An evening of Music

Part of Suzuki training is that the child will perform at recitals for his or her friends. Kiran's mother had expressed interest in getting her to learn from Noah's teacher since she is local, and inexpensive.
So we invited her over and Noah was pretty excited to play for her. This event was a motivation to practice.
I had to pick up Noah from after school early because I was teaching Kung fu class that day and wouldn't be able to pick him up right before the performance. His teacher came over and he practiced and rehearsed. In fact I heard the tail end of it, mistakenly thinking that he had just performed for his friend.
Then Kiran came over and Noah freaked out and bolted. No matter what I said or threatened or bribed I couldn't get him to do what he had just done a second before.
"I don't understand, he performs with you in front of the whole Chinatown..." Mommy said.
"I didn't WANT you to invite friends over I don't WANT to perform in front of friends it's too scary!!!" Noah cried and sobbed, and tantrummed. Kiran quietly read a book.
I took Jonah outside thinking that maybe Noah was acting like this because I was there. Also Jonah was starting to riot because Nah was getting too much attention.
I thought coming back in that he had performed. Apparently they had just gone directly to eating the snacks we had prepared. We had also prepared flowers which remained useless in the fridge. Instead they became Mommy's flowers.
Noah grabbed a bunch of crackers and ate them under the table sneakily like a dog. Apparently Kiran just sort of looked on like, "What's going on." I don't know, I wasn't really there.
The evening ended in failure. Actually it was mentioned that I played violin so I started playing stuff. I think I was going to relate my first time playing twinkle twinkle little star and how nervous I was. Of course now if I didn't play I would be as bad as Noah.
Noah came out of his hiding place as I continued to play more songs. Mostly simple children's tunes.
He came all the way into the living room but he still wouldn't play.
He had played at the Suzuki fest, but other children had also been playing. I think if there were other children playing violin he would have done it too.

Everyone left and then Mommy had to go out to dinner and took Dai Dai with her. She didn't want to talk to Shao. She was very upset of course. As was I.

But I realized that I hadn't really had the chance to play my music in a long time. Usually Mommy stops me actually. So i brought out the dulcimer. Suddenly Noah wanted to play this. But you know what? He had his turn to play. I shooed him away. He sat near me and listened and then fell asleep on this box that you can sit on and put your shoes on. It also serves to hold said shoes. My point is it was not a bed. In fact his legs hung off the side. But the Chinese songs I played do have a way of putting one to sleep. In fact the dulcimer is very trance inducing in general. Who was it that wrote Xanadu? Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I didn't know that I googled it. But my Latin teacher would read it to us and always liked to point at me because I actually played the Chinese Dulcimer, which originates from Turkey or I guess Persia.

As I played through all these songs memories of practicing them over and over at home in Castle Square or in a darkened room with Zhang Lao Shi in Kwong Kow, now BCNC where Moh Goon is, all of these memories flowed back to me like a drug induced dream I suppose.

The thing about the dulcimer is a lot of the music is learned (at least how I learned it) more by patterns that you hit on the instrument. When I play violin, I don't play like that, I just feel where the note is. I suppose if you get good enough at dulcimer it would be the same. As I played some old songs I started to fool around with them and played them differently and notice I could half feel them too.

In any case, although Noah did not complete his mission to perform for a friend, I traveled back through my practicing history and suddenly had this strong urge to pass this on to my son. I CARED about dulcimer and Chinese music. In fact, were it not for that, the Chinese songs would just be quaint little things that I had heard on tapes and CDS or commericals on TV instead of living things that I owned with the spirit between two bamboo stick hammers and metal string. I played a song and then tried to recapture the feeling even though the instrument was somehow cracked and dusty, neglected and indeed abused, much the way the state of my artistic side truly is.

If the Suzuki method didn't work, the traditional Chinese method and performance circuit could accomplish the same thing and yes I now wanted him to have these feelings and experiences of belonging to that same group. Not yet. He is still too young. But I can start teaching the children dulcimer this summer. Yes why not? Real lessons. Short lessons but real ones. Not twinkle twinkle.
I reviewed some songs I could teach. There is that Mongolian one. And then perhaps the one about threading Bamboo or whatever. I never learned the names. Ahhh another comes to mind as I think about it. Three. I doubt they will learn that many over the summer. But we will try, and it will help with drumming, and it will prepare them for when they join that group.