The Prewetts Discover Music and Choose Their Instruments
by Rebecca Prewett

Time passes. Visitors to our home, upon noticing the piano, ask who plays it. Inevitably the same scenario unfolds. My brother performs a piece at their request. They ooh and ah. I perform. They thank me politely and beg Sam to play more for them.

Seventh grade: A close friend in the school band tells me that the school has an oboe but no one to play it. I have only the vaguest idea of what an oboe is but volunteer. For the next four or five years, much of my life centers around the instrument I come to nickname affectionately "the worthless stick". One of my closest friends in high school is the first chair oboist.

Twelfth grade: After a few years' hiatus from the piano, I take a year of lessons. I am amazed to discover how much I've forgotten and how many "bad keyboard habits" I've acquired. I'm also going through oboe withdrawals; having always relied on the school to provide my instrument, I'm left without one at a new school. I try to make do with my father's trombone and a borrowed sax.

While I enjoyed music and managed, with much practice, to achieve a certain level of near mediocrity, my older brother had a different relationship with music. The best I can figure is that, for him, it's somewhere between being his passion and being his daily bread. He loves it and needs it on a level I don't understand. I can remember, during his teen years, how he could spend hours on the piano. He wasn't "practicing". He wasn't taking lessons during that time. He was just...playing. He was developing and creating his own music, something Matthew would years later call "Sam-music". I often wished I could live, breathe, and eat music the way that he does.

My single adult years were spend mostly music-free. It seemed as if music, in my life, was a childish thing that was left behind once I left school. Or maybe it was a luxury for those who could afford instruments. I wasn't quite sure.

I married a man who had taken trumpet lessons starting in the fourth grade and who seemed much less musically inept than I was. He could actually play by ear. That amazing ability is enough to impress me!

Children came along, and I wanted music to be a part of our lives. My mother gave me a gift of money which I used to buy a used piano. But my piano playing was so rusty...

I began to realize, however, that music shouldn't be optional for Christians. It is God who invented music and who has given us varying abilities to produce it. A number of the Psalms talk about the use of music in praise and worship. We can't just relegate music to a Sunday morning kinda thing or to a listening to the radio kinda thing. It is--and should be--far more important than that.

Then, as detailed in Musical Fantasies and Daydreams of Grandiosity, I bought a mountain dulcimer.

Since then, through providence and possibly a bit of "serendipity", we've accumulated some other instruments as a family. Here's why we've chosen some rather "different instruments", rather than those that are more popular and well known.

Nifty sound. This is, of course, the most important consideration. If the sound of a musical instrument doesn't resonate in that music-enjoying place inside you, what's the point of learning it? Where is the joy in hearing your child practice some instrument that grates on your nerves or, at best, leaves you feeling ho-hum and bored?

I'll never forget the first time I heard the bowed psaltery in person. I was in the huge crowded exhibit hall at our state homeschooling convention when suddenly there was this incredibly beautiful ethereal sound wafting through the air. I literally followed my ears to discover the source of this music. Even more amazing than its sound was that I could easily make the instrument sound almost sorta halfway as good. The sound of the bowed psaltery captured my ears and my heart. Months later, I ended up buying one from the man I met that day.

Available teacher. This is what got Miriam started on the harp. We heard that a woman at church, who played the harp, was beginning a class and renting instruments. The harp met our nifty sound criteria and we were excited at the opportunity for our daughter to learn it.

Possibilities for family music. We could all just randomly pick nifty sounding instruments, but one of the limitations of homeschooling is that we don't have a band or orchestra of other musicians with which to play. And, frankly, throwing together a guitar and a ragtag group of assorted band instruments along with a harp might not produce the best sound. So, now that we have a budding harp player and a mountain dulcimer player strumming "Go Tell Aunt Rhodie", it kinda makes sense for others to learn instruments that can be played together as a family. This was a big deciding factor, besides nifty sound, in picking the bowed psaltery as well as the recorders.

Why not just pick a bunch of solo instruments or enroll our children in various music programs? We believe that making music together is powerful stuff as a family, as well as lots of fun. Some of my mother's favorite memories are based on making music together with her family or enjoying the music of other family members.

Of course, we could have gone a different direction. Since my husband plays the trumpet, we could have decided to become a brass choir. Which brings up several other issues...

