Cello update

Well, he's done it again. We always said Jamie's usual method of doing things, that is to say not doing them at all until he was very good at it, wouldn't work with music, but weirdly he's managed it. He is suddenly flying through songs in cello at a rate his teacher referred to today as "almost unprecedented." He has now gotten through the songs that she had given him until the end of May to do and is still rolling. He was still in beginning strings the first month of this year and now she says she may move him to Performing Strings (the big show here) at the beginning of next year. Typical Jamie.

Really, though to give him credit, he has been quite dogged about it. He does not like doing review practice, and he does not like doing exercises, but he does like learning songs. He has been laboring away for the past month on Bach's "Minuet #2" and actually will pull out his cello unbidden and sit down to work on it. This song seems to have been sort of a turning point for him because he says he wants to play it because he likes it. Then the other day, he informed us that the only thing he wanted for his birthday and Christmas was his own cello. Seriously. His teacher laughed at this and said, "Ha, ha, your kids chose the most expensive instrument there is." Ha ha indeed.

Meanwhile Connor has started the upward march as well, passing two of the "Twinkle Twinkle" variations, and maybe another 1 or 2 today. The main Twinkle theme gave him some trouble because he got to the middle part and just kept looping it, so he would get stuck in Twinkle purgatory. Apparently, on one of his failed attempts, the entire class was rooting for him. His teacher said all the other kids had their fingers crossed as he started and there was a collective groan as he made the misstep. But he persevered too and has moved on. Hasn't asked for his own cello yet, but it's a matter of time it seems.