Kate and I went to a gig the other night. A real night out for the first time in ages. I still can’t quite believe we actually went somewhere other than the Harvester ten minutes up the road. We actually went all the way to London to see the excellent Maxïmo Park, no less.
I even have the ticket stub, a tour T-shirt and some blurry pictures to prove it. It was fantastic. We got to see our favourite band in their usual sparkling form and a great support act in Parisian group La Femme. We used to go to gigs fairly often, but this was the first in three and a half years. It was a great reminder of what live music is like.
Dylan has always enjoyed music. From the early days of rocking backwards and forwards to theme tunes in a way that, were he an adult, would look quite rude to jumping around to the current Hungry Hippos advert.
In a way, it’s reminiscent of Maxïmo Park’s frontman, Paul Smith at the concert the other night. Music has always got him moving. Well now he’s showing signs that he may yet be quite good at playing his own tunes some day too.
We were at my parents’ house for lunch a few weeks ago. As he often does, he made a bee line for their slightly out-of-tune piano – he and his older cousin are almost certainly the reason it doesn’t sound quite right, I should add.
After giving the keys a good hiding for a minute or so, he settled on a favourite note and started hitting it at regular intervals. My mum got out the metronome and started it up. Dylan played the note with the beat and, to prove it was no fluke, did so again when the speed was altered. Clever little thing!
It didn’t end there, however, oh no! Some other relatives were there and their son who is one had a harmonica and ukulele in tow – as one does at such an age.
Dylan was offered a go on them and, although he came closer to doing what The Who used to do with the latter, he was pretty nifty with the former. Well, he’d have to be with the name we’ve given him. I was very impressed.
And envious of the aptitude this hints at too. I have a guitar that I can’t play, can’t remember anything on the piano from when I was a kid and got kicked out of recorder group at primary school for my apathy towards playing it.
Dylan has also started singing along with things and, despite our worries about his hearing when he simply refused to talk for so long, has shown himself to have a good ear. Plus he’s getting really quite wordy now – another Paul Smith attribute. Do we have a musical genius on our hands? It’s too early to tell, but the passion and the rhythm certainly seem to be there. And by the look of this picture, Xander wants to be in his band too…
Comments
Please resist the urge to enter him for BGT!
I think you should take him off to Monkey Music immediately! Nurture that genius!
Glad you had a night out….we might get one on Friday – the cinema! Hallelujah!
That’s fantastic, it’s great when you notice your kids’ talents. And I firmly believe if they’re talented you do know from an early age! I knew my younger son was super-intelligent from 18 months and at 9 he has yet to prove me wrong. If my yr7 gets stuck on his maths, his yr4 brother helps him with it!
Author
Thanks for commenting! Yes, you can definitely tell from an early age. Dylan’s also good with numbers so I’m sure I’ll be getting him to help me with my tax return before long! 😉
Oh I remember the days when my husband and I went to gigs, seems so long ago now. I’m ashamed to say that since having children, I’ve totally lost touch with music, much to my regret. My son does loves music however and we’ve taken him to music classes over the years. He has quite a repertoire of instruments at home and they’ve been the main things that he’s consistently played with and been interested in, whereas toys in general go in and out of favour. I love watching/hearing him play his instruments and now our one-year old daughter joins in! Looks like we both might have the makings of budding musicians on our hands 😉
Author
Thanks for your comment. 🙂 Yes, it sounds like, between us, we have a future supergroup on our hands! I’ve lost touch a little with music since becoming a parent too, but trust what I can hear of BBC 6 Music on the quiet radio at work to keep me vaguely up to speed with the good stuff.
I definitely think that kids have an aptitude for music pretty early on. Nurture it and get him to piano lessons immediately! My daughter does piano and has a musical talent that I never really had, despite getting to grade 5. Thanks for linking up to #oldiesbutgoodies this month.
Author
Thank you, will do! I had piano lessons as a kid but gave up all too early and it’s always been a regret. Thanks for running this linky – looking forward to joining in next time. 🙂
What musical talent! love it x
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Thank you! 🙂
Music soothes the savage beast, or something like that. Maximo Park are ace, that sounds like money well spent. There are worse things in life than picking up a guitar as well, maybe the wee man is the next Lennon? Great post
Author
Thanks very much! The next Lennon eh? Imagine that… sorry, I’ll get my coat. 🙂
Get them started young that’s what I think… Far less tiring to be parents of a successful rock band than be in it yourself! 😀
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Thanks! Yeah, let them do the rocking and partying… I’m asleep on the sofa by 9pm most nights so they’re already better cut out for such things than I am. 😉
I say train him up,nothing like a man who plays guitar 🙂
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Good plan – I’ll get someone who knows their way around a guitar to help – although I have one, I can’t actually play it! 😉