Gimme a B! – Tues 27th Oct 2015
By Jeannette | October 27, 2015
One of the things I had planned for this week was for D to practice her flute playing. It’s something that she enjoys taking lessons in at school and, as long as she’s comfortable with it, I’d like her to continue.
It’s such a graceful sounding instrument and it has the benefit of being a lot more portable than, for example, a cello!
So, we had the instrument, the same books that we uses in her lessons at school:
and, hopefully, the willingness on D’s part to have a go.
And then the anxieties arose.
It was a big ask for D, practising on an instrument that she uses within the school environment, using the same workbooks but obviously without her teacher around. The books come with a CD that you can either play along to or just listen to. She wasn’t keen on either.
Eventually she had a go and it was at her own pace. The flute has little coloured stickers on the notes, with “sad face” stickers where you should avoid placing fingertips and “happy faces” in different colours where you should. All very visual, all easy for D to remember.
Here’s what she played (Got the EBGB’s):
And she was reading the notes and everything! Brilliant! Pauses when the notes dictate.
She played quietly but confidently and then asked me if I wanted a go. From an over-anxious girl to one who assumed the role of teacher, telling me where fingertips should be for a certain note, instructing how to make noise.
She’s clearly enjoying her lessons at school and it’s a joy to see her laughing away if my attempted note is a squeak or just a strange noise. She’s found an outlet and it’s fab!
8 Comments
Catie: Imperfect Mum on 28th October 2015 at 12:00 pm.
I love to use the technique of asking children to teach others as it really improves their confidence. Great tip!
Jeannette on 21st November 2015 at 1:32 pm.
Thanks, she really enjoyed trying to teach me, it was lovely to see 🙂
xOjox on 28th October 2015 at 5:38 pm.
My Rj has found real peace, learning to play an instrument. I hope D finds the same love, both home and at school xx
Jeannette on 21st November 2015 at 1:32 pm.
Well done your Rj, I hope it’s going to be calming for her x
tracey (mummyshire) on 29th October 2015 at 10:42 pm.
I think it’s great when the children can be the ‘grown ups’ and teach us something – it gives them confidence to think that they know something that the grown ups don’t!
I played the flute at school and loved being part of an orchestra – I hope D enjoys it as much as I did
xx
Jeannette on 21st November 2015 at 1:30 pm.
That’s brilliant, well done you! She does get a lot of pleasure out of practicing, it’s great to see 🙂
Jane - Our Little Escapades on 3rd November 2015 at 7:15 pm.
That’s amazing and not an easy skill. I tired to learn the flute and it just didn’t jell. I’m so glad she was able to transfer this into the home and practice. It sounded like you both had fun too x
Jeannette on 21st November 2015 at 1:29 pm.
It was a lot of fun and great to have her take the lead too 🙂