One of the nifty perks of blogging is all the equally nifty people you get to meet along the way.  Tuba Girl is a high school senior who I've been lucky enough to stumble across - and yea, she's a girl tuba player.  HARD CORE!  She's about to graduate and major in music, which I find oh-so-interesting since I have been wondering what motivates a kid to want to continue music.  I thought she'd have the perfect perspective for a parent like me, and she was willing to share her thoughts with y'all too!  Thanks Tuba Girl!!



Hi everyone! Tuba.girl here. I'm your typical teenage girl, a senior in high school in a little place in the middle of nowhere, and I play a predominantly male instrument. As you can infer, that would be the tuba. I started playing music on the piano when I was six. When I was in 5th grade I picked up the trombone and the clarinet and played both for about 4 years. And then I quit. I'm not sure why- probably because I was stressed out, but either way, I went into high school without band and/or choir to "bog me down" (because heavens knows they are SO HARD to pass *note the sarcasm in my typing). Instead I took a Piano for Beginners class, taught by the band teacher, for an easy "A".

I know, a diabolical plan right? Well, it backfired. Tenth grade was a tough time for me. I partially forget why (those were some dark days), but, in the midst of it all my band teacher decided to offer me a chance to play the tuba (of all instruments? He was pretty desperate). So I agreed, halfheartedly, but still.

Picking up the tuba was tough. From how the band teacher told, I thought I was set in stone from the beginning because of my trombone backround. Well, I was wrong. It took me about a month to be able to actually play out of it, then another month to learn the most basic scale. After that I gradually was able to play some simple music- mostly in the middle register, and even then it wasn't so great. At the end of my sophomore year, my band teacher deemed me "good enough" to be in graduation wind ensemble with my new tuba buddy (who, incidentally, keyed the phrase 'tuba girl' and is now a sophomore music education major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and on music scholarships too). It was with my tuba buddy that I learned to love and enjoy the instrument that is the tuba. It's a weird contraption, really. I mean, it's a cylindrical tube that opens to the sky. But it makes the nicest sounds when played correctly. 

My junior year in high school I decided that I wanted to make music a permanent part of my life. After much research and praying I came to the conclusion that I wanted to major in Music Therapy. From there I took all the necessary steps including talking to music professors and even taking private music lessons (*Gasp!) From terrible past experiences with private music lessons (another reason why I stopped playing the clarinet) I was suprised to find that my new tuba teacher was very friendly and personable. I loved going to lessons, which were coincidentally 45 minutes away from my house, and my playing took off. Before starting with him my audition score in my band class was 79 (and a merciful 79 at that- my band teacher was probably just being nice) and then after, at the begining of my senior year of high school it went to an incredibly competetitive 90. It made all the difference in the world.

In addition to starting lessons, my tuba buddy convinced me to audition for district band. In our district, the competition is pretty steep. I was up against 40 other tuba's for 8 spots. But you know what? I made it! And what made it even better? I made it dead last. 8th chair tuba. But you know what else? 8th chair was better than no chair at all. And so I worked my rear end off on my regional music. I didn't make it in, but the entire district band experience gave me so much more than what I could have ever thought.

The Saturday after my district band performance I auditioned at my first choice college (at the time). That too was a nervewracking, but rewarding experience. I learned two weeks later that they wanted to offer me a $16,000 music scholarship ($4,000 a year) and a spot in the music therapy department. I hastily accepted it. I wanted to go to that college very badly and felt for sure that I was going there.

And then, this past March, they sent me a financial aide package in the which they told me that I had to come up with $17,000 a year. Yeah freakin' right. There was no way I would pay that much for an undergrad degree. So I dropped it like a hot potato and went on a frantic search. On this search I found that pretty much every other college that offered a music therapy degree was just as expensive. I was frustrated and fell out of love with every single college that I had previously been interested in, but I still loved the tuba, and that's what kept me going.

In the end (as in, this past month) I decided to apply to a church college of mine, BYU-Idaho. I was late for the fall 'track' application, so I applied for the winter 'track' and was accepted to the college shortly thereafter. I will be entering a Musical Arts degree when I get there and hope to audition after two semesters of prerequisite courses. The future holds many musical things for me and I can't wait!

