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FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 5th 03, 11:42 AM
Chookie
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Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

Tonight, as we sat down to dinner, DS suddenly said, "The song about the bird?"

"The Lark Ascending" had just started playing on the radio. We last heard it
about a week ago, when I had told him it was about a bird.

DS is not quite 32 months :-0

I thought it was a fluke when he identified Dvorak's "Song to the Moon" a few
months ago. (At least it's easy to tell him about birds and moons -- he
wanted to know what "E lucevan le stelle" was about yesterday. He's
definitely Too Young To Know!)

So -- do I start saving for the piano now?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
creature that is the *Usenet hydra*: you cut off one head, and *a stupider one*
grows back..." -- MJ, cam.misc
  #2  
Old November 5th 03, 12:13 PM
gale
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Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
Tonight, as we sat down to dinner, DS suddenly said, "The song about the

bird?"

"The Lark Ascending" had just started playing on the radio. We last heard

it
about a week ago, when I had told him it was about a bird.

DS is not quite 32 months :-0

I thought it was a fluke when he identified Dvorak's "Song to the Moon" a

few
months ago. (At least it's easy to tell him about birds and moons -- he
wanted to know what "E lucevan le stelle" was about yesterday. He's
definitely Too Young To Know!)

So -- do I start saving for the piano now?



violin. it's lovely to hear how much he enjoys what you enjoy!

-A-
--
see my creative works on ebay under aulame 123


  #3  
Old November 5th 03, 12:44 PM
Donna Metler
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Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!


"gale" wrote in message
m...
"Chookie" wrote in message
...
Tonight, as we sat down to dinner, DS suddenly said, "The song about the

bird?"

"The Lark Ascending" had just started playing on the radio. We last

heard
it
about a week ago, when I had told him it was about a bird.

DS is not quite 32 months :-0

I thought it was a fluke when he identified Dvorak's "Song to the Moon"

a
few
months ago. (At least it's easy to tell him about birds and moons -- he
wanted to know what "E lucevan le stelle" was about yesterday. He's
definitely Too Young To Know!)

So -- do I start saving for the piano now?



violin. it's lovely to hear how much he enjoys what you enjoy!

Sounds like there's a timbre preference growing there . At his age, I'd
recommend group music classes like Kindermusik or Musicgarten (or those held
at community centers, without the franchise name), for at least a few years
before starting private lessons.

Actually, what this means is that you're giving a good environment for music
appreciation to grow. And since preferences seem to be set very young,
you're creating someone who, while he may or may not BE a musician, probably
will have a lifelong love for classical music, at least programmatic songs.

There is a really nice children's video version of "The Magic Flute" which
many of my younger kids find enthralling.

Other good classical works with nice stories:
Pictures at an Exhibition (most are explainable, and the sections are short)
The Animals
Peter and the Wolf
In the Hall of the Mountain King
-A-
--
see my creative works on ebay under aulame 123




  #4  
Old November 5th 03, 10:01 PM
Ericka Kammerer
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Posts: n/a
Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

Chookie wrote:

Tonight, as we sat down to dinner, DS suddenly said, "The song about the bird?"

"The Lark Ascending" had just started playing on the radio. We last heard it
about a week ago, when I had told him it was about a bird.

DS is not quite 32 months :-0

I thought it was a fluke when he identified Dvorak's "Song to the Moon" a few
months ago. (At least it's easy to tell him about birds and moons -- he
wanted to know what "E lucevan le stelle" was about yesterday. He's
definitely Too Young To Know!)

So -- do I start saving for the piano now?



;-) I don't think it's that unusual for a child
of that age to identify songs like that if he's been
exposed to them, but you're obviously providing a rich
environment that will encourage him musically.
Regardless, start saving for the piano now--they're
not cheap, and I still think it's always best to
start on piano regardless of what other instruments
you might pick up later!

