Charlotte and Her Violin

Charlotte has officially started violin lessons! Yes, it’s the end of the year and not a typical time to begin playing an instrument, but I wanted to get her rolling and in a comfy groove before adding the upheaval of kindergarten in the fall.

Why the violin? Beats me. Charlotte talked about it lots, then started using her Dora guitar as a violin. When classical music played, I asked her to identify the violin, so she knew what sound she was getting into. And damn if she didn’t nail it.

Then she was super excited that in kindergarten she gets to go to a class each week just for music  . . . . but was crushed when she realized that instruments don’t start until 4^th grade in these here parts. “When do I get to play the violin?!” she asked.

Wow. “Um, let me talk to Daddy,” I said, which really meant, “Let me tell Daddy what we need to do.”

I am of the snobby school of thought that does not think 30 minutes of music education per week is adequate. Chris and I agreed that should our girls exhibit interest in music, we would foster it. Period.

Chris, who is used to tuition for things like gymnastics or ballet, balked a bit at the cost of one-on-one lessons. “Exactly,” I said, climbing up on my soapbox. “It’s cost-prohibitive for millions and millions of kids. Music shouldn’t be an elite thing, which makes its place in public schools so crucial.” I bet 90% of my music knowledge came from private lessons, 7% from church, and 3% from school. Private lesson tuition is thus well spent, in my view.

I also don’t believe in half-assing it. Giving a kid a keyboard when they are learning to play piano is my biggest musical pet peeve. I taught piano during high school (as a student teacher under a master teacher), and not once did a child who started with a keyboard stick with the piano. And when they did play, they struggled to press keys down all the way on real pianos and neglected all artistry or musicality, for many reasons.

Parents say, “Oh, I don’t want to invest in a piano because my kid might quit.” I promise you, they will definitely quit with a keyboard. Yes, pianos are expensive, but not ALL pianos are expensive. You don’t need a freaking Steinway. Used pianos abound, and you can rent. Hell, if all you care about is a bright shiny black color, you can even get something that APPEARS fancy for cheap (thanks, China). I always laugh a little when people compliment my piano. “I love the shiny black!” they say. Um, it’s the SOUND, people. It’s a Broadmann! It’s German engineering! Black lacquer is not the tricky part!

But I digress.

I found a violin teacher about 35 minutes away who seemed like a good fit. She thought 5 years old was a spectacular age to begin violin and gave me the info I needed to get Charlotte rolling. We went to a quaint violin shop near my work and got my girl fitted. We decided to rent, as Charlotte is going to grow and thus outgrow her instrument. And yes, who knows if she’ll stick with it? Violins are a big investment.

There were several levels of violins, even for rentals. “What’s the difference?” I asked, “Aside from degree of handcraftedness?” (Let’s pretend that’s a word.)

The oh so very capable violin shop clerk told me that Exhibit A offered better sound, better response. It’s simply a better violin. “Kids quit less with it.”

“Sold,” I said. Or, rather, rented.

Getting fitted for her first violin.

Officially a violin student!

 On Wednesday, Charlotte had her first lesson. She was SO excited. She wasn’t shy (phew!) and didn’t suck her thumb (phew!), but she was squirrely, noodling about the teacher’s home studio. A grand piano caught her eye, along with a large harp. She got to strum it and strum it, and then see the “harp” inside the grand piano.

Charlotte learned how to “wake up” the bow and put it to sleep; the E and A strings; and proper holding technique, for both bow and violin. She worked on giving the correct pressure on the bow to the string to get the right sound, and transitioning between A and E. I’m biased, but I thought she did great! Her teacher seemed genuinely pleased. So, yay.

My big fear was that after all this effort and expense, my Charlotte would say, “Oh. Gee, this is hard. Never mind! I don’t want to play violin after all!” Fortunately, this did not happen. Yet.

Lorelei, as expected, is fascinated and jealous of Charlotte's new instrument. "I want to play the vitamin, too!" she says, mispronouncing its name.

"You can play the drums, Lorelei," her big sister suggests. Lorelei is also dying to do ballet but has another year+ to go. I'm thinking of enrolling her in karate when she turns 3, so she has something that is hers, and it's right here in town. We'll see. We pulled the girls out of gymnastics for several reasons for the most recent term, and Lorelei keeps asking to go back, so maybe I'll bite the bullet and endure the drive, the crazy parking lot, and potty training while on an obstacle course. We'll see.

But I'm excited for Charlotte. None of her friends do violin. It's her thing, at the moment, and she definitely senses its specialness.

 

We're still working on proper form.

 And, in the land of books, Charlotte and I are continuing to read the Courage of Sarah Noble. It's just so good. The relationship between Sarah and her father and her grit in gathering up her courage  despite some scary stuff is great. Charlotte is totally absorbed by the story and begs for "just one more chapter!" each night this week. We'll probably finish the book tonight. 

Me, I've added The Rules of Civility to my reading list, like it wasn't already long enough. And I'm LOVING it. Set in the late 1930s, with glitz, glamor, and working-girl grit, this is a snappy, fun, smart read.