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Paul Tseng ICS Staff Administrator (1/12/01 8:14:35 pm) Reply	baby questions Do any of you parents remember if your baby likes (liked) the sound of the cello as an infant? Paul Tseng My Website MP3!
HighCellocity Registered User (1/12/01 8:51:07 pm) Reply	Re: baby questions *Quote:* Do any of you parents remember if your baby likes (liked) the sound of the cello as an infant? Ahh, now you're close to home! My daughter is now 7 mo old. At first, she cried when I played, so I would play in the other room. Not too much later, she would actually recognize certain tunes I played, like Brahms' Lullabye Now she sings and bounces and makes all kinds of noises when I play. As I said in another thread, I finally got a mute and now she's frequently in the room with me when I play. She really seems to love it and her favorite is Bach Ste 1 Prelude(probably because I can actually play that one smoothly). I really hope one day she'll want to play cello with her dear old Dad! But I won't pressure her. Since I own a Kay cello, I came across this page of a father-son duo. www.bikexprt.com/music/celloduo.htm . Now that's gotta be quality time Matt
Dorie Straus Registered User (1/13/01 8:55:59 am) Reply	Re: baby questions It was during my pregnancy that I unfortunately started to fizzle out on the cello: a fizzle that lasted several years. There was just too much life going on. I think, though, listening and liking music varies from baby to baby. There can be so many other things going on with them that you just might not be able to tell for sure what works and what doesn't. Example: if you play at 5:30 every evening but that's the time of day he's going to be cranky for some other reason - like having had too much life on the outside for one day - but it may seem like he doesn't like the cello. Since they can't say: Dad, I like the cello but not at 5:30 - you have to figure it all out. This is while you're figuring out a whole bunch of other stuff, as you will soon find out. Aria now, as everybody knows, plays the cello - and, as everybody around here knows - she goes in and out of wanting to play, not wanting to practice, has fun practicing, yadayada. There are a bunch of folks around here who have kids who play or were the children of cellists. Seems to me it can go either way (and many places inbetween) - a parent who plays can be a role model and on the other end, loathing for the cello can be the thing that conveys rebellion - something they can really use to get you back for...whatever. I guess the best advice, and it's true you weren't asking for advice, but as for the cello and anything else: Babies come out already their own selves, get to know him, and respect him - get that mutual respect thing going. Talk a lot; get the conversation going early - like in March. We all, including babies, have our opinions and we're all capable of changing our minds, working things out. Edited by: Dorie Straus at: 1/13/01 8:55:59 am
ruthann Registered User (1/13/01 11:58:24 am) Reply	Re: baby questions Like Dorie, I didn't play much when the kids were babies. After a certain point in the pregnancy, I couldn't easily get the case open. Those two latches on the bottom were out of the question! I don't remember when I started playing again, probably a few months after the birth. I didn't play TO them, as I recall. I used to practice right around their bedtime (sometimes still do) and they did enjoy falling to sleep listening to me practice from another room. I can say that my son is much more sensitive to sound. He doesn't like anything loud (except his buddies!), so he would not have liked being in the same room while I played. But he does love music. cello_suttonr@hotmail.com
Dorie Straus Registered User (1/13/01 12:55:12 pm) Reply	Another thought Funny, too, that we who had babies have answered a question you didn't ask: What do those kids think of the cello now? I did have another thought, though. When A was an infant, she had a hard time every evening at from about 5-6:30. This was when I was trying to get dinner together - I learned fast to do most of the prep before 5. The only thing that kept her from crying was to put her in the snuggly, walk up and down my hallway, and sing every song I knew. She was born in November so I remember perfecting a lot of Christmas carols while I walked those miles. Then when she was about 3 months old it suddently stopped. We have always been singers, though. She sang on pitch as soon as she started talking -she didn't get all the words but the babbling was always right on. She also picked up and held a pencil correctly the first time she did it, which was equally amazing to me. Nurture or nature? Who knows. For some reason my keyboard went into overwrite and I can't stop it. What stopped in that upper paragraph was the crying at 5 - I can't edit what I wrote.
