Montessori School Special Music Session

May 29, 2006 at 2:53 AM

Got to get them young. Interested in violin and classical music, that is. Inspired by our editor Laurie, I volunteered to do a 1/2 hour show and tell on violin at our son's Montessori school. The staff and teachers at the school were all excited about the idea, and thought it would be excellent exposure for the preschoolers. They gathered the entire school for an afternoon assembly. My son, who attends the school, had asked his teacher if he could play the violin and sing a song. We scheduled several times, but my boss always called a meeting and I had to postpone. Finally, I decided to chance the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I promised them and they had already told the children, because in the morning when I went to drop off my son, several girls asked me if I was going to play the violin. Indeed I had a close call, my boss suggested a Friday afternoon meeting, but fortunately all of the marketing folks were on vacation.

Friday afternoon arrived, and I left work early. I was actually a bit nervous, and when I arrived, the entire school (must be around 80 children and some parents) were sitting in the central area clapping and singing "Bingo", one of the songs my son was going to play. My son was all ready to play and jumped up and down. He wasn't the least bit nervous. We set him up and he played several songs from his "Essential Elements" book, accompanied by the CD. Then it was my turn. I held up my old Tyrolean violin, that is believed to be 200 years old. It was old, brown, blackened and dented. I asked the children how old their grandmother was, then how old their great grandmother was, and then told them that this violin was older than their great great grandmother. It was a special violin, who used to be a tree somewhere in the forests of Germany. I explained that back then there was no radio, no TV, and definitely no computers. So when people wanted to get together and have a party or a dance they needed someone to play the violin. Then I played the Brahms Hungarian Dance #5. We then passed around my son's 1/8 size violin, while I taught them "Every Good Boy Does Fine" and "Every Cat Ate Fish" for them to learn the line and space notes. My son is a real ham and wanted to play more songs, so he played several more familiar ones like "Tisket, Tasket", and the Happy Birthday song while his classmates sang along. He also sang acapella "Amazing Grace", a song I taught him in Sunday school.

Finally we passed out the coloring picture of the violin for them to take home and color, as well as a parent handout I had modified from the one Laurie sent me. It was only 30 minutes, but it was very rewarding for me and I got a lot of good comments from the parents who had stayed while picking up their children. I hope the seed was planted and that the allure of the violin will take hold on some little soul out there.

From Karin Lin
Posted on May 29, 2006 at 3:21 AM

That's wonderful, Clare! I'm sure the kids got a lot out of your visit, and it sounds like you did too. Thanks for sharing.

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on May 29, 2006 at 6:17 AM

That sounds great. I keep looking for an opportunity to do something like that. The public schools around here are not open to anything outside the core curriculum. I'll check into a Montessori school. Thanks for the idea.

From Clare Chu
Posted on May 29, 2006 at 10:40 PM

Hi Pauline, yes, Montessori is all about different experiences. The children learn at their own pace and focus on things they are interested it. They lay out all of the interesting stations and let the children migrate between the stations without forcing them to do any activity. Most children are very curious and surprisingly they all did pay attention and sit quite still for the presentation. Meanwhile I can imagine the public school kids might have thrown spitwads at us! Maybe we can collectively think of a story about a violin, and narrate to them. I like Laurie's idea about the Enchanted Violin.

From Eileen Geriak
Posted on May 30, 2006 at 12:03 AM

Hello Clare, I read through your blogs. Aren't you glad you picked that old piece of wood back up again ! :D
I was especially interested in your descriptions of the proper way to hold a bow and the fingering and such. I'll have to check what I'm doing next time I pick up my stick..which will be tomorrow. I have taken the day off to bring my 10year old son to the dentist...so I can play all day when we get back..in between mothering the poor lad, he has to have 2 teeth removed to prepare for braces...poor fella.
Wonderful on your presentation for the school. We had a group of suzuki students play for the younger kids at our school recently. They did great ! and the kids in the audience listened politely and really seemed to enjoy the music. I do hope some were encouraged to give it a go ! I live not far from UCONN and they have a decent music program there along with a great orchestra at the High School. I'm hoping my son sticks with it and that I'll be going to his concerts there in a few years ! :-D

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Montessori School Special Music Session

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