Making Music

A long time ago - almost two years - Owen kept asking for a guitar/violin. While I wanted to honor his request for a stringed musical instrument I debated what to get him since he wasn't quite sure exactly what it was he wanted, he certainly wasn't mature enough to start to use either well, I didn't play either, and I didn't want to bring something into our home for him to use poorly or break. So . . . I waited. And I talked to some musician friends and family to get opinions. And Anne and Granddaddy sent use some money for a guitar/violin. And I waited some more. And finally last winter when we were trapped in our tiny apartment with not much going on, I ordered a lap harp. So why after all that time did I get a lap harp?
Owen, of course had never asked for a lap harp. I had never used one.
But after a lot of thinking and waiting, I decided that what Owen was asking for was a stringed instrument to play, and what I felt our home needed was an instrument that he could play with some reasonable and early success, that wasn't difficult to use, and that would withstand the use of two small boys (with mama's help, of course).
Our lap harp came with a small set of song sheets with notes marked under each string, and we ordered an additional set. With the help of the little wrench and an online tuner, I try to keep our little harp in pretty good tune so that when the boys want to play, it sounds right-ish.
Owen has done well with using it nicely. Our only issue to date was that he immediately put the pick into the hole in the center, and it's still rattling around in there. A walk to the guitar store across from our apartment in Lancaster solved that, and the new ones are just a little too wide to fit in the hole - ha! We know because he tried right away when we got home.
Owen has enjoyed strumming the strings, listening to the sounds as he plays up or down the scale, and has even started trying to use the song sheets. I'm surprised that he can hear when he plucks the wrong note, and just like I did when I was staring piano, he starts over at the very beginning of the song to get the whole thing right.
Caedmon who loves music and dances any time he hears it has observed enough to know that you are supposed. to. use. a. pick. Now he must. use. a. pick. when he gets a turn. You can't see it in the photo, but you can see his hand molded around it plucking those strings.
It was worth the wait, and I'm glad for now to have a little lap harp we can use well instead of a violin that sits way up on a shelf and gets brought down to touch and pluck a few strings unsatisfactorily once in a while.