Opportunity

A friends daughter who is in middle school showed a small demo of how she does her music homework. They have a software site to log on to, and once they log on, the "sheet music" for the homework shows up. They play the musical instrument in front of the laptop and the mic pics it up. If they hit the right notes in sequence, the notes keep lighting up in green. If they hit wrong notes, it shows the note they hit in red and helps them correct.

The teacher grades this online and they know which note is a problem for the student (which they hit consistently wrong) and suggests methods to help them improve!

The software also gives student sheet music access to hundreds of music books.

If I had access to anything like this during my student days, can totally imagine spending hours on this and practicing.

Now when you are older and can afford a music lesson and can with difficulty make time (because your kids can do a lot of things by themselves), your ability to learn a new language like sheet music is more difficult.

Jr. and the little one are going to be given the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of music so they can understand and explore. What they make of it later as they grow older is up to them. We will at least try to give them the basics...

Sometimes, we live through our kids. This is one of those things...

1. They are not going to wait till they are 30 to learn how to swim.
2. They will get to learn Carnatic music formally
3. They can learn dance if they want to and can keep up with it

and now

4. they will get to learn how to read sheet music and the notation.

and maybe Daddy will learn with them...

Hey, I am just old, not dead!

.

Yeah, I know

We were at a South Indian classical music concert this evening. Raghavan Manian was singing and he was doing a fantastic job. It was at a clubhouse in a residential complex and it was more of a social event than a rigid everyone has to be at their seat affair.

Jr. and the little one would come and sit in my lap for a few minutes, then disappear off to the back of the room to play with other kids and come back when they felt like it. Usually I never get to listen to concerts. Even if we do, I would be the one to walk out or run out with a screaming kid on my shoulder.

Today, after a long time, got to sit in one place and listen to a concert. That alone was a blessing.

Towards the end of the concert, he sang "Chinanjiru Kiliye" and at that moment Jr. came next to me and started dancing. (he almost sang it like a film song at places). Told her to sit down and she would not and to distract her, I asked "do you know who wrote this song?"

and she nods her head while dancing and says "Yep"
I was surprised. Did not think anyone at home would have introduced her to Bharathiyar!

Me : Tell me, who wrote this song?

Jr.: Easy. A. R. Rahman

Me : !!!!!!!

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