just another morning here

Did we need another musical instrument in our house? I think not! This one is a bit of a hit today though and she’s taken it out to Panto practice tonight to show it off

First of all Grandma & Grandpa gave Anna the amp, which was wrapped up so looked big and impressive. She unwrapped it and said ‘thanks, I’ve always wanted an amp’. Even though she’d known a while back about the possibility of an electric cello, we’d told some fibs since the offer to buy it had come up, and she’d obviously completely forgotten about it, as when we asked what she could play through it she suggested a CD or her ipod … or perhaps she could learn to play the guitar?

Eventually we had to tell her to go and look upstairs, where the cello was hiding. She still didn’t click that that’s what it was until she opened the case and was very pleased indeed

We had a moment of panic when we couldn’t find the battery compartment, but it was safely stowed in a pocket on the case that we hadn’t investigated properly.

Josiah loves the overdrive setting on the amp, and will probably be the most annoying brother on the planet fiddling with that for a while. Headphones are going to be our most important accessory at home though, I think! We were a bit shocked that Anna claimed she couldn’t just play a tune without any music to read … a skill that needs some attention, and practice … the Youtube video may be a while as you don’t want to hear her offerings just yet! All the boys had a go – Josiah was definitely the best at picking out a tune on it – better than Anna, in fact. He has to wait until he’s playing a full size before he’s allowed an electric violin though! I must admit I’m a bit gutted that I can’t play it better as I’d like to have a proper play too …

Anyway happy birthday to Anna, she is way too grown up these days …
Must also add that the cello already holds sentimental value, for someone who is a good friend of ours, having belonged to a very special cellist. Anna is treating it with the greatest of respect because of that – and hopes she can do it justice.

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Huge congrats to the girls for the music exams that they took this term: Anna scored 130, scraping a distinction in her Grade 5 Bassoon. Strangely enough she also scored 130 in Grade 5 piano and cello when she took them a while back!
Abbie took Grade 3 flute and scored a respectable 126, giving her a merit, and her best music exam result so far. She got full marks for her aural!

Josiah hasn’t taken any music exams this term, but he is still pleased to hold the family record for points

Much excitement today; in the middle of the festival we popped off to Devon Strings Workshop to collect Anna’s cello, henceforth to be known as Klaudia, which I hope is a German enough name!

Looks a bit odd in the photo but sounds amazing – looking forward to hearing more of it (her?!) in the future.