Best wishes,
Ericka


  #5  
Old November 6th 03, 12:55 PM
Chookie
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Posts: n/a
Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

In article ,
"gale" wrote:

violin. it's lovely to hear how much he enjoys what you enjoy!


Why violin? Even my violinist friend seems to think piano is a better
starting instrument, for some reason, as does my very-talented-friend-who-can
get-a-tune-out-of-anything (though she started on piano).

BTW, are (cheaper) electric pianos as good as the Real Thing for music
students these days, or is a Proper Piano still advisable? I am aware that
the very good ones are at least as pricey as a piano.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
creature that is the *Usenet hydra*: you cut off one head, and *a stupider one*
grows back..." -- MJ, cam.misc
  #6  
Old November 6th 03, 01:40 PM
Chookie
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Posts: n/a
Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

In article ,
"Donna Metler" wrote:

Sounds like there's a timbre preference growing there . At his age, I'd
recommend group music classes like Kindermusik or Musicgarten (or those held
at community centers, without the franchise name), for at least a few years
before starting private lessons.


I'll investigate -- thanks for the tip! I think there's a Kodaly program
somewhere nearby; would that be of use?

Actually, what this means is that you're giving a good environment for music
appreciation to grow. And since preferences seem to be set very young,
you're creating someone who, while he may or may not BE a musician, probably
will have a lifelong love for classical music, at least programmatic songs.


It's mostly from the radio. He actually hears a wide variety of classical
music, but names that he can relate to obviously provide the peg on which to
hang them in his memory! He seemed taken with "Non piangere, Liu" (Yep, same
CD as "E lucevan le stelle" -- Jose Cura singing Puccini arias) simply because
"Don't cry" is something he can understand. Thus references to the moon,
birds, water, bees, flowers, and simple emotions. Come to think of it, he
*would* hear shorter works more often -- we're usually near the radio during
the breakfast programme and the afternoon drive programme. The radio is
usually on ABC Classic FM when we're home, and I'll drop everything if I hear
something I particularly like. DS is showing a leaning to vocal music, I
think; perhaps because *he* can do it. Sort of. It was rather painful
listening to him "singing along" with "Nessun dorma" the other day! He
displayed an unusual interest in a Fritz Wunderlich recording of "An Die
Musik" last week, and wanted the man to "sing some more". Alas, it was the
encore from Wunderlich's last concert.

I'm also telling him the names of musical instruments if they are played
alone, so he now identifies piano, trumpet and guitar (I'm a bit shaky on
differentiating oboe/clarinet and violin/viola, so I won't attempt those!).

DS sings a lot -- in the car, in the shopping trolley, and whenever he picks
up some text (he thinks it's a hymnbook). The word "Jesus" pops up a lot --
that's what regular church attendance does! Bit embarrassing in the shops,
though.

There is a really nice children's video version of "The Magic Flute" which
many of my younger kids find enthralling.


Oooh, please give details.

Other good classical works with nice stories:
Pictures at an Exhibition (most are explainable, and the sections are short)
The Animals
Peter and the Wolf
In the Hall of the Mountain King


I have a CD of Carnival of the Animals and Peter & the Wolf, but haven't tried
it out on him yet. All suggestions are welcome!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
creature that is the *Usenet hydra*: you cut off one head, and *a stupider one*
grows back..." -- MJ, cam.misc
  #7  
Old November 6th 03, 05:34 PM
Moo
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Posts: n/a
Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

Chookie wrote in message ...
In article ,
"gale" wrote:

violin. it's lovely to hear how much he enjoys what you enjoy!


Why violin? Even my violinist friend seems to think piano is a better
starting instrument, for some reason, as does my very-talented-friend-who-can
get-a-tune-out-of-anything (though she started on piano).

BTW, are (cheaper) electric pianos as good as the Real Thing for music
students these days, or is a Proper Piano still advisable? I am aware that
the very good ones are at least as pricey as a piano.


There was a thread on this not too long ago.

Here's my two cents worth:

An electic keyboard with high quality weighted hammer action keys and at least
64 note polyphony will be plenty good for a student for many years. It
is certainly better than a worn out, or out of tune acoustic piano.

