggested them to join the local fiddle club to get in camp free. When all sounded good, their parents kept cancelling lessons because they are busy and they never show up in the camp or club. Why they were asking help and not cooperate with the teacher?

I also heard a friend said her son got MVP but she can’t let him be in the baseball game that summer because they HAVE TO go to their share-time cabin for vacation. What? Anything special happened to my kids maybe the only chance to make a change to their life, what are those parents thinking?

It bothers me when I see kids stand like statures in a fiddle group while others perform because they only know a few songs. The first time my children join the local fiddle club they are just beginners in playing violin. I didn’t let them sit there to watch other’s play. I told them picking up their little violins and follow others’ fingers. in a half year they are winning in contest, getting paid gigs and even recorded with the club in the CD. Do you dare to let your kids try?

To find a good teacher is important but more important is your input for your children. When you complain your kids don’t practice enough, please play some music to let them fall in love with it. When you envy with other kids play better, maybe work with the music teacher a little close, not just drop the kids off for lessons and take off. My daughter heard a Beethoven piece played in the movie, she said it’s so beautiful, I want to play it. So I searched all night on-line to find the sheet music. Do you ever do that? When you kids want to play something harder than the level they are learning, do you encourage them or say you can’t do it? Do you ever let your kids holding a pretend violin to mimic the musician? Do you play music for your kids since they still in the womb? So don’t blame the kids or teacher, check how much did you do.

 

Nanny Music #28 – the shiny eyes

Tags

Benjamin Zander, Classical music, Compact Disc, Fiddle, Lia, Suzuki method, Teacher, Zander

English: Benjamin Zander (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

After Kai and Lia did the speech for Tedxkids, I realize how a person’s perspective view can inspire others. And then Lia’s violin teacher talked me about a video from Tedx Talk video by Ben Zander, a conductor. He talked about how classical music can light up people’s heart and when you see the shiny eyes you know you make someone love classical music. The shiny eyes, yes, I have seen it in my children’s eyes when they heard a beautiful piece and eager to learn to play it. Should all music learning students have the same sparkle in their eyes? Why some of them quit learning before they can enjoy it? Mr Zander said when the kids start to learn they impulse on every note, and by the time they impulse between phrases, they can play pretty good. This is what exactly I tried to show my children when they start to learn instruments. I never asked them practice for certain a mount of time. I asked them to listen and feel the music when they play, once they got the part they try to manage, they are done practicing that day. When they feel the music the notes become fluent like running water. Even just 5 minutes, it will be better than mechanically practice for hours. And why some teacher think the kids only can play the songs or pieces they learned? Let them try, mimic other musicians, music plays from their hearts not their fingers. When Kai and Lia started, their school teacher brought more than 40 kids to the local fiddle cub. Kai and Lia were the only kids can stay and play with the adults in the fiddle club, They join the club gigs and recording after a few month of learning. What happened with the other kids who start to learn fiddle earlier and better than them in that time? Well, they were not been told to try. When they heard a song they don’t know yet, they just sit there and soon get bored and restless. Eventually their eyes are muted to the music. Like sitting in the coffee shop and not hear the background music. I can guarantee you won’t see any shiny eyes. Music learning could be like an experiment, keep trying and get sparkles on the process. I don’t think more than half of the songs Kai and Lia performs are taught by their teachers. They heard them from concerts, CDs even from their friends, their repertoire from the teachers are just the sprinkles on the ice cream. Mr Zander said everyone can love classical music. I am thinking of what Dr Suzuki who create the Suzuki method said, everyone can learn to play music, if you make their eyes shine.

 

 

Nanny music #24 – Sacrifice a little earlier, gain a lot later

Tags

Art, Cello, Classical music, competition, Fiddle, Karate, Lia, Music, Saskatchewan, winning

 

.Playing 4 instruments ( violin, cello, piano trumpet), clogging, karate, it sounds a lot to a kid. But Lia seems manage well. She won first in every fiddle contests from BC to Saskatchewan; got 100% on every tests in school, even got a lead role in her school biannual play. and a music award from jazz band. She is working on getting her brown and black belt in Karate. And she is still have to do some chore in the house.

