Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The last concert?




I can recall traveling to day care with a very young Brady. That's close to 12 years ago. And to entertain him, I had a Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story CD playing. We were moving along when the CD moved on to some instrumental music. And then Brady started wailing. What's wrong, I thought. Brady told me that Buzz was in trouble. Huh? There were no words to that effect. He wasn't happy though.
I was talking to my friend Eddie about that incident. Eddie told me that Brady had musical memory. Our first child was able to tell what was going on in the movie just by the music in the background. Wow!
And maybe that's why he hangs on to the violin. Anyway, the so-so pictures here are of Riley's farewell concert. He was handed the viola and told to follow in his older brother's notes. Simply, it's not his cup of tea. He wants out. Nothing personal but he just doesn't like to play an instrument.
What's my musical history? I listened to a record player when I was young. It never came up. Between Little League baseball and watching television, I never picked up an instrument to play it. I wonder what happened. I did make up for it by buying all those records, tapes and CD's.

2 comments:

  1. Did you tell him in 5th grade they get free breakfast every morning practice? sometimes food will do it.

    PS my prodigy is signing up for private lessons....and not in baseball...which he declares as ok.

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  2. I came home with a Baritone (a horn) from Junior High School one day (1957-- Buddy Holley, "Peggy Sue" was my favorite) and my Mom asked me what that was for. I said I was going to learn how to play it and be in the band. Her entire life pased before her eyes (in the form of her nagging me to practice and having to hear it). She told me to take it back and that was the end of my music career for a few decades. By college, I was into air guitar, air drums, and air piano (I was multi-instrumental, it turned out). I was pretty good too, but then professional competitions started attracting more air players came to the fore and I had to drop out. A few days ago I saw a picture of a guy playing air guitar at a competion. He was on his splayed knees in a fur loin cloth, otherwise naked, hitting a painful high note in front of an auidence. No way I could do that with my knees. Plus, these days, I make too much money paid by family and friends in the form of stipends to keep me from appearing naked in public. I had to give air instruments up. These days I tap my fingers and/or toes. Kenneth Patchen, Antioch

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