does anyone have a really musical family? where do you all get your musical talent from?!!!

my family isnt that musical, my mum used to play guitar and im teaching her the sax but thats about it.all my brothers are half learning things every now and again but they always seem more interested in playing football!! but the youngest loves music(he is 1 1/2) ive got him to blow down a recorder and he loves listening to me play things, im trying to make him the next Mozart lol!!!

Nat

my family like, blue grass, country blues. blues,.

i also take a taste for music like the black beauty theme tune, i dont know what kind of music that is though

My mum used to play harmonica, many of my relations play the piano and my cousin is a piano teacher.
My mum is into country music (Dolly Parton and stuff)
I like classical music, rock, some pop, indie, stuff like that!

cool, ask your mum if shes heard of, doc watson, elizibeth cotten, reverant gary davis,
gillian welch

all my family are violinists, well, irish trad fiddlers actually! and I mean ALL my family, like all my aunts, uncles, cousins etc! a few have given up now and one of my cousins played the viola and another played the cello, just so they could have a string quartet in their family! i'm the only random horn player!

im the only person who plays an instrument in my family! my cousin used 2 play clarinet and my brother got his grade 1 in singing but they both gave them up! my brother wants 2 play piano now but cant find a teacher. apart from that no one else is musical!

a couple of people in my family play instruments but none are as musical as me.i can play several instruments but mainly flute, piano, steel pans and african drums.
Naomi xxxx

I'm from a family of Viennese musicians and a musicologist (now deceased) who came over just before the Second World War to escape from Hitler. My mother raised me while whistling "Eine Kleine Nacht Musik" until I knew it by heart before I could speak (weird I know). She also taught me to recognise musical intervals from as early as I can remember, which has been an enormous bonus, although I can't help finding it frustrating when other people can't recognise them as easily (I have to hide this).

However, with all that success and pressure I kept the musicality but went the other way into rock, folk and finally jazz, although I now enjoy all of it after a couple of decades of rebellion.

Violinia

None of my family are musical - most of them can't even sing in tune! Nobody knows where I got it from. My dad is a bit of a music fan though, he has a huge rock CD collection. My mum's gradually getting more interested in music because of all the concerts she has to come and watch.

Noone has any idea where I get my love for music from! Well my grandad played the clarinet but I never met him(died before I was born) and my mum sings but thats it really! I suppose in a way its a good thing because when ur practising they dont know what mistake your making! lol

The only musical ancestory i have was my great grandfather who was a composer and played many instruments: flute, clarinet, piano (aparently, despite having hands the size of dustbin lids, could play very daintily) , he was a singer, and so are my grandads sisters. Can these things skip so many generations, or am i the odd one out?! well, apart from that my cousin had guitar lessons for a few weeks but then gave it up...!

QUOTE

my brother wants 2 play piano now but cant find a teacher

Go to Musicteachers.co.uk (I think that's right but I'll check it and repost if not!)
and you can do a search on piano + location and find teachers listed for your area.

This is a really interesting thread - I'm full of admiration for all you people who say your families aren't particularly musical. It just shows what motivation plus determination can achieve.

My parents were musical but only in an amateur sense; my dad played the violin apparently (I say that because I don't remember ever hearing him play it! - I guess it was when he was younger, there was certainly an old violin in the attic). We had a piano, and he could play easy tunes in a teach-yourself tutor very slowly; I can remember lying in bed some nights when I was little, listening to him work out the notes, and hoping he would play the stuff with chords in because the sounds seemed so much more interesting! I didn't like the single-note-in-each-hand things nearly as much.

We had a gramophone and a collection of 78's; I can remember liking William Tell overture and Roses from the South (waltz). My mum had always wanted to play but not had the chance (she lived near to a piano teacher when she was a child and used to hang around listening outside the window !!) so she was determined I should have piano lessons and I started at 6 or 7. She took me to a concert as soon as she thought I was old enough (concerts were for grown ups mainly in those days lol).

Later on I joined choirs, added other instruments, and got interested in other kinds of music - some of which my parents didn't like at all !

Maggie

QUOTE

also taught me to recognise musical intervals from as early as I can remember, which has been an enormous bonus, although I can't help finding it frustrating when other people can't recognise them as easily

Doesn't teaching make you think...... I often find that I have to explain things for which I never needed an explanation.

I have a musical family. Between us we play(or used to): recorders, guitar, violin,cornet, clarinet, piano , piano accordian, concertina,flute and alto sax! Since then though the violin, guitar and cornet have been given up.
Also my mum's a music teacher which comes in handy if i need help. Sadly we usually just end up arguing!

my family isn't musicial at all... none of my parents know how to play an instruments.....this includes my aunt, uncle, grandparents etc....