So what's the moral of my story?

Kids, stick with it. If music is what you love to do, then go for it. Two years ago I would have never in a million years thought it were possible for me to be able to make it into a music program in college, yet here I am. Dream big, reach for the stars, there are no limits to what you can do. I believe in you. And when you believe in yourself, that's when you become unstoppable.

Parents, us poor music students wouldn't be able to do it without you! I'm lazy. I hate practicing. I'm often less motivated to play than I am to watch TV. But my parents, though never forcing me to do anything, always encouraged me to do more, practice more. Mom used to tell me that I had a "God given gift" and then told me to repent once when I complained about not being good enough. That was a real wake up call for me. I doubt she remembers that, but I do, very clearly, and I have never complained about it since. Parents, you have so much influence over us. We love you. We listen to you. Don't give up on us.

And teachers, you have a golden opportunity to share your light. I would have never started on the tuba without the offer my band teacher gave to me. It wouldn't have even crossed my mind. And my private teacher (*sigh). He has gotten on my back about so many things- not practicing (that's a biggy), "what? can't you count?!" (also a biggy), not showing up for lessons on time, not showing up for lessons at all, not remembering the assignment he gave to me last week, forgetting to look up something online for him, forgetting my solo book at home, purposefully ignoring the double-tongueing exercises he gave me (ugh. those were nasty), and the list goes on and on and on. But he has always been positive, always been supportive, always been understanding and caring. Teachers have a gift for that I think, strict yet lenient. I still haven't figured out how they do it. And trust me when I say this. No matter how much we ignore and complain there is a part of us, no matter how small, that just wants to please you. Be patient with us. We look up to you and admire you for the musicians that you are and hope that we can become, someday, just like you.

And that, my friends, old and new, is the end of my random thought.

=D tuba.girl

Guest Post: BEADS!

I'm thrilled to pieces to share this with you today!  My dear friend Becca from my ASU days was generous to write up a post on The Coolest Thing I Have Ever Seen A Violin Teacher Do For Motivation.  Really, I LOVE how tangible and cool it is!   Becca is a violinist extrordinare who has been sharing her awesome skills as a private and public teacher and has now expanded the student pool by 2 adorable boys. She told me about this technique a good 8 years ago at least, and it has stuck in my brain like peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth.  I can't wait to try it with WonderGirl!  Thanks Becca!!!

When I first started violin, I was blessed with the best teacher EVER. Her name was Robin. If I had a good lesson, she would let me go outside and jump on the big trampoline while she would chat with my mom.  When they called me back inside I knew it was time for the best part… BEADS!!!  If I had mastered a song that week, or achieved a particular goal we had set, I got to pick—get this—one pony bead to put on the shoelace I kept in my violin case. Are you thoroughly impressed?  I don’t know what it was about getting to string a shiny plastic bead onto that rainbow-striped shoelace (yes, I picked it out myself), but it was BIG.

When I started teaching violin lessons I thought I’d try this out on my students.  Each week we decide together what they need to do to earn a bead the next week.  The goal could be mastering a new song, memorizing a page of music, demonstrating correct posture for the entire lesson, or even remembering to bring all of your music (you'd be surprised :).  The adaptability is the beauty of it.  I also offer an extra bead if they have an overall great lesson or impress me in some other way.  Extra beads have been earned for a story written about the song they’re playing, a drawing of their violin, making up a song and playing it, making up words to a song they’ve played and singing it...  It’s fun to see what they come up with.

Students turn their strand of beads into keychains, bracelets, etc.  A new favorite is tying a big loop on one end of the cord so you can hang it on the scroll and show off your beads while you play. Some kids can even look at their strand and tell what they did to earn each one.  Somehow, they love this simple reward.  Probably for the same reason I did as a child.  Each bead serves as a physical representation of what they have accomplished in an area of study where successes are often intangible. 

Have fun trying it out!

Guest Post - How to teach your own child violin!

