Of fiddling and Vivaldi
We took our kids to a fiddling class today. Unfortunately, what I thought was "beginning fiddling" was actually a very basic introduction to the fiddle (VERY BASIC like, "This is a bow and this is a bridge and these are the strings."). The teacher had the class play some very easy tunes (Mary had a little lamb and twinkle-twinkle little star). I leave it to you to imagine how kids who've never even touched a fiddle sound playing in a group for the first time... The cacophonic noise lasted for a good half an hour.
Then the teacher announced she would give a prize to any child that was willing to perform (and perform, she clarified, included playing on open strings). To my surprise, my usually timid Amy jumped to her feet and was second in line to play. I had no idea what to expect. Very poised, she took front stage, introduced herself, and flawlessly played the third movement from a Vivaldi concerto she recently learned. It was one of those incomprehensibly dissonant moments as I realized my child had just exquisitely performed a concerto AT A FIDDLING CLASS. The nerve-jarring discord we had experienced the previous half hour made the contrast even more conspicuous. The line-up of children that followed only enhanced the incongruity as various performances of twinkles were interspersed with "pull bow across random strings and see if it makes a sound."
When the class mercifully ended, Amy was awarded her prize. The teacher kindly invited her to the intermediate level class to start in half an hour and assured her that it would probably be more to her liking. After reviewing the line-up of "intermediate songs," basically advanced versions of twinkle, I decided we would find another venue for the kids to experience fiddling.
Then the teacher announced she would give a prize to any child that was willing to perform (and perform, she clarified, included playing on open strings). To my surprise, my usually timid Amy jumped to her feet and was second in line to play. I had no idea what to expect. Very poised, she took front stage, introduced herself, and flawlessly played the third movement from a Vivaldi concerto she recently learned. It was one of those incomprehensibly dissonant moments as I realized my child had just exquisitely performed a concerto AT A FIDDLING CLASS. The nerve-jarring discord we had experienced the previous half hour made the contrast even more conspicuous. The line-up of children that followed only enhanced the incongruity as various performances of twinkles were interspersed with "pull bow across random strings and see if it makes a sound."
When the class mercifully ended, Amy was awarded her prize. The teacher kindly invited her to the intermediate level class to start in half an hour and assured her that it would probably be more to her liking. After reviewing the line-up of "intermediate songs," basically advanced versions of twinkle, I decided we would find another venue for the kids to experience fiddling.
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