Let there be music-NOT

[NewOrleansLady]

Have we seen any of the younger Duggars with musical instruments lately?  I do so miss their impromptu musical concerts.

[Stormy]

Come to think of it, there's no evidence that they've continued the music education with the littles. That's a shame; it's one of the few things I thought was kinda nice about the Duggars.

[kachuu]

I agree- I wish my parents pushed me when i was younger to play something. That is a neat talent to have in your back pocket for "three random facts about me" lol

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

24 minutes ago, Stormy said:

Come to think of it, there's no evidence that they've continued the music education with the littles. That's a shame; it's one of the few things I thought was kinda nice about the Duggars.

Honestly I don't think we've seen JB & M do ANYTHING with any of the kids since M lost Jubilee. She was fading more and more after each kid but completely shut down after she miscarried Jubilee. I don't think she was allowed to properly grieve for that baby, she was given a few days prior to her birth but seemed to jump right back into life after she was buried.  They haven't mentioned her once since her birth/death except that one time Jill tweeted or Instead something about it.   She was what 18/19 weeks along, I sadly know several women who miscarried that late or later and or had a still birth.  1 friend who had a still born at 40 wks 5 days (from medical malpractice no less) still talks about her and we acknowledge her every year in Sept on her birthday she would have been 14 this year. Michelle had to pack that grief away and keep sweet and available for JB. She didn't do a good job of it as she's mentally checked out and I do think she is heavily medicated to be that way, because she couldn't cope with losing her child and her fertility at pretty much the same time.

 

[Cleopatra7]

1 hour ago, Stormy said:

Come to think of it, there's no evidence that they've continued the music education with the littles. That's a shame; it's one of the few things I thought was kinda nice about the Duggars.

There’s no evidence that any education is going on with the Duggars. JB and Michelle seem to think that all one needs is basic literary and numeracy, and anything beyond that is non-essential. As for the instruments, maybe JB and Michelle think it’s not necessary anymore, now that they aren’t doing public speaking gigs anymore, other than the odd Gothardite function.

[Triplet3]

I'm pretty sure I saw a video clip sometime last year of Josie having her first piano lesson, so I think they do still keep up music to some extent, even if they have stopped doing the mass violin/singing thing.

[Bad Wolf]

Jinger played piano pretty well, but she's gone now. Of course, Jana is a concert pianist, so she could still teach the littles. Along with the occasional rest of her jurisdictions.

[JDuggs]

I recall a video of the little girls plus Mack, I think, playing violin on an outdoor stage. Someone with skillz would need to find it.

 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Seems like it's the same for the Bates family as well. I haven't seen any music lessons for the littles of each family.

[Eternalbluepearl]

20 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Seems like it's the same for the Bates family as well. I haven't seen any music lessons for the littles of each family.

Maybe a troop of siblings trotted out on stage to play the violin (badly) isn't in style anymore? Who can keep up with the fundie trends? 

[RosyDaisy]

Good. Their "music" is atrocious and bad for one's ears.

[NakedKnees]

21 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

snip

They haven't mentioned her once since her birth/death except that one time Jill tweeted or Instead something about it.   

snip

I think there were some other times... I might be having a Mandala Effect moment, but I recall Michelle and JB mentioning in an interview at some point that the kids would sometimes come in to their room at night to talk about the grief they were dealing with in regards to Jubilee. But you do have a point- it was a really poignant, sad, important experience for a short while, then it just sort of got lost.

As annoying as the music often was, that's just how it is when you give little kids string instruments, IMO. I'm still 100% for parents teaching their kids to play music. It was one of the few good things they did for the kids, although it would have been better (intellectually as well as musically) to let the kids explores other genres of music, or even the less Godly aspects of orchestral music.

[SapphireSlytherin]

3 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Jana is a concert pianist,

Please tell me this was sarcasm.

[Bad Wolf]

25 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Please tell me this was sarcasm.

JB said it some time ago.

[CorruptionInc.]

Michelle and JB have to do a lot more damage control these days, maybe this is why?

[Eternalbluepearl]

Didn't one of the Duggars play the harp? I remember a big golden harp that Jim Bob bought. 

[TatertotAsserole]

I grew up playing the violin. There were several homeschooler/ATI families that learned with me. What always shocked me about the Duggars was how bad their kids were at the violin. Most of the homeschoolers I knew were AMAZING with the musical instrument they chose to study. I was a competitive child (and a competitive adult) and I used to have panic attacks because I'd never be able to catch up to the homeschooled kids. I went to traditional school for 8-9 hours/day plus had homework. They could easily (and often did) practice 5+ hours/day. When I first heard the Duggars play, I was shocked as to how truly awful their sound is. Not only that, the kids don't hold the violins properly or stand with the correct posture. What are they doing all day if not practicing violin/piano?