KDS Registered User (1/13/01 6:18:45 pm) Reply	Re: baby questions What a perfectly timed question! I just barely started playing again this week (5 weeks after giving birth to Andrew). I have been hesitant to play for him. I wanted it to be just the right time for both of us. He was entranced! He loved it! Of course he got to hear it for 9 months inside me since I was able to play right up to delivery time. Now I can't seem to position my cello the same way as before I was pregnant. Oh well. He didn't like me tuning, though. My D and G strings kept slipping, and he was not happy. But when I got to the music, he was thrilled. Now he sits or sleeps contentedly while I practice up to a certain amount of time. Kristiana
Joe S Registered User (1/13/01 9:43:41 pm) Reply	Play for your baby. I can not speak about the cello and my kids, I did not play cello when they were babies. But I did and do play classical guitar. Our bed time routine was a bed time story with the lights on, then my playing with the lights off. My eldest all ways tells me that it is one of her fondest memories. Now with her own kids her husband plays the piano for them. Maybe someday I will get to play the tuba for them as well as the cello. Still playing in the closet, Joe S.
Len Thompson Registered User (1/14/01 5:13:01 pm) Reply	The Little Ones! My two youngest son's, Reese and Noah, asked for the cello by name as soon as they were able to talk. They both cut their teeth so to speak as I played for them when they were in their cribs at bedtime. Reese, the youngest, still often falls asleep to the sounds of my cello.If only I had the $$, I would start the older one with the cello, because he often ask's for "a little one in my size". A word of wisdom here; as they age, they loose interest in classical music, in favor of the more popular stuff. My teenagers no longer show the interest in it that they used to, and the teenage years are a poor time to "begin" many things with kids. Not that it can't be done, it's just harder to turn them around at that age. Len
ruthann Registered User (1/14/01 7:10:34 pm) Reply	Re: The Little Ones! I hear you about the money involved in cellos, but don't give up on classical music. Little violins are really cheap ~ $100 and a good way to start out young ones. They can switch to cello later if interest and dollars permit. cello_suttonr@hotmail.com
bridge Registered User (1/15/01 10:47:56 am) Reply	Re: baby questions Absolutely. Babies LOVE music. My son is now just over two and I've been playing for about two years. So even at my level, he really likes it. Only word of caution. My wife (an MD) tells me that kids' ears are more delicate than ours, so I wouldn't point the f-holes at the bassinet ant start whaling.
Paul Tseng ICS Staff Administrator (1/15/01 9:29:47 pm) Reply	Thanks, everyone! So far, I think our little guy likes music. He squirms a lot inside his mom and sometimes makes her feel seasick with all that action! But it seems that he will calm down if I sing to him and talk to him. We play lots of piano and cello music for him too and sometimes it gets him moving! At least he responds to it. I hope he'll love music. BTW, I started to love classical music as a teenager, not prior. I do have to say that if I weren't rescued by the cello, I would have been like most other teenagers and have despised classical music,just because. But because I had a chance to play the cello in a quartet and in an orchestra, I was able to appreciate music ina way that I never would have otherwise. Paul Tseng My Website MP3!
mcello Registered User (1/17/01 8:27:03 pm) Reply	Baby question An interesting thing I've noticed between my two children is that with the first pregnancy I played through until about 3 weeks before she was born, I was also particular to play music in her room while she slept, etc. as an infant....results...she is 10 years old, and really has never had a pitch problem. Even as a toddler she held her pitches very well, while singing. My second child, came into the world with a worn out mom (chasing a two year old) who decided that the commutes to play were too long during pregnancy and then I never even thought to put music on for him. He can sing, but he has always done the typical flat and then slide into pitch thing. So far, neither really show an interest in the cello. My daughter participates in several choirs, and is wanting to start piano and my 8 year old son informed me that he wanted an electric guitar...so, we will see what happens in the next couple of years!