All these achievements come with a price, she can’t go play with friends as much as she wanted to. Even occasionally she got to hangout with friends and even a sleep over, she know she have to practice every day as a commitment for her future. and the time management skill she got from her busy life is priceless too. She don’t have a “tiger mom” asked her to skip all school activity and family chore to concentrate on main school subjects. She don’t have strict musician parents only allowed classical music or one specific instrument. But all her learning somehow help each instruments and sports. Such as her strength on her fingers from cello playing and symphony practice helped her playing twin fiddle with her brother and winning fiddle contests; the karate discipline taught her working hard in school; and the dance lessons give her the feel of the beat for music.

Is it too much for her age, maybe. But Chinese said “bitter first, sweet later”, ” bear what others won’t, and you’ll gain what others can’t” simply it just “if one won’t work hard when one still young, one will be pathetic when one is old.” The sacrifice of her free time now is already paying off and her future will be limitless if she don’t give up trying.

 

Nanny Music #11- Deeper understanding

Tags

Arts, Bowed Strings, Classical music, Fiddle, Folk music, Music, Stringed, Violin

Ashley MacIsaac‘s fiddling gave me a vivid image of a Scottish hornpipe player dancing with his kilt. And you certainly will shuffle your feet with Andy De Jalis metis bouncing music. Fiddle music can have so many varieties of style. It is not just some simple folk songs like some classical musician think it is. There are classical players think they can play fiddle by just play fast and smooth, for the people in the fiddle world, this is just wrong. The accent, lilt and jiggedy take some knowledge and experience to figure out. And most important, you have to feel it. When you put the accent on the wrong spot, it might still sound amazing to ordinary audience, but sure would get the fiddle lovers plug their ears.  Many music teachers hate to have kids learn fiddle music. In they imagination, all fiddlers have bad posture, never wipe their fiddle and scratch as hell. Well, once a while I saw fiddlers like that, but most good fiddlers know the good posture and care of their fiddle can make the music sounds better. Who won’t like more pleasant sound? One professional violinist commend on our myspace page, she tried to play fiddle and she can’t manage it well and she wish she know fiddle music as early as Kai and Lia. I am sure to normal people she can play the fiddle songs very good, deep down she knew it is not as easy as it sounds. Fiddle Frenzy take their classical and fiddle training equal serious. I hope this crossover experience teach them not to bias on anything before complete understanding.

Nanny Music #5: a person is a person, no matter how small-Dr. Suessm

Tags

Calvin Vollrath, Carnegie Hall, Classical music, Dr Suess, Fiddle, Lia, Music, Musician, Violin

 

We changed the band name from  Old Time Fiddle Kids to Fiddlin’ Frenzy for one reason, to show people Kai and Lia are real musicians not just two little cute kids on stage. There are wows and applauses make us smile, but when people making sounds like “aw!”, it just bothers. Since Kai was 7, he is challenging all categories above his age group at the contests and he is always placed top 3.  And Lia had been accepted in master Calvin Vollrath‘s class in his fiddle camp since she was 8, learning and perform crazy hard tunes with mature fiddlers. If someone is good at music, a musician is a musician, no matter how small. We see classical music prodigies perform in the Carnegie Hall, why can’t a young advanced fiddler be treated like an advanced fiddler? There are fiddle camps insisted separate kids advanced players with adults or teens and think they doing it right but in reality there are just not that many advanced fiddlers in each group. So there are teenagers frustrated waiting for other slow learners to catch up and some kids are restless in the kids top class because they can’t learn as fast as the better players. Music is univeral language, it is a language for all ages too.  A musician is a musician, no matter how small.  Inspired by Dr. Suess.