Playing a musical instrument is a bit like learning another language. And with tools like baby violins available, it’s easy to start early. When the Newcastle Library hosted KING FM’s Instrument Petting Zoo last month, over one hundred children and parents came to try out a variety of instruments.
Instructors from the Music Center of the Northwest set out a spread including an oboe, trombone, euphonium, trumpet, and violins in three different sizes! “One thing you might not expect about playing the oboe is that you have to learn some woodworking skills,” the oboe instructor said as he described how to make the unique reed at the top of the instrument. Both the trombone and trumpet instructors showed children how to make a raspberry sound, or buzz, into the mouthpiece to bring the brass to life. How do violin players memorize where to put their fingers on the strings? It turns out they use strips of tape to train themselves and then remove them when their fingers remember where to go by feel. Children and parents lined up to try each instrument in turn.
If you missed the Instrument Petting Zoo you will have a chance to go to other great programs for Children and Teens at the Library this Summer!
