In honour of St Patrick's Day, I figured it was time for O to listen to some Irish music. We found the Celtic music station and threw it on, and he amused himself 'singing along' with some of the Gaelic. He busted out his Elvis dance (he stands up at the coffee table, and swings his knee in big circles from the hip). Inspired by all the fiddle playing, I took O down to the studio to introduce him to the violin.
At first it was just like any other instrument to him: bang as hard as you can and see what kinds of sounds emerge. When that didn't prove super entertaining, he got up close and started trying to figure out what the strings were for. I plucked a few for him, to show him how it's done, and that was all he needed. He tried picking up the strings first, which didn't work all that well, but as soon as he let go they obligingly made sounds for him. Next he tried raking his fingers across the strings, and got lots of notes out of it that way. O kept plucking at the D string, which was slightly out of tune, so I tuned it up for him and he was all smiles. Finally we got the bow out, and while he had a tendency to use it like a drumstick (which is an excellent way to break a bow, just in case anyone was curious), he did let me help him play the strings. After a few minutes he thought he had it, and didn't need my help any more! He had a great time, until he decided to see how the bow tasted...
I'm not sure if I've got a future Riverdancer on my hands, or a fiddler, or a hockey player, but for today we'll just enjoy our Irish music and have some green snacks.
At first it was just like any other instrument to him: bang as hard as you can and see what kinds of sounds emerge. When that didn't prove super entertaining, he got up close and started trying to figure out what the strings were for. I plucked a few for him, to show him how it's done, and that was all he needed. He tried picking up the strings first, which didn't work all that well, but as soon as he let go they obligingly made sounds for him. Next he tried raking his fingers across the strings, and got lots of notes out of it that way. O kept plucking at the D string, which was slightly out of tune, so I tuned it up for him and he was all smiles. Finally we got the bow out, and while he had a tendency to use it like a drumstick (which is an excellent way to break a bow, just in case anyone was curious), he did let me help him play the strings. After a few minutes he thought he had it, and didn't need my help any more! He had a great time, until he decided to see how the bow tasted...
I'm not sure if I've got a future Riverdancer on my hands, or a fiddler, or a hockey player, but for today we'll just enjoy our Irish music and have some green snacks.