I love music. I remember loving music when I was very young; it touched my soul somehow. I wanted to play music, but I didn’t know how to make it happen.
Piano
Aside from my favorite instrument guitar (mentioned elsewhere on this blog), I started piano lessons in the fourth grade, which didn’t work out. My sister took piano lessons. I was jealous and begged for lessons. I didn’t know that learning to play the piano would require so much work. My lifelong lack of discipline kept me from practicing most of the time. Plus, I hated the music in the beginner music books. Once when my parents drove me to a lesson, I hid my music book under the front seat of the car and claimed I’d lost or forgotten it (one of those), all to avoid a lesson. My parents were saints. Thanks, Ms. Baker, I should have tried harder.
I don’t have a lot of piano stories. Most of them involve hearing other people play and realizing I shouldn’t have quit.
I played hours of piano (in practice rooms) as I took music theory classes at Auburn University in the early 1970s and couldn’t help but notice how poorly I played.
My first wife was a talented pianist, and we bought an upright piano during our failed marriage. I sometimes played the piano at home until she begged me to stop. Everyone is a critic. After the divorce, I sold the piano to some fraternity members. These guys loaded the piano into the back of a pickup truck, and as they drove away, one of them began playing a tune. He played very well.
Chuck Leavell is a pianist who played with the Allman Brothers band and now plays with the Rolling Stones. I once met a man who grew up on the same block with Chuck, and he claimed the guys in the neighborhood felt sorry for Chuck because his mother wouldn’t let him come out to play until he practiced piano. He said they don’t feel sorry for him now. The only way I would have any ability on piano now would be if my mother had forced me to practice. I seriously doubt if I’d ever been a major talent like Chuck.
Baritone/Euphonium
At the end of the sixth grade, everyone in my class took some aptitude tests. I scored well on the musical aptitude test, and my family expected me to sign up for the seventh-grade band. I wanted to take seventh-grade art instead, so I could learn to draw. My slightly older sister vetoed the art class and told me I was going to take band, and I’m glad she did, though I still can’t draw. My first instrument was the trumpet, and I couldn’t get a good sound out of the horn. Eventually, the band director handed me a baritone, aka euphonium. It’s like a small tuba, and I could get a good sound out of it. On that day, I switched from trumpet to baritone. One thing about playing in the school band is that we played every school day, Monday through Friday, which is a form of practice. Despite my lack of discipline, I became a decent player.
I have enough baritone stories for a separate article.