Well none of my family ( me included really) are particularly musical, my mum did piano lessons for two years but gave it up, my sister plays the recorder, I'm on flute and recorder, my dad apparently played the drums once with his 'rock group' (called 'The Zodiacs', he insists it was a cool name in the 70's, my mum reckons they had 'stars in their eyes'!) my grandad plays the harmaonica, but completely by ear ( so there must be some aural skills in family somewhere- they must have by passed me!) but beyond that I don't really know.

Now I've listed it, actually we are quite musical, thats quite strange...

I'm not sure 'musical genes' make much difference though, I'm sure I read somewhere that all people are naturally musical...

But I guess having plenty of encouragement helps.

Wish someone had taught me how to hear intervals as a child, don't get fed up with us 'interval deaf people' just smugly feel superior, and feel lucky you can!

QUOTE

Doesn't teaching make you think...... I often find that I have to explain things for which I never needed an explanation.

I know, and with the interval thing, I go "try and count from this note to that note, as if it's a scale - 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6.." and they just look at me blankly. They won't sing it, and they can't hear it in their heads, which is a big part of the problem. If you can sing it and/or hear it in your head, you're there.

I now spend a part of my lessons getting them to sing, which is really helping them to internalise music, but it'd be so much better if they got it at home on a daily basis....

But on the bright side, part of the joy of all this is seeing the awakening musicality. Try this: sing or play a note, and ask a pupil to hold it in their head for 10 seconds and then sing it back to you. Amazingly (to themselves) they always get it right. Then increase the time to 20 seconds, then up to a whole minute - and would you believe it, they can hold a note in their heads all that time and sing it back to you, perfectly in tune. This is a very good way of demonstrating to a pupil of any age that tbey can hold a musical note in their head.

Then you do it with two notes, or three, and before you know it they can memorise a whole phrase and sing it back to you a minute later, note-perfect. Oh, and part 2 of the aural test will be a doddle after that!

Violinia

one way that helps me with hearing intervals is to link them to the first 2 notes of tunes.
e.g Away in a Manger for perfect 4th


But these days people don't seem to have the songs to use for that.

My mum had about two months of piano lessons as a child, my dad plays the melodion and the mouth organ by ear, my brother plays the trombone, one sister plays the piano and flute, and one sister plays the trumpet and learns piano from me.

My older brother used to play piano and tuba, my younger brother used to play tuba, another sister used to play the clarinet and another sister used to play the piano and trumpet.

(phew!)

(That's 4 sisters and 3 brothers)

So about half of us have given up music.

QUOTE (Amy @ Jun 7 2004, 07:46 PM)

(That's 4 sisters and 3 brothers) So about half of us have given up music.

shocking!!

None of my family play musical instruments. They all love music though, and my mum says if she'd had the chance play an instrument when she was younger, she would have. But she's too busy now!

QUOTE (sbhoa @ Jun 7 2004, 06:16 PM)

one way that helps me with hearing intervals is to link them to the first 2 notes of tunes. e.g Away in a Manger for perfect 4th But these days people don't seem to have the songs to use for that.

Yes, your're right. Hymns are especially good for that. I think those of us who are church musicians / churchgoers have a huge advantage here.

A few weeks ago I got so exceited that I knew the intervals in the first bar of a hymn without seeing the music - bit sad really!!!!

QUOTE

e.g Away in a Manger for perfect 4th

Happy Birthday - a tone

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks - major third

Away etc

Twinkle Twinkle - fifth

The Lord's My Shepherd - (major) sixth

Minor/major seventh - can't think of one. Can anybody help?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - octave

Anybody got any more modern suggestions?

Then of course there's solfah, which must get you to recognise intervals very easily - sounds good.

QUOTE

Minor/major seventh - can't think of one. Can anybody help?

(Not a hymn!) but Bali Hai works quite well for a major seventh. (8ve and down one).
Come to think of it, Somewhere over the Rainbow works in the same way!

Maggie

[QUOTE]Go to Musicteachers.co.uk (I think that's right but I'll check it and repost if not!)
and you can do a search on piano + location and find teachers listed for your area.[QUOTE]
yep that was right! thank you very much that was very helpful!

[/QUOTE]Minor/major seventh - can't think of one. Can anybody help?[QUOTE]
Minor 7th- Somewhere by Leonard Bernstein
Major 7th-I Love You by Carl Porter
i've never heard of either of these but if you know them you're ok!
jess

Hmm, well I just ried singing those, but my while shephards... sounds the same as my away..., can anyone think of another example so I can work out which is wrong (to save me digging out my flute and spending several minutes actually working out two notes that make a perfect 4th (shocking I know, but it's been ages since I did theory, and I never 'got intervals well int the first place!)

