Very proud father
I'm so very proud of my son today. He's 10 years old, and wanted to be in the school talent show. He said he wanted to sing Atlantic City, one of mine. A thrill. I got the composer to send me a karaoke version, and I edited out the middle verse (the one that's inappropriate for an elementary school). He has a good voice with a natural sense of pitch.
The song is a little low for him, so I coached him a bit on squeezing out the notes. If he tries to go up the octave, it's much too high. (The song isn't written for a pre-pubescent voice).
The teachers putting the program together saved him for the closing act (!)
So, that enough would make me beam with pride, but what I'm really chuffed about is how he handled himself. When he started, he had no microphone and couldn't be heard (they tried to slide one over to him and he waved it away), he was singing much too high as well. The music cut out on him (the laptop they were using flaked out). They got it on again, in the middle, and he tried to find his place. Then the music cut out again.
I would have been freaking out a bit at this point. Or rather, I would have expected an inexperienced 10-year-old to freak out.
But no, he just asked them to restart it from the beginning this time and let them put the microphone in front of him. When the music started, he had the wherewithal to take the microphone out of the stand. And halfway through the first verse, realized he was too high and just adjusted. He looked very much on top of his situation, and handled himself beautifully, and got through the whole song.
Kids slapped his hand and congratulated him on the way out.
A pretty good moment in my life. I'm thinking an excellent one in his.
The song is a little low for him, so I coached him a bit on squeezing out the notes. If he tries to go up the octave, it's much too high. (The song isn't written for a pre-pubescent voice).
The teachers putting the program together saved him for the closing act (!)
So, that enough would make me beam with pride, but what I'm really chuffed about is how he handled himself. When he started, he had no microphone and couldn't be heard (they tried to slide one over to him and he waved it away), he was singing much too high as well. The music cut out on him (the laptop they were using flaked out). They got it on again, in the middle, and he tried to find his place. Then the music cut out again.
I would have been freaking out a bit at this point. Or rather, I would have expected an inexperienced 10-year-old to freak out.
But no, he just asked them to restart it from the beginning this time and let them put the microphone in front of him. When the music started, he had the wherewithal to take the microphone out of the stand. And halfway through the first verse, realized he was too high and just adjusted. He looked very much on top of his situation, and handled himself beautifully, and got through the whole song.
Kids slapped his hand and congratulated him on the way out.
A pretty good moment in my life. I'm thinking an excellent one in his.