Spring Fiddle Recital

Back in May LMS' fiddle teacher Miss A held her spring recital at her house/studio. She has a freshwater pool with plants and critters on the outside edges- very cool. They had just refilled it, brought plants out, etc, so the water hadn't yet settled. Apparently the water is clear once the sediment has settled.

kind of a panoramic view. LMS is bending over a black container, retrieving tadpoles

Speaking of tadpoles, LMS brought some over to show me. She was pretty excited to be able to hold them and touch them.

The kids also found a small turtle and put it in the pool. In the picture below they're pointing at the turtle swimming in the water. It was super fast, which surprised us.

LMS wading in the cattails. I fully expected her to come out soaking wet, but she managed to stay dry :)

After the kiddos thoroughly explored the pool area, it was fiddle time, so we all went into the studio, which is such a great space. In the picture I took below, I'm standing in the doorway of large floor-to-ceiling double doors that were opened to allow people to move in and out freely and also allowed the fresh breezes to move through.

This was not your typical recital where each student gets up and plays a piece for the audience. This was more of an Irish session, where you sit in a circle and people take turns calling out names of songs to play. If you know it, you play, if you don't, you sit it out and/or jump in with the bits you figure out- there's enough repetition that this is possible.

This group was primarily kids around LMS' age, plus some of the older girls jumped in and played with the younger kids. The older girls then played some songs on their own. Depending on the song, Miss A played with them on the fiddle, the guitar, or the banjo.

LMS had a lot of fun, and I think all of the children liked the format. It was much less stressful than a traditional recital would have been, and it gave them the opportunity to play as a group, which is a different skill than just playing by yourself.

At the next session in late fall (Miss A teaches lessons year-round) I may play with them on the flute. I play with LMS at home, so if I just work on memorization a bit, I'll be able to keep up. Good thing flute and violin are the same key. Last fall the Irish music school offered an Irish flute class that I wanted to take, but with TLM being due in the middle of the semester I decided not to try to do it all and to hold off till he was a bit older. I'm hoping they offer the class again this fall, in which case I plan on taking it. From what I've heard, I shouldn't have too many problems, I can start out with my silver flute and I just need to change some techniques and my breathing a bit. I'd like to eventually get a wood Irish flute, but they're a bit pricey, so that'll have to wait.