Making Music

My parents gave me a music book for Christmas. It is the viola and piano parts to Lord of the Rings. Ken and I decided to give it a try. We always have fun playing together, though we don't do it very often. I spent a few minutes tuning and brushing up with a few scales. Ken practiced the accompaniment parts. We played for about an hour before our out of shape fingers needed a rest. There were a lot of wrong notes and some key signeture problems, but we had a blast.

I started playing the viola when I was nine and actively played until I was 19. I didn't play for a several years but started again about a year ago. I play about 1-2 times a month, usually when no one else is around to hear my screeching. I love the versatility of a viola. It can play almost all the same notes as a violin, but it is bigger which gives it a deeper, richer tone. It has the same strings as a cello- an octave higher- but it is easier to carry around than a cello. Violists play in alto clef, though at times we also play in treble and very occasionally in bass. That means that I have the ability to read and play in three clefs. I can't tell you the note names in treble and bass, but I can play them on both a viola and piano. Pretty cool, huh.

Ken started playing piano at seven. He mostly plays classical music and in high school he practiced 4-5 hours every day. He took the AP Music Theory class in high school and got the second highest score in the class. He has an amazing musical ear. I love to hear him play.

Nathan is very interested in music. Kenny likes to listen to music in the background, but Nathan becomes memorized by it. He tries to play the piano all the time. He was so excited to play my viola. He did the bow (with help) and I fingered Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I love how excited he gets for any type of music.