Music Lessons

I love to sing.  I sing in the shower.  I sing in the car.  I sing at the gym. I sing in the grocery store.  I tend to make up lyrics and often times words and my beat and rhythm are spot on...in my mind. 

Actually, my mom asks me quite a bit if I flunked choir in high school.  I started singing in elementary school - I believe it was mandatory.  You know, the recitals and the plays?  Remember, the Christmas pageants and spring concerts?

I participated in all of them from elementary school to junior high and on into high school, I learned tons of songs.  The one's I remember the most were, "Frosty the Snowman" and "Edelweiss." Yes, I learned a pleothra of music however I didn't quite have the pipes for the Spokane Children's Choir (actually had to bow out and become a board member) nor did I try or get accepted to Juilliard School of Dance, Drama and Music however I do love to sing.  (By the way, I always wanted to be a soprano...but I am not...I am a proud alto). 

My father played the piano.  He was good.  My mom played the piano.  She was good.  

I took lessons.  I wasn't too good.  In fact, my piano teacher said I should try a new instrument. 

So, I picked up a piccolo. It was a bit embarrassing at the time. (PS, I still have it).  

Now that I am older, I find that it shouldn't of been embarrassing at all.  Heck, the piccolo (Italian for small) is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written. This gave rise to the name "ottavino," the name by which the instrument is referred to in the scores of Italian composers. John Philip Sousa wrote the famous solo in the final repeat of the closing section (trio) of his march "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

For those of you who know me, I have quite a bit of air.  In junior high, I picked up the trumpet and decided to give it a whirl.  It wasn't the saxophone...which is the "coolest" of the horns but it appeared to be lighter for me to carry/hold.  I played in the city band.  Yes, everyone, the city band.  

I was proud to play the trumpet (I don't have it anymore).  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. 

So, why do I tell you about my music lessons?  I think everyone should try one or two.  Why?  

Music brings people together.  It allows us to experience emotions.  And, above all music gives us soul.  

Music leads to singing, dancing and eating.  

It brings spirit to the world.  

What I learned, I learned in kindegarten...

This post is dedicated to my friend Kaarin.

You'll understand why after reading on.

Let's go back a few years to your 5 year old birthday party.

What were you most excited about?  Toys, games, new pens and butcher paper...heck no, it was going to kindergarten.

Remember feeling the nerves - at the time you might of thought you had the stomach flu.  It was a time of preparing for new faces, a new teacher, recess, giggles, smiles.  

But were you were prepared to learn about biting, pushing, and name calling? Kids now days get kicked out of school (pre-school and day care too) for biting.  But think about it.  That was a lesson.  

1. Go to the dentist - "bite down"

2. An apple a day keeps the doctor away - "bite into a juicy apple"

3. Can't wait to fix a mouth watering (tofu) steak - "take a bite out of that"

So, really, Kaarin, the phone calls you get regarding your daughter biting and having to pick her up from school is her way of saying, "hello, I am advanced...I know how to bite."

Now, there is one thing you can say to her, "honey, we don't bite humans, that's cannibalism - and that is BAD."  Moving on.

Next lesson: pushing or for most boys it was shoving. I can think of three examples where this works really well...

Seinfeld - enter Elaine, "get out of here" and she shoves her best friends, out of love of course

December 26 (after Christmas sales) - we get the best deals when we wait in line pushing people at stores like Target, WalMart and Best Buy. In fact, the pushier you are the, the better deals you get.  They reinforce it with early bird specials.

Rock concerts - it's the mosh pit mentality, to get closer to the experience, you push your way (along with everyone else) to the front of the stage.

And the final lesson:  name calling

Everyone has a name.  Some just have better names than others and are easy marks for a few antics.  I remember a fond memory of a child named, Billy Stinkie.

You can't help but love, "stinky"  and we use it now in everyday conversation,"the garbage is stinky."  Name calling is really another word for rhetoric and propaganda.  And, where would our lives be without that?

Finally, the obvious items we learned can be taken and used everyday to make us stronger  and loving human beings.  Consider these:

• Share
• Play
• Don't hit people
• Put things back where you found them
• Clean up your own mess
• Don't take things that aren't yours
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody
• Wash your hands before you eat
• Flush (and then wash your hands...really) :)
• Nap
• Look and listen
• Hold hands and stick together 

Ahhh. Kindergarten