[WiseGirl]

6 minutes ago, TatertotAsserole said:

 What are they doing all day if not practicing violin/piano?

Absolutely nothing? Running wild? Praying?

[SapphireSlytherin]

31 minutes ago, TatertotAsserole said:

What are they doing all day if not practicing violin/piano?

Sleeping.

[VVV]

33 minutes ago, TatertotAsserole said:

 When I first heard the Duggars play, I was shocked as to how truly awful their sound is. Not only that, the kids don't hold the violins properly or stand with the correct posture. What are they doing all day if not practicing violin/piano?

I would be very surprised if the Duggar children ever had lessons with a high-level teacher in the first place. There are a lot of truly awful (on the low end) to mediocre (on the high end) violin teachers out in the world, and the more rural the area. the less likely an excellent violin teacher is to be living close by. This is not to say that there are NO great teachers outside of the major cities, but the teachers with the most training tend to also be playing or at the very least subbing in professional orchestras, and it takes a pretty goodsized city to support a paid orchestra.

One of my many pet peeves is people who think they're qualified to teach violin because they had eight to ten years of violin lessons themselves as children and maybe even achieved a decent seat in the local youth orchestra.

Editing to add that such amateur teachers might, if they go to the time and expense of getting Suzuki teacher training, do a good job with littles, but in my experience it is the vanishingly rare such teacher who knows when a student has surpassed their ability to teach.

[SapphireSlytherin]

The Suzuki-trained violinists are always easy to spot. It's rare (in my personal experience) that the Suzuki method results in a great musician.

 

[IamNIKE]

I know I've seen in the past (like back in the kids and counting days) that they had an outside teacher coming in to do lessons but as far as that person's capabilities, who knows. Tonitown itself is small but the general area is not that isolated. And with the fundie thing being big in the Midwest in general and them having ample financial resources, I can't imagine that they are THAT strapped for qualified individuals to teach their kids. 

Plus, it seems like (at least to me) there has been a significant change in the editing style of the show in general. Even before it went to Counting On it seemed as though I was having a lot less "TF?!" moments and I know that their lifestyle/views/habits have not changed that much. It has to be that it's being edited different to shield some things. So I feel like maybe they are still doing a lot of the musical stuff and we just don't see it.

[Cleopatra7]

27 minutes ago, IamNIKE said:

I know I've seen in the past (like back in the kids and counting days) that they had an outside teacher coming in to do lessons but as far as that person's capabilities, who knows. Tonitown itself is small but the general area is not that isolated. And with the fundie thing being big in the Midwest in general and them having ample financial resources, I can't imagine that they are THAT strapped for qualified individuals to teach their kids. 

The Duggars may have the resources to get a good music teacher, but I doubt they are willing to go outside of their fundie bubble to find one. My guess is that they have used random women in their social circle who may have a little music knowledge but not enough to be an effective teacher. As others have mentioned, the Duggars were always terrible at their instruments and they seemed oblivious as to how bad their playing was. It also seems like the Duggars are very lazy people and don’t want to work at anything to be good at it, whether it’s music or “ministry” or even just getting to places on time.They seem to think that their shining Gothard counternances will do all the work for them.

[VVV]

33 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

The Suzuki-trained violinists are always easy to spot. It's rare (in my personal experience) that the Suzuki method results in a great musician.

 

Oh please. I started in Suzuki as did several of my colleagues, and we all play extremely well.  Professional orchestras all over the US have Suzuki alumni in their violin sections. More famous Suzuki-trained violinists include William Preucil, Jr., Rachel Barton, Jennifer Koh, Nickolas Kendall, James Stern, Frank Almond, Brian Lewis, David Perry, Hilary Hahn, Leila Josefewicz. I have worked with some of the people on this list and can attest to their superb musicianship.

There are, to be sure, plenty of mediocre to bad teachers who hang out a Suzuki shingle, and also plenty of mediocre to bad violinists who come out of such programs as well as out of good programs. But I assure you, traditional training also produces a lot of not-great violinists.

Playing the violin well demands a lot of effort as well as a significant investment of time and money on the part of the student's family--the younger the student, the more is required of the parent.

[IamNIKE]

45 minutes ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I doubt they are willing to go outside of their fundie bubble to find one.

I guess in my mind, for as big as the fundie bubble is, they shouldn't have a problem finding a well qualified teacher. It's a big bubble. But I think you are onto something with the laziness....even the best of the best "Christian women" probably can't operate on Duggar time (whether it be their constant lateness or just the schedule logistics of having such a large family). Try as they might, they aren't all Job reincarnates and have other obligations to attend to.