Ease of learning. One of the nifty things about many early or folk instruments is that they are relatively easy to learn to play well enough to produce music that people can stand to hear. Having tortured my family (and myself) with my oboe squawks, I'm not sure I want to be tortured by similar squawks or by violin squeaks. I really don't think our family will produce musical greats and that we are thus limiting them by not giving them the opportunity to become violin virtuosos. What I do hope is that we'll produce people who love to play music and who have learned instruments that they can enjoy playing throughout their lives.

Repertoire. In picking instruments that will have a nifty sound that will blend with other instruments in the family and be relatively easy to learn to play, we've been concerned that they be "real instruments"--not something that has limited playing possibilities. Can that particular instrument play the sort of music we want to play? Of course, every instrument has its limitations. I'm well aware, for example, of the innate limitations of the mountain dulcimer (which are less than what some people may think). The big issue is what limitations are acceptable to us and what aren't.

Portability. This means more to us than just whether or not you can pick up the instrument and carry it somewhere, although that is a major consideration. Just because you can carry an instrument into someone's house doesn't necessarily mean it should be played there. I doubt that very many people would appreciate, for example, a brass choir resounding forth loudly in their living room...unless said room was quite large indeed. However, as we discovered during Our First Annual Post-Christmas Concert Tour, our blend of instruments, even the trumpet solos, sounded quite pleasant in every living room on our tour. While some people may have just been listening politely or indulgently, others claimed to enjoy having our version of "chamber music" come to their home.

We've learned, as Miriam has performed for a number of different groups with her harp class, that playing for others can be a real blessing for both performers and listeners. We've also noticed that the unusual nature of instruments such as the small harps and the hammered dulcimer intrigues people and seems to add to their enjoyment of the music. We look forward to more opportunities to share music with others.

Once we'd decided on the type of musical instrument we wanted, the next step was actually picking one to buy.

Musical Fantasies and Daydreams of Grandiosity mentions how I found out about FolkCraft Instruments and decided to buy their mountain dulcimer. Since then, I've become aware of many more mountain dulcimer makers but don't know enough to tell people which ones are better than others, other than that people rave about McSpaddens. The best bet in picking (or should I say choosing? "Picking" is another thing entirely...) a mountain dulcimer, or any instrument, is learning what differentiates a good instrument from one that is merely mediocre, deciding what you are looking for in that particular instrument, determining your price range, and finding makers or distributors who offer instruments that meet your criteria.

I've been very happy with my mountain dulcimer. If I were to buy a second instrument, I would probably go for a few different features. For example, I chose a hardwood (cherry) sounding board because I wanted a bright sound. I'm happy with that, but would probably choose--for a second instrument--a spruce sounding board that would offer a richer and fuller sound. I'm very glad that I have the 6 1/2 fret (a necessity, in my opinion) but might like the "other extra fret" as well. I would definitely stick with a four-string model, but might try a slightly different size. But then again, maybe not. I'm not in a hurry to buy a second instrument at any rate. [Since writing this, I had the wonderful opportunity to buy a used, but mint condition, walnut McSpadden, which I am thoroughly enjoying, as well as a completely nifty and powerful Simerman. Yet more about choosing a mountain dulcimer.]

Harp. We knew nothing about harps when Miriam first started lessons. She plays a cute little double-strung harp (the Eve Harp model) from Here, Inc, which we rented and then purchased from her teacher. If I were to buy a harp for myself, I'd be tempted to buy one of their larger harps or perhaps a Triplett Harp.

Bowed Psaltery. This was a difficult decision. I spend quite a bit of time researching this instrument on the Web as well as talking with a few makers and music store people. Finally I decided to go with the 32-string psaltery from Omega Strings. This instrument can also be ordered through a number of other sources; the best price seems to be from House of Musical Traditions although I doubt that you can beat the service you get ordering directly from Omega Strings. In fact, I would urge anyone to talk to Richard Spencer directly before finalizing your purchase decision. You'll learn a lot about psalteries in general as well as what makes his so special.

