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Teach Me To Play The Recorder |
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Written by David Baker
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My daughter Abby is seven years old now. As a part of exploring her
world, she has taken an interest in learning to play the recorder. As a
professional musician, I had always hoped she would take an interest in
playing an instrument and now ... here it was!
But wait! Here I had hoped to let her explore her own interests, but I
was very tempted to place my expectations on her as I started teaching.
I had grown up in a very performance-intensive environment, where music
was to be appreciated and done well. Much of that intensity was tempted
to spill out as I started showing her how to play. I wanted to say:
"Wait! You're holding it wrong! No! Don't blow so hard!" My daughter
and I have a very close relationship and I've been blessed with the
chance to spend a lot of time with her. But honestly, I don't know how
to teach kids. Sure, during college, I tutored students on theory,
improvisation, piano technique, electronic synthesis and many other
areas of musical study. But teach a child to play the recorder? I
started pondering on the music I had: basic Renaissance music? Probably
not. Little solo pieces from the twelfth century? That's not going to
cut it. I wiped the dust off the music scorebooks I'd gotten from the
library and put them away.
Let's get real, guys; we're talking about "Hot Cross Buns" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb!"
As I worked hard to slow myself down, I heard her sound her first clear
note. She played the B with a clarity that sounded like a song sparrow
in the stillness of the early morning. She was ecstatic: "Daddy, I did
it!" she cried. Then she did it again and again. She was rearing to go
for her first song: "Hot Cross Buns".
Now perhaps to the musically literate, that doesn't sound like much. I
understand the feeling; I thought that way before I started teaching
her. However, as she was learning the song, I was filled with a sense
of pride just watching her. It wasn't a "Yeah, that's my girl learning
to play" pride, but a "Wow! Look what you can do!" pride. I felt again
the excitement that I had felt when she was just a toddler exploring
her world.
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