Children speak the truth!

[Sellars]

Yesterday we took care of the daughter of a friend of mine. She will be one year old this september, and is now in a period in which she only trusts her mother.

So, when her father and mother went away, she cried, and she cried. She was still crying half an hour after they were gone.

It was then that I decided to try to comfort her with my mandolin.

From the first note that I played, she immediately stopped crying. During the second song she bagan to laugh and during the third song she was dancing (well, hopping around on her bottom http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

she hasn't cried for the whole night after that!

It was really nice to have a female audience that appreciates your gig every once in a while http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

anybody else similar stories?

[grandmainger]

hopping around on her bottom
I do that too !!! #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

Seriously though... The couple next door have a little girl (5 months old). When I play, it's obvious that she listens... I'm not good enough for her to start dancing though...

[mandonewbie]

No kids, but my girlfriend's little dog runs to the other room when I get out the guitar, but will lay on the sofa next to me while I play the mandolin....He seems to like the sound better, and I don't think he's as intimidated by the size of the instrument....Strange but true.

[Flatpick]

I have a grandson 15 months old and when I start to play the Mandolin he will come from anywhere he is in the house and find me by following the music. He then sits or dances, kinda side to side rocking motion. He will pluck the strings with his fingers and smile at me.

I pray that he has the gift.

Flatpick

[craigtoo]

Hey Flatpick...

Sounds like you're startin' him right... boy's already got some rhythm...that's half the battle...

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

craig

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

My dog will get out one of his squeeky toys and start playing along with me whenever I'm playing. After a while I get to where I can tune it out. Good training for playing with a banjo player!

[250sc]

The first time I played in front of my 1 year old grandson he crawled up and gently put his forhead against the top of my mandolin and just stayed that way for about 10 minutes. I guess he was feeling the vibrations.

[midmando]

All my kids are musical, but our 9 month old may be the most musically inclined of the bunch. Music will stop her crying - just about anytime. If I have the guitar or mando out, she's there almost right away, wants to touch it, hit the strings, hear the sounds. At church she's quiet except during the music - then she tries to sing along!

[fatt-dad]

It was really nice to have a female audience that appreciates your gig every once in a while

anybody else similar stories?


Ah, yeah. My female audiences never appreciate my gigs. They actually run for cover.

f-d

[John Flynn]

A few years ago, I was in church, tuning up, getting ready to play for Sunday Mass. A lady had come into church early with her baby girl and sat right near the chior. As #babies sometimes do, this infant was wailing inconsolably at the top of her little lungs, for no apparent reason. The mother was trying every trick to calm the little girl down. I was warming up on the mando, and for no reason in particular, I broke into Sailor's Hornpipe (the Popeye theme). The baby instantly stopped crying, looked right at me and started giggling a little. So I walked over to her and continued for a few verses. The mother was overjoyed and thanked me. The baby calmed down and eventually went on to sleep through Mass. It was one of the most gratifying audience reactions I have ever recieved, even though I put the audience to sleep!.

[rhetoric]

I haven't been playing the mandolin very long and my lack of skill is evident when I'm playing and my kids come up to me and say, "How come you don't play you're guitar much anymore?" (translation: "Please stop playing the mandolin.")

[Michael H Geimer]

A True Friend, came to see my band play yesterday. He brought his wife and 2yrs old along. The idea was that since Chloe always enjoys my mandolin playing when I'm over there, that she might have fun seeing a whole band play ... and she did!

But we were nowhere near as cool and those Cable Cars going by outside, with people hanging off the sides, and the three-bells going "Ring! Ring! Ring!"

"I wanna ride the Choo-Choo!", was her persistant 'request'.

Somedays it's a tough crowd.

[duuuude]

Good time for that Johnny Cash train tune Benig. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Michael H Geimer]

Well ... I had more success with Wheels on the Bus.