About three weeks ago, the tinwhistles I asked my cousin to buy for me from the US, finally arrived. According to Andrea Corr (yup, she’s my inspiration why I’ve been wanting to learn to play the tinwhistle and teach my kids how to play too), that’s one of the easiest musical instruments to play. I think she started learning when she was just three years old. Of course, being Irish, tinwhistles were already intrinsic in her country back then.
And so it went that when I (and my kids -- believe me, they also enjoy watching the video concerts I have!) got hooked on The Corrs' music, having a tinwhistle became one of my simple dreams. Good thing my cousin was kind enough to order some for me from The Whistleshop.
Less than 24 hours after claiming each of our own tinwhistles, Daniel, Joshua and I were already playing simple tunes. Leland said he’s not interested, preferring to settle with his drawings and sketches. My husband, the guitar and flute recorder expert, got in the fray and tried impressing us with more complex tunes (I must admit he does have good ears for music).
In less than a week, I was able to happily accompany several Corrs songs already, and then some. James would look on, bright-eyed and full of smiles. After all, he’s my very first convert to the Irish band’s music. Needless to say, I’m ecstatic over this new “toy” of mine. Although I’m not so good at trying to play notes by ear, so every now and then I go over to the piano and try out the tunes there first before attempting them on the tinwhistle. I guess I’ll forever remain the notes-dependent kind of musician. But I get by :)
The music-making didn’t stop there though. Long after Joshua got tired of practicing, Daniel kept on playing his tinwhistle almost every moment of everyday, sometimes threatening to burst all our eardrums with the off-key pieces hahaha. When my brother (who’s a classical guitar teacher in UP Diliman) came home and we were discussing about the university’s summer music workshops, Daniel said he wanted to learn to play the violin too. Day after day, my little one’s decision didn’t falter. His resolve finally convinced us that he’s serious about violin lessons.
So last week, my feet suffered terribly in trying to accompany my brother and Daniel from one music store to another, finding a violin that would fit my son’s size. Three hours, two malls, an MRT ride and a dozen stores later, we found the right one. Whew!
By summer’s end, I’m looking forward to Daniel’s violin recital. It wouldn’t matter if all he would be able to play is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I’m sure, I’ll still be the proudest mom in the audience there.
No comments:
Post a Comment