Wednesday, April 01, 2009

music lesson



we fell collectively and instantaneously in love with Lisa Hannigan and her song 'Lille'. there is still a debate on whether we prefer this live version (i want to see her face while she sings, mama!) or the official video with 'the amazing pop-up book' (or is there?) (mama, i don't have to choose, i like them both!). we play these videos a number of times every day, and all four of us (including the local long-haired two-foot-tall head-banger) go completely quiet each and every time. it's magic.

i have been finding myself humming the song on the bicycle, in the kitchen, and in a number of other places. on one of these occasions (bicycle), isabelle said she wanted to learn to sing the song. 'aha!', said my big fat teacher's brain 'an opportunity for learning!'. i proceeded with a long lecture on the advantages ('oh, what a wonderful idea! you can learn some english, and some poetry, and some singing, and maybe we can take singing lessons together...') followed by a lecture on the various pedagogical approaches we might try ('so do you want to learn the lyrics first, or just hum the melody? or do both at once?' 'should i first translate the lyrics for you, so you know what she is singing, and THEN we learn them in english, or do you think we should learn them in english first and THEN translate?' etc. etc.).

she interupted me, this daughter of mine, a while into the lecture, and said: 'mama, we don't need to do all that. let's just listen to the song a lot and then one day we'll know it...'

(i bow to thee, oh great live-in teacher of mine!)

4 comments:

Josh said...

The lessons they teach you... soms is het zo vrij dat het pijn doet.
mooi liedje ook.

Mirjam said...

En ze heeft helemaal gelijk :o). Zo werkt het :oD

Anonymous said...

Howdy,

I knew it; Isabelle is totally rock 'n roll! ... as in, let's forget about the augmented chords in the modulated part of the second verse, if you know what I mean. Let's go for the "vibe" instead. That's crucial. Oh yeah, lyrics and words and stuff usually come last. It's all about the tone of voice anyway. Really, ask Julio...

Cheers,

Damir

Véronique said...

yes, i know she is right, and anyway, that's how i learned my english, by listening to leonard cohen non-stop (at the bright age of 9), which if you think about it, explains A LOT of my life trajectory :)