The quality of the cabinet, and the number voices, midi editing ability, etc.
can have a big effect on the cost, but you can save money here.

Other advantages of a keyboard:

HEADPHONE JACKS AND VOLUME CONTROL!!!!
Doesn't need to be tuned.
Transpose key (great when you want to sing along, but the piece is not in
your key)
Much lighter and easier to move than acoustic.

Ours also has:

Built in metronome
Lots of voices
Percussion tracks
Can be hooked up to a computer
  #8  
Old November 6th 03, 05:48 PM
Robyn Kozierok
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Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

In article ,
Chookie wrote:

BTW, are (cheaper) electric pianos as good as the Real Thing for music
students these days, or is a Proper Piano still advisable? I am aware that
the very good ones are at least as pricey as a piano.


Only for beginners, is my understanding. For a beginner all you really
need are touch-sensitive full-sized keys. A "sustain" pedal is good
too. My 7yo took pre-piano last year and is taking private piano
lessons this year. We have an electronic keyboard that does not have
88 keys but it's fine for his current needs.

--Robyn
  #9  
Old November 6th 03, 05:54 PM
Ericka Kammerer
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Posts: n/a
Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

Chookie wrote:

In article ,
"gale" wrote:


violin. it's lovely to hear how much he enjoys what you enjoy!


Why violin? Even my violinist friend seems to think piano is a better
starting instrument, for some reason, as does my very-talented-friend-who-can
get-a-tune-out-of-anything (though she started on piano).



I really think that piano is better to start with.
You get a better grounding in music theory, because the
piano is the best at providing a spatial sense of the music.
It gives an opportunity to learn to read multiple lines of
music and multiple clefs. It's easy to go from multiple lines
and multiple clefs to a single line and single clef, but it's
much more difficult to do the reverse.


BTW, are (cheaper) electric pianos as good as the Real Thing for music
students these days, or is a Proper Piano still advisable? I am aware that
the very good ones are at least as pricey as a piano.



Most teachers still suggest an acoustic piano for
learning; however, the really good electrics are quite
amazing and have a very realistic touch. All other
things being equal, I'd probably go with an acoustic piano,
but there are situations in which I'd go with an electric
(e.g., no good place for an acoustic piano, living in an
apartment and need to be able to practice with headphones,
etc.). When I was in music school, *LOTS* of the piano
majors had good electrics in their dorm rooms or apartments.
I even knew professional pianists who had only an electric
at home. Circumstances permitting, they'd all likely prefer
a good acoustic, but when they couldn't do an acoustic for
some reason, they managed just fine with a good electric.
The technology has gotten so good that the difference in
feel and control isn't near what it used to be. I
definitely wouldn't go with a cheaper electric, though.
I think having the right feel is very important when
learning and developing technique.

Best wishes,
Ericka

  #10  
Old November 7th 03, 12:25 AM
Irene
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Default FAO Donna Metler and other music fiends!

Ericka Kammerer wrote in message ...
Chookie wrote:

In article ,
"gale" wrote:


violin. it's lovely to hear how much he enjoys what you enjoy!


Why violin? Even my violinist friend seems to think piano is a better
starting instrument, for some reason, as does my very-talented-friend-who-can
get-a-tune-out-of-anything (though she started on piano).



I really think that piano is better to start with.
You get a better grounding in music theory, because the
piano is the best at providing a spatial sense of the music.
It gives an opportunity to learn to read multiple lines of
music and multiple clefs. It's easy to go from multiple lines
and multiple clefs to a single line and single clef, but it's
much more difficult to do the reverse.


Well, as anecdotal evidence, I learned viola beginning in 4th grade.
In college, I tried to learn piano, but never really got the hang of
playing harmony with the left hand and melody with the right. So, you
probably have a good point with that. OTOH, I had no problem going on
to learn guitar in grad school.

Irene
 




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