Tough to Convince

Last Thursday afternoon I was in the midst of a piano lesson with one of my youngest students, a wide-eyed, very energetic  kindergarten boy who has a passion for all things boy.  He was just starting a new set of books at his lesson, and he was very proud and excited about his new materials.  In this particular new book, composers are introduced.  We talked about what composers do:  create music and write it down on paper.  Then I began conversing with him about two famous composers who lived a along time ago:  Mozart and Beethoven.  We talked about their long, unusual names.  We talked about how they wore different kinds of clothes than we wore today.  We talked about when and where they lived.  We talked about some different kinds of music that they wrote that is still very famous today.  Then I introduced “Ode to Joy,”  a piece that the student was going to learn to play.

Student:  That Beethoven guy, he really wrote that song?

Me:  Yes!  He wrote it a long time ago, hundreds of years, and it is still very famous today.

Student:  Really?

Me:  Yes, it’s part of a big and famous symphony that uses lots of instruments and singers, and our symphony here plays it sometimes too.

Student:  No.  I don’t believe it.  Are you really telling me the truth?

Me:  Oh yes, really.

Student:  I think you might be lying.

Me:  Really, I am not lying.  Beethoven really lived and he really wrote this music.

Student:  How do you know?

Me:  Well, when he wrote the music people went to see him conduct it and hear the music at the concert.

Student:  I think you are making this up.

Me:  Well, you can check with your mom when you get home and look it up on the computer.  I bet you can find a picture of Beethoven, and you can listen to some of the music that he wrote.

Student:  Are you sure he was a real person?  I’m going to have to check with my mom, because I’m just not sure I should believe you.