Tonight Noelle and I attended the informational meeting for prospective orchestra participants. I was kind of dreading this meeting. Not because I don't like stringed instruments, I play the violin myself. (I use the term "play" very loosely.) I was dreading the meeting because of the instrument that Noelle had her heart set on. The string bass.
She told me, "I like big, low instruments Mom." Before the demonstrative concert, I tried to talk her into the violin. We already HAVE a violin. She just couldn't get past the lure of the string bass. Her eyes were glued to them during the whole concert. I persuaded, I begged, I pleaded. I stopped just short of bribery. Then I sat quietly, pondering. I'm sure she could see the creases in my forehead as I weighed my options. I knew, KNEW, that she would be crushed if I forced her to play the violin. But I also knew that "what the heck are we going to do with a string bass?" The brochure from the music rental store listed the prices of rentals, in increasing order. Last was the string bass with the words. "Ask about pricing". That couldn't be good.
And then I pictured a middle aged Noelle, laying on a couch in the office of a therapist somewhere explaining, "It all started when my mom wouldn't let me play the string bass in the 5th grade." I gulped and walked over to the orchestra teacher to discuss the situation. It turns out that the school rents the instrument for a very, very reasonable price. Noelle would leave it in the orchestra room most of the time and bring it home on the weekends to practice. The instructor asked if we had a big enough vehicle to transport it to and from school. Why yes we do.
I signed the sheet filling in the blank for the instrument of choice. String bass. The grin on Noelle's face confirmed my decision. Bring on the blues baby.
*The title of this post is dedicated to my techno nerd husband. If you understand it, you are officially a techno nerd too.
21 comments:
We always got the jokes about having a big enough family for a ball team, and so do you, but do you realize this could be the beginning of a small orchestra?!
The Von ______ Family Strings!
Explain the title- I'm clueless...
Does it count if I know the significance of the title because my husband is the techno nerd? Is it possible to be nerdy by association?
Eva- That's where I'm at too. I'm going with the nerdy by association clause. I don't want to think that I could possibly be nerdy of my own volition.
Momzie- Here is the wikipedia article explaining All Your Base Are Belong to Us
I'm definitely nerdy by association as well. very nerdy. but only nerdy enough to know that that's nerdy, not enough to know what it actually means.
You are the best mom ever!!
You won't regret letting her play the string bass instead of the violin. My daughter wanted to play the trumpet in the school band even though I had a clarinet and really, really tried to talk her into playing that. She had her heart set on playing the trumped so we bought her a new trumpet. She LOVES her trumpet(even 5 years later)! I don't think she would have had as much fun if I would have made her play a different instrument.
My mom made me play the clarinet, because that's what we owned, and guess what? I hated it! I really think you did the right thing, even if it wasn't the most convenient. You took your little girl's feelings into consideration.
i'm so happy she gets to play the string bass! and it's affordable! when i was little i wanted to play the bassoon. :) what's even funnier is that after learning to play the clarinet i *still* wanted to play it. so i guess i can relate.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
"why yes we do"- i love it! go noelle!!
Sweet Noelle, I just love that girl. I admire her string bass-playing aspirations, and she'll be so darn cute while playing it. When I entered 5th grade, I told the band instructor that I wanted to play the harp. Funny how my rural school had no place for a harp in the 5th grade concert band (the French horn suited me fine)?! Way to go Noelle!
You are a good mommy. I wish Noelle success with her bass.
I played the violin too! I really wanted to play cello, but my hands weren't big enough. My husband played/plays the viola.
I thought I was nerd, but you have now proved that I am not!! hehehe
What a good Mama you are! I would say that the cost of a string bass is far cheaper than therapy...however if its not the string bass it will be something else later in life...did that just sound cynical...oops...it slipped out...forgive me!! LOL
cute story!
How long do you think it'll take before she can play bass on the worship team? we need another one badly!
Way-to-go on letting Noelle play the Bass! Growing up, my mom played violin, dad the steel guitar, my sister the bassoon, brother trumpet, I played the flute (and always wished I'd picked a not-so-popular instrument.) I agree with Noelle, the low sounding instruments are the coolest!
My DH gets it--he immediately went into a long [yawn] explanation for me.
Playing a big instrument is way cool. I marched with a bass drum and LOVED it! I love that your daughter wanted to play something different!! :)
Hi Heather,
I recently found your blog and have been reading some older entries. I was reading your July 4th post from last year and you mentioned about a parade in small town Iowa and knew I just had to comment. I'm from a small town in Iowa to, growing up in the country and still live in small town Iowa in the country about 15 miles from where I grew up. I love reading about your growing family and the things they do. Some of the things your kids do sound so familiar to some of the antics we pulled as kids. I'm the middle child of 13 kids (if there is such a thing as middle child with that many kids). You are a wonderful mom to your children and I look forward to reading more of your blog.
Nancy in eastern Iowa
lol im sure it will be worth it in the end...
Aparently I'm no techno nerd. Shock! But I am so happy for your girl. You are a good mom.
Yes, it is possible to be nerdy by association. I too have a techo-nerd hubby, and I love that because of him, I caught the reference. :)
I do not know the significance of the title.......my hubby probably wouldn though....
I found you through BooMama and I wanted to commend you on not forcing the violin! When I was in the 6th grade, I was guilted into playing the saxophone and not what I really wanted to play (the flute - at the time!). While I did enjoy playing the Alto Sax in years to come there is still residual contempt at being guited into ANYTHING!
You are a good Mom!
In HIM -
Mindy
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