Signs of AudioNervosa in young children?

[richidoo]

My daughter is 4 years old. She loves ballet. She knows Beethoven, Dvorak and loves "big boom" (loud as hell) symphonic music. She wants to learn to play the "compiano" which was her baby word for a digital synthesizer and now means any piano at all.

I just recently hooked up my old Technics turntable. My wife disappears for a few minutes and comes back holding an old LP that she loved when she was a little girl. "Tina the Ballerina - Favorite Children Stories" by the Rocking Horse Players.  The sticker on the plastic says 77 cents. You get the picture...

Now my little girl listens to that record for hours everyday. Over and over. I got sick of flipping the record every 20 minutes, so I taught her how to operate the system herself. She turns it on, sets the input, turns on the phono pre, lifts and places the needle carefully and even flips it when she wants. She kindly asks if it's OK to turn it up a little, to which I reluctantly agree. It is getting louder and louder each day. She now owns the stereo, and gets pissed when I want to listen to something. Sometimes she will negotiate with me about what we will listen to. I think I have created a monster. The scariest thing is when I offered to rip the Tina record so she could play it on the squeezebox and be able to dance around without skipping it. She declined, "I like the record better." Uh-Oh!I think it is just because she can't read and likes doing a big girl thing touching the records. But is this how a 21st century vinyl fetish begins? Should I be worried?

My 6yo son could care less, except for bashing his drums and making a moshpit with the other two when dancing.

My 8yo son can navigate the squeezebox menu and enjoys trying to find the song I ask him to play in my totally disorganized file system. My son figured out how to play his stevie ray records in the background of his XBox games instead of the cheezy rock that comes with them. The next generation of audiophiles is among us!

All three kids love dancing to synth pop, "Thriller" and KISS radio station 80s pop.

Any budding audiophiles in your family? Any funny kids stories?
Rich

[WEEZ]

Back when my oldest son was maybe a year and a half or two years old, he was fascinated by my stereo. This was in the late 70's. I was using an AR turntable with a Shure M91ED; a Crown IC-150 pre-amp; a Dyna ST-400; a pair or stacked Advents; and a Wollensak (sp?) cassette deck.

Anyway, he loved to hear the 1812 Overture played pretty loud (which that system did) and he'd shriek with glee everytime I played it.    We gave him music lessons (as we did all three kids) starting when they were about 8 years old.

Fast foward to today: He's about to complete his 2nd Master's degree in music; and has taught both brass and voice. And likely, he'll go for his PHD soon.   The next son is a drummer. And not bad, if I do say so myself.   . My daughter likes movies.  

Guys, give your kids music lessons if they show an interest. It will make their lives more 'rich'.

WEEZ

(btw, they all prefer tubes )