Ear Training
I've been playing a little game with N lately, and she's getting pretty good at it. I'll ask her to identify the instruments in whatever piece of music we're listening to. The other evening, we heard this one on the radio:
Here was N's response when I asked her what instruments she heard:
"I hear the flute... and the violin... and the cello... and... ummm... is that the piano I hear?"
(Side note-- I love that N still says "plan-o" for piano... she has said it this way ever since she first learned the word about 2 years ago.)
We were thus able to have a discussion about the harpsichord, what it is, and what it sounds like. It's a little thrilling for a musician, and a music teacher at that, to be able to explain these things to your kids. I'm not sure whether N was as enthralled as I was, but she at least listened politely!
Usually when we're in the car, N is very adamant about hearing a select few CDs ( Raffi or Disney). If any other music is on when I start up the car, she will always say, "I don't like this."
Today I started up the car to take her to preschool, and this music was playing on the radio:
Her knee-jerk response was to quickly announce "I don't like this music." Before my hand could even reach the button to turn on Raffi, however, she hastily amended, "Oooh. I like this. I like this a lot."
All the way to preschool, she gushed, "Oh Mama, I love the violins. And the beautiful cellos. I like all those pretty pretty sounds." I smiled and agreed with her.
At about 7:52, where the strings play a soft, high tremelo, she announced, "And I love that pretty harmonica."
Maybe we'll work a little more on her instrument identification... but she's pretty close, right?
Here was N's response when I asked her what instruments she heard:
"I hear the flute... and the violin... and the cello... and... ummm... is that the piano I hear?"
(Side note-- I love that N still says "plan-o" for piano... she has said it this way ever since she first learned the word about 2 years ago.)
We were thus able to have a discussion about the harpsichord, what it is, and what it sounds like. It's a little thrilling for a musician, and a music teacher at that, to be able to explain these things to your kids. I'm not sure whether N was as enthralled as I was, but she at least listened politely!
Usually when we're in the car, N is very adamant about hearing a select few CDs ( Raffi or Disney). If any other music is on when I start up the car, she will always say, "I don't like this."
Today I started up the car to take her to preschool, and this music was playing on the radio:
Her knee-jerk response was to quickly announce "I don't like this music." Before my hand could even reach the button to turn on Raffi, however, she hastily amended, "Oooh. I like this. I like this a lot."
All the way to preschool, she gushed, "Oh Mama, I love the violins. And the beautiful cellos. I like all those pretty pretty sounds." I smiled and agreed with her.
At about 7:52, where the strings play a soft, high tremelo, she announced, "And I love that pretty harmonica."
Maybe we'll work a little more on her instrument identification... but she's pretty close, right?
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