Recorders. I already owned an Aulos recorder. Although I'd love to outfit our entire family with lovely wooden recorders someday, the price is a bit prohibitive. Based on what I've read on the Web and elsewhere, it seems that a good quality plastic recorder is better than a cheap wooden one. [Since playing in classes and groups, I've discovered this is definitely true. Some cheap wooden recorders are horrible out of tune and cannot be adjusted.] Several people suggested that, if we wanted to play together, we would probably sound best if we bought the same make of instrument. Both Aulos and Zen-on came quite highly recommended. The best price I found on Aulos recorders is through Rhythm Band Instruments. They carry quite a selection, which raises the question of...

Which recorder to buy?

At this point, I'm playing the soprano and tenor recorders, since I was most familiar with that fingering, and am teaching soprano to three of our children. I bought my husband an alto recorder for Christmas and one of our children is learning that as well. The soprano recorder players will eventually be able to switch easily to either the tenor (when their hands are large enough) or the tiny garklein, since the fingering is the same. The alto players will be able to play the sopranino or the bass. Gradually we have been adding those instruments to our collection.

The soprano recorders are in the key of C and the altos are in the key of F. Being familiar with band instruments, at first I expected that this meant that I would have to transpose music for the alto recorder. What it really means, however, is that while the music we play is the same, we use different fingerings to play the same note. The same fingering, for example, will be C on the soprano and F on the alto. Thus, if you want your family to become a recorder ensemble, it makes sense to have one parent learn the soprano and another learn the alto. The alto is a tad more difficult, but having one parent learn the alto makes it easier for a child to learn it as well.

Even once we had decided on which make to buy and who would play which type of recorder, we had a few choices about models.

Our five year old is playing the A323 soprano model. It's cheap and also easy to play. Two models came highly recommended: the A503 and the A703. The latter model is based on the refined design of Richard Haka in the 17th century and has a more complex sound which I enjoy. Our two altos are the A509 and the A709 (which is the Haka model). With the tenor, Rhythm Band Instruments only had two model choices. I was tempted to go with the one that was described as "very suitable for the small hand", figuring that my minuscule fingers would need it, but decided to go for the A511 model since the description in the catalog emphasized the better sound and response. My fingers feel stretched to the max while playing some of the notes, but it's not impossible for me to play. Difficult and quite uncomfortable, but not impossible. (However, to make it easier to finger those low notes, I've since bought the 300 series model.)

To round out our collection, we bought the sopranino and garklein. We haven't played these last two very much. My husband has his eyes on their bass recorder and I've got my eyes on some ensemble music that we can learn.

UPDATE: We now own one garklein, one bass recorder keyed in F, two tenors, several sopraninos and altos, and a bunch of soprano recorders. The children and I have been involved in recorder classes, learning and playing ensemble music, and have even performed a couple times at homeschooling recitals. Our recorder teacher seems to believe that everyone should learn to play both C & F fingerings, thus being able to play all the different recorders, so those of us who started out on the soprano are now learning either the sopranino or alto. The children seem to be doing much better at this than I am.

My husband has really been enjoying his bass recorder. I find it impossible, with my small hands, to finger all the notes. It really does have a nice sound. Rhythm Band Instruments has an amazing price on this recorder, about half the price of what I was able to find elsewhere.

FURTHER UPDATE (Winter 2002): Quite a bit has changed musically in our family in the past few years. We are no longer able to take part in the recorder classes. The bowed psaltery is mostly silent these days, as its original owner has decided that he's not particularly musical and would rather spend his time elsewhere. One of our children fell in love with the piano while still a wee little guy. We realized another important thing about picking instruments---follow your children's passions and help them find their instrument. He is turning into quite the pianist and his music has brought us great joy. Our harpist then decided to switch to piano. Having the two siblings practicing brings back memories of my childhood. I admit to regretting that the harp is rarely played these days, but now one of our younger children has become interested in it. My daughter has promised to start teaching him as soon as the harp method I ordered arrives.

For a while, music did not play as big a role in our family, except for our two pianists. Then we began pulling out our other instruments again. Two of our sons, off and on, play around with the trumpet. My husband and I just bought two beautiful wooden recorders and it is taking great self-control to break them in slowly. His is the Aura Conservatorium alto; mine is the corresponding soprano. What wonderful instruments! Now I'm pining away for the tenor...

I took a drum workshop a few months ago. While we were browsing Folk Mote Music and picking out our recorders, I also bought a bodhran. I've been messing around with it and having a good time.

Who knows what the future will bring...

copyright 1998, 2002 by Rebecca Prewett

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