(no subject)

[the_rck]

Cordelia needs to make a decision between continuing with her viola and doing something called ILT (Information, Literacy, and Technology). ILT sounds fascinating and is the only way to guarantee getting time in the library to check out books, but we're leaving the decision up to Cordelia. She's inclined to go with her viola because she doesn't want to give up on it (she knows it would pretty certainly be giving up on it permanently) and because her two local friends will be doing orchestra. She hopes they can practice together. The boy wants to switch from cello to bass. The girl hopes to start viola but might end up with something Cordelia refers to as 'baritone.' Baritone what isn't clear.

I wish Cordelia had the option of doing both viola and ILT. The opportunity to continue her instrument is important. She won't have that chance again. But ILT is a great opportunity, too. The kids who do that are going to do some stuff online that other kids won't get to. They're also going to have input on upgrading the library to include materials for middle schoolers. They'll plan and produce PSAs. They'll do a few other things, too.

I e-mailed Cordelia's soccer coach, and he suggested trying to find a different team. The impression he gave me is that what he's doing is aimed at the eighth graders more than the sixth graders. Based on what we pried out of Cordelia, a big part of her difficulty with the strategy stuff was that he used terms she wasn't familiar with. She's used to talking about defense, mid-field, and offense. This coach used terms like (if I'm remembering correctly) halfback and striker. Cordelia had no idea what those meant and was afraid to ask.

Scott did confront Cordelia last night about not going to the game. He was not pleased at all. He required that, if she doesn't get on the other team we're trying to get her on, she go to next week's game for her current team. He wants to prove to her that the game hasn't changed. I really hope she gets onto this new team (it depends on whether or not another girl who's having trouble with scheduling drops out). I don't think the current team is at all tenable. I'm also not sure how the current coach would feel about having Cordelia at next week's game when she's not going to this week's practices.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Given what my sister played for a while, I suspect 'baritone' refers to this horn.

[the_rck]

Thanks!

If this other girl plays that, she won't really be able to practice with Cordelia and her brother because strings are orchestra and horns are band and the two classes don't learn the same music. Of course, practicing together might not work anyway with two sixth graders and a fifth grader. They'll be doing different music anyway.

[kyrielle]

I'd do the instrument, in Cordelia's shoes - the other can be picked up later. But the school making it an either-or this year by scheduling is unfortunate.

[the_rck]

I suppose they had to do something as an either/or. The big middle schools make the choice be between instrumental music and vocal music, but everyone at Cordelia's school is going to do vocal music (which we're glad of because Cordelia has a very nice voice, and we'd like her to get the opportunity to develop it).

[lemon_badgeress]

I did cello in elementary and middle school, and I was /good/ for my age. Not prodigy level good, just, y'know, good. And then I moved to a new state and the high school didn't do orchestra and without that external stimulus I dropped it cold, because I didn't like to practice. I have never stopped regretting that choice, since I grew old enough to realize what I'd done. :/

[the_rck]

I'm sorry you lost that.

I do very much want Cordelia to continue with viola. I think she'd regret it if she gave it up (though she would have if her friends were doing ILT).

I just hope they teach the kids how to tune their instruments this year. Last year, the teacher did it at the beginning of every class session, so Cordelia had no idea how to do it when she brought her viola home over the summer. We tried to figure it out from YouTube videos, but she never got the hang of it. I think she was terrified she'd accidentally break the viola. That means that our $50 rental fee was largely wasted because Cordelia didn't play over the summer because her viola wasn't in tune.

[sorcycat.livejournal.com]

One way to practice viola would be to find an alternate ensemble. I'm not sure about any orchestras in the area aimed at middleschoolers. It occurred to me that with two friends doing stringed instruments, you almost have enough for a string quartet. That's 2 violins, a viola, and a cello. Maybe you can entice the music director to work with such a group after school, if the kids can put one together. Btw, the baritone might be a referring to a brass instrument that looks like a tuba but is half the size. It's sometimes interchangeable with the term "euphonium." It's a very pretty and difficult instrument.

[the_rck]

Well, with Cordelia's two friends, it would be two violas and a bass. I don't know if anybody's going to be playing cello. Well, out of fifty kids, there must be at least one. Cordelia has a friend who played violin last year, but I don't know if she's doing it this year, and she can't do anything immediately after school because she has to be home with her younger brother (also, her family, like ours, has issues with transportation because only one parent drives).

Also, I'm pretty sure the orchestra teacher won't be at the school full time. Last year, we shared the teacher with three or four other schools. This year, we have four times as many kids but still not enough to justify full time. Looking at the schedule, I think we'll have the instrumental music teachers (different teachers for orchestra and band) three days a week for about two hours or, possibly, five days a week for one hour. Cordelia's scheduled time is in the mornings, so I would guess that all orchestra times will be and that the teacher will be elsewhere in the afternoons.