Heading to Class

Week 14

On Friday, Nov. 10, The Maestro, his mom, and his little sister came to observe my string methods class at school. The college students were as delighted by The Maestro as he was by them. They had been prepared beforehand with practice bows, and performed all the steps that The Maestro has been learning, including the Rocket Chant. Getting trumpet players to wave their arms and chant “round and round like the great big sun” is really something, but they were more than willing to do it for The Maestro’s sake. After they performed all of the rhythms on their practice bows, they were allowed to get out their real bows and play the same rhythms. Riley and I had hoped that this would help The Maestro see where he was headed in his cello progression. At the end of the class, I had them perform “Ode to Joy” and all the Twinkle variations for The Maestro. He hid away, which surprised me, but Riley explained later that it was too loud for him. At the end each of the students told The Maestro what their major instrument was. He nodded with understanding as they named the trumpet, bassoon, clarinet, trombone, and tuba. I asked him which was bigger, a euphonium or a tuba. He responded, “A sousaphone.”

That night the Elwoods invited me over for dinner. As I played with The Maestro and his little sister, I took opportunities here and there to talk about “first finger” or to tap out various Twinkle rhythms. After dinner I read The Maestro two bedtime stories. He chose the books. One was about a marching band, and the other about a Suzuki violin student. As I read the Suzuki book I changed the words to talk more about his own lessons, and what he would be doing in the future if he kept practicing.