August 2007

More butterflies

August 27, 2007 20:31

If you want to take a break from whatever you’re doing and look at something pretty—-more of my butterfly photos--, just click on the image below.

PS. Check out my website.

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A lot of my kid students (6-12 years old) say interesting things. Some of them will make you laugh, and others are downright profound. I present you with a sampling here to brighten the days of cucumber season (see Mara Gerety’s blog of 8/5/07.)

I know why I don’t do that right. It’s because I never think about it while I’m playing.

I’m so glad I started playing the violin and didn’t drop out. It’s fun to listen to music on the radio, but it’s more fun to listen to music when I play it. .

Sometimes playing the violin is a pain and sometimes it makes me feel good. I’m glad I’m doing it because it’s something I can do well even though I’m only a kid. I even impressed the grownups when I played for them the other night. .

This piece is hard. It has too many thirteenth notes. .

I call this piece (Etude in Suzuki Book 1) “Hey Dude.” .

(Re squeaky sound made by bowing too close to the bridge) The bow is crying because it hurts when I put it too close to the bridge. .

(Re spacing of first three fingers for F#G#A on E string) These two fingers (wiggles first and second) are friends, and these two fingers (wiggles second and third) are good friends. .

When you’ve memorized something and you know it really well, it stays with you forever, like bubble gum in your hair. .

When you first play a piece, the notes tell you what to play. When you know the piece really well, the music tells you what to play. .

My favorite piece so far is Oid (theme from last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth). .

To be a violinist, do you have to know what the different keys are? (from a kid who will not practice scales) .

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Relaxing with butterflies

August 19, 2007 22:59

I’ve been plagued with migraines for a couple of weeks (hence my lack of blogging), but when I started feeling better, I took my camera and went to the local butterfly garden. It is in a large, climate-controlled tent. The climate is controlled to suit the butterflies, not the humans. It’s quite warm and humid in there. There are a lot of brightly colored butterflies flying around and, fortunately for photographers, some of them occasionally sit still. The staff leaves out cut fruit to attract the butterflies who want to feed. There is also an emergence box, where chrysalises hang on rods until the butterflies within emerge and spread their wings out to dry. Just outside the hot, humid part of the tent are eggs and caterpillars, so visitors can see butterflies at all stages of their life cycle.

I was watching the butterflies eating fruit when I noticed some kids carefully putting their fingers next to the butterflies, obviously hoping that the butterflies would walk onto their fingers. I told the kids’ mother that the staff supplies brushes for that purpose, but she was Chinese, with limited English, and couldn’t understand me. I went to one of the staff, got a brush, and demonstrated to the Chinese family. They were so happy. The brother would get a butterfly to come onto the brush and then hand it to his younger sister. (In traditional Chinese culture, the oldest child takes responsibility for the younger ones.)

The girl was fascinated by each butterfly on her brush.