Sabrina and I, circa 1995-ish

We are in for a serious treat today - I talked my best friend Sabrina into writing a post for us about teaching your own kids violin!! Sabrina is one of my oldest and dearest friends, and mother to 5 positively adorable children.  She was kind enough to get married and start a family long before I did, so she could have lots of experience and advice for me when I'd need it most.  She's thoughtful like that :)  

Sabrina and fans, present day

We met in a local youth string orchestra in junior high, where we were stand partners in the 2nd violin section and unbeknown to her, mortal enemies.  Every time I showed up to rehearsal, she was sitting in my chair!  Eventually I got over it, we moved up to the youth symphony and have been thick as thieves ever since.  Oh, the stories I could tell you... like the time we both stopped the All-State Orchestra rehearsal by hysterically laughing about a knock knock joke about an orange*... but back to the matter at hand.  She is a mom to a whole gaggle of kids and is managing to teach them her violin know-how.  I'm swamped with just the two!  She's modest, sweet, and an inspiration, and since I'm about to turn up the heat on WonderGirl's violin time (I'm mucho nervous), I've been begging her for advice on how she has managed to do it successfully with multiple kids even!  Here we go!

When do I know my kid is ready for lessons?

I know when they're NOT ready for lessons.  I tried on two of my kids to start them on lessons before the age of 5 (hey - I was taking 'lessons' at 3...so why not?), and it was a disaster both times.  With my son, he really badly wanted to play the cello, so I figured he was ready for it.  Boy, was I wrong.  After about a month, he started to get really frustrated.  He wanted to be able to play a song, dangit!  If you start a little kid on piano, no matter how beginner they are, they can push on a piano key, and get a nice note as a result.  Not so on a violin or cello!  There are so many ways to do it wrong, that it takes quite a while just to figure out how to hold everything correctly to get a decent sound out of the instrument.  So after a month of working with my son, we had only gotten as far as playing "Pepperoni Pizza" on an open string.  And he was not happy about that!  He started becoming less cooperative during our practice time, goofing off and messing around.  When I asked him what the problem was, he told me he wanted to be able to play a real song.  ...So, I decided to put the whole thing on hold for a couple of years until he was a little more mature and could learn faster.  Boy, what a difference a couple of years made!  By the time we came back to it (he was in first grade then), he was able to catch on sooo much faster, and he got to play a song fast enough to satisfy his impatience.  Not only did he learn the songs quickly on violin, be he decided he still wanted to do cello, and taught himself all of the violin songs on the cello as well!

Obviously, not every kid is the same - there are going to be genius kids, and then kids like mine.  Some of them might be ready at 4 or 5 years old.  But in my family, I found that everyone was much happier when they could learn quickly and easily the concepts I taught them...by my waiting until about first grade to start lessons. 

How do you approach a lesson so they treat it seriously, but not serious enough that it's a negative experience?

Well, they have to practice before getting anything fun, like a movie night or dessert or game cube time (only on Saturdays) or something.  My kids are fairly cooperative, and they come to me and ask me what to work on, and I just tell them what to play.  Then I am flexible enough to know when they've had enough.  I don't watch the clock with my own kids - we usually are in such a hurry to get on to other things, that we just practice until dinner is ready or it's time to leave or whatever. 

I have one violin student who is a bit sensitive and takes things really seriously  - too seriously.  If she has worked really hard on a song, and then I find something she's not doing right and have her work on it for a long time, she will sometimes start getting frustrated.  When I first started teaching her, I didn't pick up on the frustration, and sometimes accidentally worked her to the point of tears (not that I'm mean or anything, she was just frustrated that she couldn't get it right after working at it for so long).  Now, I watch her body language.  When we are working on a tough song for a long time, I will notice when her little face starts looking sad, and I STOP.  I give her a high-five, tell her she's done a great job...and we move on to something that is easy for her to review.  

How do you structure their practicing? (ie, by task or by time passed)

So when we DO have time for practicing, we don't watch the clock.  We just work on a song or two, until they start whining that their back hurts or they are tired of the song or it's time to eat dinner.  Half of the time I am frantically trying to cook dinner while having a toddler sabotaging any efforts to accomplish anything...so the practicing isn't very structured.  It generally goes like this: "Hey Mom, what should I play?"  "Hmmm..how about you start by reviewing something?"  "Ok.  Hey Mom!  Andrew's eating cat food!"   ...after playing a song, "OK, let's work on your current piece for a while...better work on that measure a few times.  Can you play that part 8 times for me?"  "Mom, my back hurts, and I've been practicing longer than it took James to finish piano!"  "OK, can you just work on this one more time before you go?"  ...and then it's time for dinner before rushing off to cub scouts. 

