"When the girls told me that they want to learn the electronic drum, I thought it was crazy because most of my friends send their children to learn classical music and not modern music," says Shen, from Jiaozuo, Henan province. Both her daughters joined the camp. "They were only 4 years old then. And, both my husband and I have no idea about electronic musical instruments."
"But when I saw how persistent they were about learning the instrument and how they enjoyed the classes, I knew they were serious," says Shen. She bought a drum kit for over 10,000 yuan ($1,570) for her daughters and sent them to music classes twice weekly in their hometown. She has not mapped out any plans for her daughters' musical futures. "I only want them to be happy," she says.
"It is so much fun to play the drum," says Qin Wenjun, the elder twin, who performed solo at the concert.
According to Liu Bingnan, a teacher from Roland Music School, most children love learning the electronic drum because it's easy to learn and fun to play. "It's like a base for music. You just have to follow the music and provide the beats," he says.
One of the camp participants who learns classical music, 11-year-old Wang Hanqing, has been playing the piano and accordion since she was 5. "My parents want me to have a good sense of music," says Wang. "They bought me a lot of classical music CDs as well as pop and rock CDs. For me, the music world is not only about classical music but there is a great variety. When I play music at home, I also try the two instruments with rock tunes."
At the concert, the girl played the piano accompanied by electronic musical instruments, and she also gave a solo accordion performance.
"I think piano sounds great with electronic musical instruments and accordion becomes alive with synthesizers," she says.
The location of the camp is at a 10-square-kilometer music valley in Pinggu, which is home to the annual China International Music Valley Festival. It is near Dongguancun village, which produces 300,000 violins annually and is the world's largest exporter of violins.
Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn.
By Chen Nan
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