Any other suggestions as I know most christmas carols, and this seems a way that might actually work for me!!!!!!!!

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE

can anyone think of another example so I can work out which is wrong

well - it's not a carol, but Auld Lang Syne starts with a perfect 4th. (Should old acquaintance be forgot ...)

Oh - ( and it is a carol ! ) ............. Hark the Herald does too.

and the Ash Grove.

Any help ???

Maggie

i think I've worked it out, I tend to sing the secong note of While shep... a semitone sharp, which wpould ( I think!) make it a perfect fourth, now I just need to work out tunes for all the other intervals! It'll take me ages seeing as I can barely identify written intervals (let alone here the stupid things!!)

Just thought of another one:

Augmented fourth -

"Maria" from West Side Story

Still can't think of one for seventh or major seventh though.

Augmented 4th - first two notes of the simpsons theme, I think (d major? - trying from memory here!)

Not quite right, David (me being pedantic as usual). It's the interval between the first and the third notes of the Simpsons Theme. The second note is a major third above the first note.

Violinia

Just realised the tune I was thinking of wasn't the simpsons theme - it was the Jetsons theme.

That would be the actual theme tune but before it starts the words "The Simpsons" appear on the screen and are sung; the notes used for 'The' and 'Simp' make a rising augmented fourth.

What happened to the rule about not writing rising augmented intervals anyway? Perhaps it's a diminished fifth....

Not many of my imediate family play instruments.

My uncle plays sax, his daughter piano, I play piano and violin and sing.

There is a musical streak in the family though back down the line.
There's Custys music shop in Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland which is my family line. This has been going for quite a few years.

My grandfather was born in Co. Clare and they moved to England.

Mary Custy is a fiddler. She's quite well known. Strangely enough, I do bear some resemblance to her. Wish I could play like her too !

Wonder if thats where my musical talent comes from ?

Fiona

All my sisters play violin and piano, with one of them playing viola and the other two vocal (eldest sister got a first for her BA with voice).
Mum plays and teaches piano and violin.
Dad plays the piano.
I play the piano, percussion, 'cello, guitar, and was head chorister at Southwell Minster (although over 3 years since i left due to voice breaking, the blighter still hasn't settled yet )

Grandmother 1 = violinist
Grandmother 2 = pianist
Grandfather = organist
Aunt 1 = violinist
Aunt 2 = violist
Uncle = pianist
Mother = cellist
Father = french horn player
Cousin 1 = percussionist
Cousin 2 = violinist
Got a lot to live up to then lol
No really it's quite scary!

what do you play cecilia? do your family do it for fun or professionally?
Naomi xxxx

I play violin and piano but what I like doing most of all is composition. That's why the Sibelius noise (see other thread) was so annoying!
My family are all professionals, the ones that I mentioned anyway, except for my cousins who are 16 year old twins they hope to become professional- they want to study at royal college of music

I play flute and piano and do opera singing and may try to go professional but i don't know because my teacher is my role model (music teacher in 6th form) and she has discovered my own talent for people and teaching so i could do that.

wow go for it naomi!
we are posting so fast it's like a running conversation!

at least someone is online!
Do you plan to go pro.?
Naomi xxxx

I'd love to go pro but my dad is dubious- don't know why!

yes, especially if he is, himself.seems strange.it must be so hard playing violin.I know Flute is probably the hardest wind instrument because you have to blow the air across and stuff but violin i expect is much harder!

yeah violin is kinda hard- i've been stuck on grade 7 for ages! I actually overtook myself as it were because I used to be 2 grades behind on piano but now I'm working for grade 8 on piano! I'm keeping going with violin though- now I've got pieces I like I just want to play all day long (but I can't- I'm at school )

lol.same with flute.This year with my teacher (who i am very close with.)and my other teacher who is also flute and vocal coach, things just clicked so i seem to be going full speed ahead.i got to grade 5 theory within 2 months of starting grade 1, playing grade 5 standard pieces on flute within 6 months and my piano is going up rapidly, not quite so, but fast all the same and i'm already grade 7 standard voice so that is going well.plus i just started steel pans and african drums for school bands.fun!

steel pans yay

yeah they are really cool.i am soprano at the minute.we are playing a piece called 'charley marley', lol! so much fun but hard since the notes don't run in order

cool!
oh i might have to go offline in a minute my mum's getting suspicious

lol.i have to go and practice flute soon! but i'm on for a few more minutes.do u have msn?
Naomi xxxx

no unfortunately my dad thinks it's dangerous or something...
but this is nearly as good right?