JOST A MON

The idle ramblings of a Jack of some trades, Master of none

Mar 15, 2013

Violin


The boy's been practising a little tune on the violin for the past few days. It is called 'Little Playmates.' The screeches have been frightening the mice and the neighbours. He plays the tune, three D's followed by a flourish and then three A's. He does this three times, gets bored, and then improvises his own tunes for the next quarter of an hour. He urges us to listen and applaud. 

A concert was organised by the director of music the other day. That's why the boy was practising. Parents attended in force.

Unlike the flute, for which the imp takes separate lessons (and is actually doing quite well at), the violin is taught to all the boys in his year. These lessons will continue for two more years, following which those with aptitude or interest will be encouraged to continue privately. The violin is a truly tricky instrument to play, as we learned during the concert. The director said that the boys had spent a term learning to hold it properly, followed by a few weeks learning to wield the bow. They will learn fingering only next year. 

After the class performed, we were told we were in for a treat. One of the imp's classmates is a prodigy. Where the rest of the class had played little kiddie tunes, this chap turned out in style and presented the first movement of a Handel sonata. The director of music accompanied him on piano, got a bit lost when turning a page of the music sheet, and was awarded a look from him. 

Following the prodigy, we listened to more kiddie tunes, this time performed by the older boys. 'A' for effort, as the saying goes, but the prodigy was indeed a very hard act to follow.

Good fun all around.


1 comments:

Gurusharan said...

ballet classes, violins - man you are giving some classy education to Angad. What next?

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