I'm still figuring out what sports we'll do this winter, but in the meantime I am teaching the crew to play piano and violin. As with all of my decisions, I debated this for a while. I took less than 1 year of piano in elementary school (I quit right before the recital, which I don't remember telling my parents.), but figured I could at least introduce them to the basics. So about 5 weeks ago we bought an electronic keyboard and I've been teaching mostly Pretlow from the Bastien lesson books. (If Zoe and Victoria are interested, I let them play a bit or do some worksheets.) We are practicing 3-4 times per week and most of the time I don't scream that much. I'm actually very impressed at how well Pretlow has progressed. When he is not working from the book, he likes to play a little song that he's made up. It's very cute.
I had more reservations about teaching them violin. I played for 10 years, from third grade to my senior year of high school. But with the violin, much more than with the piano (IMO), there are so many details as far as position and form than can really affect the quality of the sound. If I teach them all my bad habits, another teacher will have to un-teach them later. But when my mom brought over my violin a few weeks ago, the kids were enthralled. "Can I play?! Can I play?!!" What's better than children who are eager to learn? It seemed best to seize the opportunity and at least let them try.
Since my violin is too big for them, I've rented a 1/4 size violin from the local music store (isn't it adorable??). I also bought two beginning violin books. Zoe has taken to it the most. She loves to play pizzicato (plucking the strings) and in our last lesson, she was able to hold the bow very straight while playing on the E string. As with the piano, I let Victoria play a note or two if she's interested.
We'll see how things go in the coming months. If anyone shows a great deal of interest and aptitude, we should probably invest in private lessons. Hopefully their new teacher(s) will not ask in dismay, "who on earth taught you how to play?!?!"
I had more reservations about teaching them violin. I played for 10 years, from third grade to my senior year of high school. But with the violin, much more than with the piano (IMO), there are so many details as far as position and form than can really affect the quality of the sound. If I teach them all my bad habits, another teacher will have to un-teach them later. But when my mom brought over my violin a few weeks ago, the kids were enthralled. "Can I play?! Can I play?!!" What's better than children who are eager to learn? It seemed best to seize the opportunity and at least let them try.
Since my violin is too big for them, I've rented a 1/4 size violin from the local music store (isn't it adorable??). I also bought two beginning violin books. Zoe has taken to it the most. She loves to play pizzicato (plucking the strings) and in our last lesson, she was able to hold the bow very straight while playing on the E string. As with the piano, I let Victoria play a note or two if she's interested.
We'll see how things go in the coming months. If anyone shows a great deal of interest and aptitude, we should probably invest in private lessons. Hopefully their new teacher(s) will not ask in dismay, "who on earth taught you how to play?!?!"
