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As you can see, these instruments are...
these are the same instruments
but they're just played differently.
With my violin, I play classical music.
With my fiddle, I play old-time fiddle music.
There is also two different ways you can play the violin.
There's classical music and
there's old-time fiddle music.
Classical music could be considered more strict.
You really have to follow the way the music is written
and to be a professional-class player, you need good posture.
Personally, classical music wasn't my thing.
I am a guy who doesn't really like to follow the rules
and fiddle music gave me the freedom to play whatever I want.
My name is Lia
and my name is Kai.
We are here today to talk to you about
how playing an instrument
can open unexpected doors to new experiences.
Playing instruments hasn't only given us
an appreciation for music,
but also unique life-experiences
we would have never had otherwise.
When I was four, my mom had this crazy idea
to get us start to play
on some kind of musical instrument.
So, she brought us to a music teacher in Chiluac,
who showed us all the different varieties of instruments.
One instrument that really intrigued me was the violin.
I told her I really wanted to get started on it,
and off we went.
After a couple of years, I decided
to follow my brother's footsteps
and take on the violin as well.
We started taking lessons from teachers
around the Fraser Valley every weekend.
Starting a musical instrument not only helped my musical sense,
but it can also give you
a better future by getting jobs
by touring or playing in bands or even teaching kids.
Every summer we go to fiddle camps
in contests all around Canada.
We get to meet new people, it's so much fun.
It may be only for two weeks, but it's so worth it.
And if you ever decide to play a musical instrument,
I am sure there is a camp for it somewhere,
and hopefully you can make
as many friends as we did,
because you can have a really good time and jam.
Speaking of fiddle camps,
it's better than it sounds because
we get to see our friends from Alberta,
Saskatchewan, and even Manitoba.
It's the one thing our family looks forward to every year.
It gives us the chance to share our passion with others.
In these camps, we learn new tunes,
we get taught by the best fiddle players in Canada,
and like she said before, we meet new friends.
Um...playing music
not only gave us confidence in our playing ability,
but in everyday life experience such as going to school.
When I was in grade one,
I was the shyest little boy you could ever meet;
I'd be to afraid to talk to anybody,
my teachers would always ask me questions,
I'd be just freeze up and not know what to say.
The only people I was really comfortable around
were my parents.
Playing a musical instrument can give you
something to be proud of
and something your parents can be proud of.
It can give you a head start by playing in school bands
or even music classes.
Not only do I love playing violin on a daily basis,
but it also helps me with stress relief.
Say I come home one day and I have lots of homework
and I'm just not having the greatest day.
I pick up my violin and cool down a little bit.
Music also got me and my brother closer in a way.
Yeah, sure we have our ups and downs
just like any other pair of siblings.
And, yeah sure it may bug me sometimes when he doesn't count in a song
and I don't know when to start playing
but people usually say we are more like friends than siblings.
It also gives me and my sister
something to talk about, something we can relate to
and we can jam
and like she said before, it gives you career advantages
such as playing in a band.
Now we want you to pick up an instrument
and just get inspired by the music.
You may not find the right instrument on the first try:
for example, I started playing guitar a couple of years back
and I didn't think I'd get anywhere with it,
but I have to admit, I am not that bad at it.
And I've been playing piano and cello
half as long as I've been playing violin
and I'm already playing advanced tunes on both instruments.
Music can also help you when you are bored,
like when you come home and there is nothing to do
you can just pick up your instrument and just start playing to pass time.
I hope all of you will learn some kind of music
whether is singing or playing an instrument.
It may be hard at first
but you will eventualy get used to it.
Me and my sister, when we first started performing,
we were always too scared to go on a stage.
Our legs would be shaking, I wouldn't know what to say,
and would always repeat myself.
But now we have two CDs out, we write our own tunes,
we compete in contests all around Canada,
we're starting a programme, a charity programme,
to start teaching kids the fiddle
and we both played in the Olympics.
I hope our story will inspire you,
cause... hey! if you have got a passion for music
don't be afraid to start chasing that dream.
Thank you and we wish you the best of luck and
we are going end off with a tune here.
(Violin music)
(Applause)
Thank you!
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