Mark and Rheta Wallingford

Laura wrote
"This is a little OT but I could never understand when a child was asked
to
choose another instrument because they already had enough kids playing
of what
the child wanted to play.  What if they did have their heart
set on
playing the clarinet and were asked to switch to the flute? Maybe it
doesn't matter
as much as I am thinking, I have never played anything but it seems it
would
matter to me."

You're right, it does matter. Very much. My 14 yo stepson who is in ps
came for vacation the summer before last with a clarinet. He hated to
practice it (his mom said he had to and I was the one who was supposed
to enforce it). He had no clue how to play it (I had to tell him why it
kept squeaking - because apparently his teacher had not). I finally
asked him why he chose clarinet if he didn't like it. He said it was
because he really wanted to learn saxophone but they had enough sax
players so this is what he HAD to take to stay in band.

Music is not just music. You choose an instrument because you feel
something towards the music and sound it creates. It didn't surprise me
to find out he had dropped it a year later.

Rheta





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Lynn

Hi,

My name is Lynn and I am new to the group. I have 2
daughters I am going to unschool. I must say that one
of my grade school musically experiences reflects
this. I wanted to play the flute and got move to the
clarinet because there were enough already playing. I
had a music teacher that was an alcoholic and would
play our instruments to "show" us how. It was
disgusting to get it back and have to repeat what he
had done with to show we were paying attention.
Gross!!! I was a music lover, piano playing child and
I gave up on it because it wasn't fun and it became
disgusting.

Just had to post, because your email brought back many
memories.

Lynn
Momma to the M&M girls

--- Mark and Rheta Wallingford
<wallingford@...> wrote:
> Laura wrote
> "This is a little OT but I could never understand
> when a child was asked
> to
> choose another instrument because they already had
> enough kids playing
> of what
> the child wanted to play.  What if they did
> have their heart
> set on
> playing the clarinet and were asked to switch to the
> flute? Maybe it
> doesn't matter
> as much as I am thinking, I have never played
> anything but it seems it
> would
> matter to me."
>
> You're right, it does matter. Very much. My 14 yo
> stepson who is in ps
> came for vacation the summer before last with a
> clarinet. He hated to
> practice it (his mom said he had to and I was the
> one who was supposed
> to enforce it). He had no clue how to play it (I
> had to tell him why it
> kept squeaking - because apparently his teacher had
> not). I finally
> asked him why he chose clarinet if he didn't like
> it. He said it was
> because he really wanted to learn saxophone but they
> had enough sax
> players so this is what he HAD to take to stay in
> band.
>
> Music is not just music. You choose an instrument
> because you feel
> something towards the music and sound it creates.
> It didn't surprise me
> to find out he had dropped it a year later.
>
> Rheta
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>


=====
Lynn & the M&M girls

HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM BUGGING YOU ABOUT GETTING MARRIED OR HAVING A BABY:
Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings & baby showers, poking me in the ribs and cackling, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

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Elizabeth Roberts

That's part of how I ended up playing the trumpet in band. Partly because there were already "enough" flute players, and partly because I had a little trouble getting air over the mouthpiece of a flute right off the bat with the "testing." Looking back, I don't think it was a fair system, although I understand the whys of it and everything...trying to have a balanced band (the 7th grade beginner band was looked at as training specifically for the 8th grade competitive band rather than simply kids who wanted to play music for the sake of it).

I hadn't really thought about any other instrument but the flute, but I didn't mind the trumpet. Particularly when, on the first day of class, I found myself sitting in 7th chair because all the boys (I was the ONLY girl in the entire brass section, let alone playing the trumpet!) had had summer band and could already play a little. They gave me a hard time that day saying I didn't belong there, couldn't play, would never be able to, etc. It took me two weeks just to be able to get a clear, sustained F. But by the end of the semester, guess who was not only sitting in the first chair but had been asked to sit second chair in the 8th grade band (technically first trumpet, as the kid in first chair actually played cornet)? The challenge of it all helped LOL...telling me that I couldn't do it since I was "just" a girl!

MamaBeth

Mark and Rheta Wallingford <wallingford@...> wrote:
Laura wrote
"This is a little OT but I could never understand when a child was asked
to
choose another instrument because they already had enough kids playing
of what
the child wanted to play.&nbsp; What if they did have their heart
set on
playing the clarinet and were asked to switch to the flute? Maybe it
doesn't matter
as much as I am thinking, I have never played anything but it seems it
would
matter to me."

You're right, it does matter. Very much. My 14 yo stepson who is in ps
came for vacation the summer before last with a clarinet. He hated to
practice it (his mom said he had to and I was the one who was supposed
to enforce it). He had no clue how to play it (I had to tell him why it
kept squeaking - because apparently his teacher had not). I finally
asked him why he chose clarinet if he didn't like it. He said it was
because he really wanted to learn saxophone but they had enough sax
players so this is what he HAD to take to stay in band.

Music is not just music. You choose an instrument because you feel
something towards the music and sound it creates. It didn't surprise me
to find out he had dropped it a year later.

Rheta





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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