Yep.
And translucent essences too…
We are in Denver, staying at an extended stay hotel while Russ works in Castle Rock this week and next. We have a 650sq ft 1 bedroom apartment, in which we are maintaining a dog, turtle, two adults, two violins, a guitar (mini size), three, no four computers, Rover, a load of books and drawing materials, some hamsters (4 to be exact, well, 5, but his name is Elephant), and some Moon Dough.
I’m exhausted. It’s raining, snowing, yuck… and somehow, peaceful.
Lils decided she didn’t want to nap again today, but relented.
I owe her, big. She said so.
Naps are just so boring. Yeah… I wouldn’t know. However, in effort to not go loco on her, I insisted she lie down for a while in the bedroom while I do something for myself for a few minutes. And so what exactly is it that I do, do you suppose?!
Shut up.
I have my roasted, salted sunflower seeds and coffee… and silence, but for my keystrokes. Happiness.
I decided I needed to torture my neighbors this afternoon, so I launched iTunes (14 minutes later, and a slew of disconnected directories) and tuned my violin. She heard me tuning and decided to explain to one of the many creatures within her care (hamsters, fairies, dough dogs, and whatever else she has in there) that what they were hearing was her mama. The fact that she demonstrated an outward awareness of the noise coming from my general vicinity is intriguing because typically she either just picks up her own instrument and joins in, or ignores me completely. Today was rather a hybrid awareness that blossomed.
I played a bit while waiting for the software and when it finally loaded, I started with a song Lily knows well. Within the first 30 seconds or so, she came out of the bedroom humming, with a very serene smile on her face. She was singing the part the piano carries through the initial phrases of the song. And so I stopped playing with it for a moment to acknowledge her, to which she returned a smile and kept humming, walking over to my computer to listen closer. I resumed playing along with the music.
This song, the KEETAR song, has a few different instruments; at one point in the song each has a solo or forefront part. We had made it half way through and she said that I needed to play what the keetar was playing, because the violin was already just fine (as recorded). So, I switched to something more along what the guitar plays, and she started to sing with the violin instead of the piano. Russ will understand the magnitude of this, as he knows the song, but for others who are musicians, if you’re interested in hearing the piece in question let me know.
She has clearly identified instruments by sound for months now, maybe a year plus, but she has never directed herself or another person outwardly as to which part/instrument/musical line should be played or played with. This means that what has, until now, been an awareness and comprehension, just became a tool. She now controls this awareness in a way that allows her to use the comprehension and DO something with it. Though perhaps simplistic to some, at her age, and at the level of complexity she is demonstrating this musically, I can’t help but take notice and toy with the concepts a good bit.
When someone has the ability to mentally order and organize music in their head, we call them musical. When they do this while playing an instrument, we call them a musician. So, what do we call it when they play the instrument, demonstrate the ordering, and organize multiple parts and instrument sections, all at the same time? – We call them Russ. And not surprisingly, his daughter seems to be demonstrating similar tendencies.
It makes me smile, of course… I’m the mama and was blessed with a wonderful “proud mama moment” this afternoon. But as a musician… watching her today, and interacting with her as she engaged me and herself with the music.. knowing what is there – under the surface…
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And so, with a satisfaction that her Papa can read in my smirk, even if no one else is aware of it, I will leave you with the tiny bit of this experience I was able to capture beyond my words.
I will learn, eventually, to not try to help… (Watch, you’ll notice that as soon as I suggest how to do something, she concludes.) While some might see this as adversarial and not desirable, I love how non-compliant she is, and just how absolute her need to define her own experiences seems to be developing.