If Catholics believed in reincarnation, I would suspect Mikey was once Teddy Roosevelt. He is my petite lion. I know this about him, and I knew his competitive nature would overtake him once I showed him Youtube videos of boys his age playing the clarinet. One boy played jazz really well and had videos stretching over 3 years. It was cool to watch his skills improve over time, and I knew when Mikey asked me hours later to play the videos again that my boy would learn the clarinet with a steely eye on Alexander2010.
Yesterday was the first day of band camp. Nico did very well and asked if he could attend camp for the rest of his life. Mikey did well, too. His teacher said he did great for never having touched a clarinet before. There was one other clarinet player there–a girl, and two other players were missing–but that didn’t bother Mikey in the least. So far, he doesn’t see instruments as overtly feminine or masculine. (Good, because they’re not.) Cool or less cool, yes, but he’s okay with the clarinet. In fact, since black is the standard clarinet color, it’s automatically more cool than other instruments in his eyes.
Mikey was annoyed after his session got out to see one of his best friends and a bunch of other boys waiting for the Garage Band mixing class to start, but logic won out. When I pointed out he would show up to school in September with months of instrument practice already underway, and that he could possibly be one of the leaders in the band…well, that’s all my little Bully needed to hear.
He was a little tired when he got out of camp– “Mom, the breathing!” –but it was nothing tacos and a cookie couldn’t remedy. I asked him if he would play for me when we got home, and if he would let me video him as well. He was like those cartoons that take off so fast they leave their shadow behind. Within seconds he was back with his clarinet case and a rough idea of what he wanted to say to announce his musical debut.
We had to do a few takes because someone’s little brother was making too much noise, making him laugh, or running around behind him. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I’m no artist! Plus, there was a time or two where his clarinet squawked like a goose that just realized it’s Christmas.
Squaaawkkewrnwfkk!!
“Gah! You can go ahead and delete that, mom!”
Squaaawkkewrnwfkk!!
“Cut! You deleted that, right mom?”
Here is the final video we took, even though he asked me to please shoot it again since I humiliated him with an “I love you” at the end. You can see how out of breath he is after take-358. Note at 18 seconds his begrudging admission that the clarinet is, indeed, a fun instrument. And finally, that humming you hear in the background is Nicholas. He is so excited he can’t help himself. It’s better than the random bursts of recorder notes that happened during takes-241-254.
You always talk about him being such a little professor but I wasn’t expecting it. Too adorable!
“As I was saying….”
Yup, the little professor! And he was toned down in the video, too. I’ve been asking him to do book and documentary reviews, but no dice. He cracks me up!
Mikey is going to love band. My husband played clarinet in the band. There are several boys who play clarinet in the band, with my kids. It’s a non-issue. I have three kids in band. They have learned a lot more than music.
I agree. I really think Mikey is going to LOVE it.
Aw, way to go! Man, I forgot how hard it is to get sound out of a clarinet — watching Mikey brought it all back to me. Hope the boys enjoy the rest of their week at camp.
The camp is a month long! And, yes, getting consistent sound is hard! He did better (not much better) in earlier videos–which I kept!–but he won’t let me show them. By this point he was tired! :)
Oh wow, a month! That is cool; gives them time to really get into it.
I absolutely LOVE this post and I love the video even more! What a great beginner attitude! Please post more videos as he progresses!
I will, and gladly!
I am having band regret. My kids just weren’t interested, and I didn’t push it. I have so little musical aptitude (although I did play the clarinet for a year myself), I told myself that we just aren’t a musical family and let it go. Reading this, I wish I’d pushed all of us out of our comfort zone. He’s lucky to have you as his mom. There are so many benefits to being in band; I saw it all the time with my students.
I’m lucky that my boys showed an interest. I, on the other hand, showed no interest in piano and my parents forced me to go. And by forced, I mean dragged me kicking and screaming.
Do you know what my fondest memories are of my childhood, and for what I’m most grateful? You guessed it. Playing the piano.
My gawd he is SO freaking adorable. And I loved the ending. And I’m glad you kept it! I hope he wants to record his progress after each week. It will be awesome to see the changes! Of course, Mikey being Mikey, he’ll want you to delete the earlier ones from YouTube all together once he’s better. “I was awful mom! You just HAVE to take them off!”
Ya know, like the dinosaur drawing.
Oh, he was already grumbling this morning when I showed the video to my mom. Everyone told him to hush. He rolled his eyes. :)
Um. How cute is he! Hope he continues to enjoy the clarinet.
Mikey loves a challenge, so I think this will be a good thing. ;)
“But hey, it’s the first time I’ve ever played the clarinet, so…”
He is TOO STINKIN’ CUTE!! Thanks for sharing.
That right there is the attitude I was talking about in my baseball perfectionism post. I love it. It doesn’t occur to him that he won’t, at some point, be fantastic at whatever he wants to do.
This made my day. You all are SO CUTE. And your sentence about squawking like a goose at Christmas?! Pure writing gold. :)
I never realized until I started posting videos the last couple of months how often I laugh and giggle. O_o Mercy.
We do love you too Mikey – hope that doesn’t make you feel weird!
Not at all! I find him quite loveable. :)
Loved seeing the personality you’ve described in real (ahem, video) life! Thanks for sharing with us. Last week my mom found my recorder (and lesson book!) from 30 years ago. Sophia is taken with it, and it’s simple enough that even I think I could teach her. So we’re working on it this summer, and I’m excited that she’ll start to learn some fundamentals of music: rhythm, tempo, notes. Kids this age are so, so great. I don’t miss the baby stage at all!
Mikey, as you know, looooooooved the recorder. It just clicked with him. It’s so fun!! This is a great age. The older they get, the more fun I have.
Fabulous!
“Next time I’ll be more advanced.” OH MY WORD is he a love!!
And he believes it, too. He’s already imagining himself leading the orchestra next year.
I have to say – as a clarinetist and music teacher, who married a fellow clarinetist – how exciting! If Mikey finds the breathing frustrating, tell him it’ll help his ab muscles – and in a far more fun way than sit-ups :-) It’s also the way everyone breathes when we sleep, so he already knows how to breathe this way; he just needs to remember.
Seriously, though – how awesome!
Hahahaha! I don’t know if you know this, but my boys are obsessed with getting a 6-pack, especially Mikey. The other day I tried blowing out of the clarinet and I told Mikey that if he plays consistently there is no way he won’t have washboard abs because WOW. What a work out.
He turned to me and said, “I know, and I freaking CAN’T WAIT.”
Jules, your son is going to have soooooo many admirers once he gets to that age… smart young lad who is articulate and lovely to his mother? Adorable!
I am thoroughly impressed for day 1! I remember not being able to get a sound out of the clarinet at all. Great job Mikey!
That made my day. Clarinet sounds like it was a great choice for him! He also sounds great for it being day one! :-)
ADORABLE. He’s amazing. So confident, so realistic. You must be a great Mum.
LOVE the video. So cute.