Ideally, our practicing includes reviewing at least one song that they've already mastered (otherwise they forget those hard-learned songs!), then work on the current piece.  I try to get them to perfect at least one part of the song - even if it's just one measure.  They will play the trouble spot several times until I'm satisfied with the progress, then play through the whole song.  Then if we still have time, I like to have them do a page of sight reading music exercises.  That's usually about it. 

Why do you think it's worth the trouble for you?

Because it's so fun for the kids to play!  They don't love practicing (who does?), but they have SO much fun doing little performances.  The really cool thing is that somehow we have managed to end up with several friends of the kids who are also into violin and cello.  We did a performance at church for a Christmas party that involved a few of the kids' friends, and they felt like they were so cool.  It's the popular thing to do - who knew??  I have just been amazed at how many cousins are also playing - one of the kids' cousins is waaayyy awesome at violin (better than me), and he has played at family gatherings, and the kids are so inspired by it.  What a fun way to connect with other people, by having music to share with each other. 

I also believe that it helps their brain development in so many ways.  It takes a huge amount of coordination and concentration to be able to play, and music itself is quite mathematical.  What better way to learn about fractions than with musical notes?  And when we play together as a group, the kids have to learn how to follow everyone else and listen to each other and work as a group.  

Can you share anything neat that this has produced in your kids behavior or in their creative exploits?
 

One thing cool we have gotten to do is go and perform at my grandfather's retirement home.  It's been such a cool experience for my kids, and the elderly people LOVED it.  I couldn't believe how many of the residents came up to me after the performance and just had to tell me that they had a relative that plays violin or something.  It really has been such a great experience for the kids and the elderly.

A couple of months ago, James decided that it was time for Thomas (who was 4) to start learning how to hold a proper bowgrip.  So he just sat him down one day, got out a couple of bows, and spent a good 15 minutes just tutoring Thomas on how to hold a bow.  It doesn't get any better than that!

One morning, I came upstairs to get breakfast ready to send the kids out to school, and Michael was practicing the violin.  I thought that was pretty cool that he was on the ball and getting it done early.  Then I noticed Michael had an audience - he had a whole row of stuffed animals, all lined up to listen to his performance!!

Thanks a million, Sabrina!!!  And if any of you out there have experiences or advice you can share, we would LOVE to hear them!  E.mail me (or message me in the comments) and we'll get this show on the road!

* Q: Are you an orange?

   A: No.

Fiddler On The Roof

We are lucky enough to have a Very Important Person visiting us today - Nana!!  Our house is just one of the stops on her Whirlwind Grandchild Tour, and on her next stop she'll get to meet #11! In addition to getting a fantabulous husband, I also got fantabulous in-laws - and now my kids get a real-life Art Professor for a Nana!  WonderGirl's favorite activity with her Nana is doing art, and today she got a wonderful lesson on the art of Marc Chagall.  And then I talked her into sharing her lesson with US!  Aren't we lucky??  Enjoy!

Mom with a Monet Water lily

On the way to visit WonderGirl, I stopped in the Chicago Art Institute with a friend and was INSPIRED by the beautiful Chagall windows there. Today, WonderGirl wanted to do art with me, and immediately I thought of Marc Chagall who was a Russian Jewish artist who painted about his childhood as dreamlike memories.

• First we played "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof, and soaked in that culture and gorgeous violin music (which incidentally sounds like her Uncle playing).

• Then we found Chagall's fiddler, looked at other memories of his childhood, and talked about how they were little bits of memory all mixed up, sideways and upside down, like dreams.

One painting has an X design, so I drew an X on her canvas and asked her to paint four little memories of her early days in Brazil. Here it is!






Reflections on a Brasilian Memory, acrylic paint on paper  2011

What a treat - thank you so much Nana!!!