Drum solo!

[mamagotcha]

My policy is generally not to go looking for lessons until a kid has shown interest for a while, or else you get a 12-month contract and a bored kid wanting to quit once the novelty wears off (I do make intuition-based exceptions... I pretty much picked up Cordell by the scruff of the neck and dragged him to his first Japanese lesson four years ago, and look how that turned out). Julia begged for violin lessons when she was four, and progressed steadily for about seven years with very little needed on my part other than finding the instrument and teacher, and providing transportation.

I've subscribed to the rather radical notion, in this day and age, that passion is the best motivator for kids (really, anybody)... sure, they'll "learn" an instrument or sport or language if we force 'em to (hey, it builds character! it's good for 'em!) but it also breeds resentment of the subject — I was forced to play piano and now will never touch the instrument again... because of learned distaste? genuine lack of talent? potential passion nipped in the bud? I'll never know.

This was the crux of the legal battle between my ex and myself five years ago... the only justification he could come up with for sending the kids to public school, after a lifetime of homeschooling, was that they needed to learn how to deal with unpleasant people and situations. If he had been able to produce even one study that showed benefits children received from institutionalized compulsory schooling over homeschooling, I would have honestly considered it. But that was his only argument, and it wasn't enough to convince me to hand over one third of my parenting duties to a stranger. Thankfully, the court-appointed psychologist and judge agreed with me. (For more on the concept of why compulsory education might not be the way to go, please grab anything written by John Holt or John Taylor Gatto).

Clayton has been continuously passionate about D&D, Magic and gymnastics. He gave martial arts, soccer and trumpet a go, but they didn't stick... he finished out those committments and gave them a rest. He's been asking about drums seriously for about six months now. When we got DDR, he had this great little hopping rhythm, and he's always been very at-home in his body and coordinated with tools. Since we've gotten RockBand, he's been a total monster on the drums. It was pretty clear he was on fire, so I asked around and got a good recommendation for The School of Rock Music. We checked it out on Tuesday night, and he loved it. Last night, after his first 45-minute private lesson and 3-hour band rehearsal, we drove up to look at a Craigslist drumset and got what I think was a steal: a Pearl Forum 5 with cymbal, hi-hat and stool, all in pretty much shiny new condition, for $325.

So begins a new era in our household.

Edited to fix silly html mistake.

Comments

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

I saw some of the School of Rock kids perform at the Middle East in Cambridge about a month ago. They were great, and I talked with a couple of the kids & a couple of the parents who were chaperoning - very cool people all. I hope this works out for you.

[via-lens.livejournal.com]

I hope it goes well for him. L also wants to play drums. He also is ridiculously good at it on Rock Band for a kid of his age. He has natural rhythm but sometimes the mechanics of the game get him off of it.

I can't get him a 'real' drum set right now because of the living situation, but I told him I would consider it when we move.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

The owner of the school called this morning... he may have been totally bullshitting me, but he said that Clay was doing amazing work for his first lesson. The only experience he's had has been RB, so L's probably headed down the same path.

Yeah, I think the neighbors are gonna hate us. Oh darn.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

Oh, and your name came up not once, not twice, but three times today! First your awesome holiday card, which is still in a place of honor on the mantle. Then, Linc asked about a pic of you and L we have on the wall. And now we're setting up the Harry Potter levitation game... not sure if it still works, but Linc pulled it out and we're gonna have a go at it. And now your comment... it's S Day here!

[via-lens.livejournal.com]

Heehee. I am glad that you liked the card. I thought if I could scribble on it and send it to anybody in the way it screamed to be scribbled on when I saw it, it was you and Bill!

Let me know how the levitation game works, if it still does. I've been thinking about snagging a used version of it.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

It actually took me a day or so to notice that you'd done the scribbling, instead of it being part of the original card! (Yeah, I'm slow.) It totally fit the drawing... and it still cracks me up. Thanks!

The game does work, although some pieces are a bit worse for wear. We had to have Cordell do surgery on it a few years ago... the voice recording went strange (I don't think it was the game's fault; more likely a wayward beverage) and I asked him to amputate. The operation was a success and the patient survived, mute but perfectly playable. The floating part works, and we even have two balls left! Linc loves it, even though he's got a ways to go before he earns his Levitation Certificate.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

What say we pack it up and send it to you for a while? Linc's not quite ready for it, and after we played with it today, we'd just tuck it back onto the shelf again... except for the voice, which (trust me) you won't miss, all the pieces are there and in working condition. Whaddaya say? (if "yes," please email your shipping address to me, because I'm lame and don't think I have your current info).

[via-lens.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that sounds fabulous. Thank you! I should really be turning down extra stuff I'd have to move in May, but I bet L would love it and I've always wanted to see it in action.

We take good care of games, so it'll come back to you voiceless but full o'parts. ;)

Bill should have my mailing address from when he got a copy of Office -- I don't think I have a current e-mail addy for you, but if he doesn't have it let me know.

[ennienyc.livejournal.com]

My cousin is married to http://www.aaroncomess.com/ who made drumming a very nice career.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

I loaded the page, and the intro music was definitely intriguing! Clay came wandering out of the kitchen, ears pricked... you could totally see he's trying to follow the drums. He asked for the link so he could try to deconstruct it later... thanks!

[qarin.livejournal.com]

I put Amelia off for three years on violin lessons! Well, I got her an extremely cheap tiny violin after a year, when she was four, for her to play around with. She just started lessons a month ago, and she's (so far) loving it, and now I'm feeling motivated myself and just ordered an extremely cheap full size violin for me (she's using a less-cheapo tiny rented violin). Her teacher encouraged me to get my own violin to learn along with her, and I was like yeah, I was already thinking that!

I am so completely in agreement with you about passion and lessons and learning.

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're doing it too? That's awesome! My friend Kelly started learning violin with her son, and while he's slowed down a bit, she's off and running. Can't wait for my personal concert!

[qarin.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll do it if my cheapo ebay violin can give any hint of a tone. It's so heartening to read all the "why not to be a violin on ebay" posts from real violinists, who refer to them as "violin shaped objects", but I think it'll work out OK. It can always be wall decoration, anyway.