Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The Hills Are Alive....

Thing 1 is in her last year (5th grade) of elementary school. In 5th grade, the school requires all students, as part of the music curriculum, to purchase a recorder (not a huge expense, the one we got is $7). In order to pass music class, they must take tests throughout the last half of the year, playing songs they are learning on the recorder.

Naturally, she practices at home.

While I love my daughter, and I love how she is interested in a variety of subjects and disciplines (music, chorus, sports, etc), the sound of "Hot Cross Buns" played on the recorder is, I'm afraid, beginning to be too much to bear.

I'm starting to wonder if setting myself on fire really would hurt all that much.

10 comments:

  1. Might need industrial strength earplugs, the sort Pete Townshend has to use these days when playing live now his hearing is totally screwed. Problem is those high-end recorder frequencies are like armour-piercing bullets, they get through anything.

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  2. Good luck-every budding musician starts out that way. It's rough at first, but if it catches her fancy, she'll get better.

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  3. Wait until she starts learning Greensleeves. You will learn a new definition of torture.
    My thoughts are with you. And you eardrums.

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  4. It's not actually the sound of a recorder that gets to me. It's the wrong notes.

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  5. Are there RIGHT notes on a recorder?

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  6. Songs I think I am going to push for her to learn on the recorder:

    Baba O'Riley
    Come Sail Away
    I Want You To Want Me
    Fade To Black

    Any other suggestions?

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  7. "one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns"

    I assume Thing 1 will also learn "Mary had a Little Lamb" so I think she should learn the sequel... "Proud Mary."

    Brandon is learning the guitar and, fortunately for us, he does not plug in his amp while he is practicing. He does come out and play for us at the end of his practice sessions and is getting to be pretty good. I am always impressed with people who can play instruments.

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  8. The painful thing about recorder playing is that the young ones blow them with a mighty force --- which tends to give them that tuneless train whistle vibe...and unfortunately you are being way to ambitious with your song requests...the kids only get taught all the white notes on a piano...maybe a B flat and an F sharp if they're lucky...so you are stuck with the simplest of tunes. Sea shanties are as good as it gets, or perhaps some medieval drinking songs.

    Console yourself with this fact...the fascination with practising recorder at home only lasts about two weeks. By then even the kids are fucken sick of them.

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  9. OK, Nat, how about this then:

    Roll Out The Barrell
    The Chicken Dance
    Roll Your Leg Over

    And, that song about the drunken Scot (sorry, that's redundant) who passed out in a field and the two lasses tied a blue ribbon around his prick, and he woke up and said, "Lad I don't know where you've been but it seems you've won first prize."

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