In the beginning.... years ago

2010-02-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

People often ask us how we started doing all "this" music stuff. Well, here it is in a nutshell:
Our mom is a musician and a music teacher (check her out at http://www.briarwoodmusicians.com/) - and she is well versed in the art of the Suzuki Method of teaching music. So, when we were just babies, she invited us to choose an instrument. What a snowball that started!

All 3 of us are great flute players, have won several competitions and can pretty much play anything from Hot Cross Buns to French music and Concertos. When we gain a certain level of proficiency, our mom lets us choose another instrument, and so on and so on. With the exception of Trae, we learned our instruments a couple of years apart each. Trae has to learn them all at the same time because we really need a drummer. And we need him to catch up quick, quick. We are all 4 years apart in age.

Back when we were just little, our friends and family had seen us perform classically many, many times, but we really just wanted to be cowboys. So, our mom let us work some Old Western music up and play it at a Quilt Guild Party. There's another snowball. Everyone loved it! Watching Kort (age 6) yodel up a storm and tell funny jokes was a total hit among our new friends... so we went for it more.

We wanted to learn how to yodel better because, well face it, it's pretty fun sounding. So, we hit the mountains and made a lot of noise until we figured it out. Kort really had the hang of it first, and Braden got pretty jealous, so he worked hard on it for a while to catch up.

The funniest part of learning how to yodel was that we did it ALL the time! Seriously, our mom had to give us stern warnings before we'd walk into public places like church because she was worried that we wouldn't be able to control our vocal chords. Funny. But, since then we've caught her yodeling while vacuuming, etc. We think she thought no one could hear. (she's actually pretty good)

Anyway,after picking up the guitar and practicing pretty hard on that instrument, Braden decided he needed to "fiddle". The surprising part was that it only took him a week or two to get the hang of it. He was 10 years old) Our mom told him that if he couldn't play in tune right from the very beginning, that he wasn't going to be allowed to play it. (she has no patience for off tune instruments) Well, it proved not to be any problem at all because he had the hang of it right off. We attribute this to all of that "Ear Training" we have done while learning to play the flute and sing. (our mom has a pretty cool method for teaching kids to play instruments)

Kort was 6 years old by then, and we decided he'd better learn to play guitar so Braden could have an accompanist. He was fast, fast, fast at learning. In fact, he was super advanced on the flute by then. We were told by Kenichi Ueda (awesome world-renowned flutist and instructor) that he was probably the most advanced 6 year old in the world (we hope we remember right). We'll put some videos of one of those performances on YouTube one of these days. You'd be amazed.

Well... each instrument came about mostly out of necessity and curiosity, but here we are - a few years later and about 8 instruments into it all. It's so much fun! Because of Kort's super, superior, perfecto pitch - we we able to sing in harmony right from the get-go. (ok, so our mom had to teach us a bit)

We entertained at Hardware Ranch and Elk Refuge for a couple of years every weekend and holiday. We loved it. Our dad bought us a big truck so we wouldn't ever get stuck in the snow on our way up the canyon, and we remember watching Disney movies on a hand-held video machine on the way. Trae was just a baby, and our mom always had to hold him tight with a blanket during our shows so he wouldn't get too loud. We were so, so sad when the restaurant closed down. We would go back in a heart beat.

But since then, we have had so many great opportunities to perform for neat people. We have even done a commercial which was aired on KUED for a couple of different years. We've been on the Radio - here in Utah, and also in Canada! (that's another story -- about Woofy the Dog) :) We have recorded 3 CD's and are writing our own music.

Read more posts to see all of our musical adventures - and please don't forget to check out our family site that teaches families how to do what we've done. Our adventures are awesome!
See us now and hear our music: http://www.rootbeerreunion.com/
Email us at: fullerboys@rootbeerreunion.com with your questions or comments. Thanks a bunch!

Fuller Boys

In the beginning.... years ago