play along here
1.What musical instruments have you played?
I think I have a complex when it comes to music. My dad had perfect pitch, could play any instrument he put hands to. My mother was a voice major in college before deciding to be an English teacher. And my grandmother was a music teacher. It was a lot to live up to!
But I started playing piano when I was five. My piano teacher lived around the corner, and she was MEAN. My dad was my favorite teacher because he was patient and kind. I started playing flute in 4th grade, and I will never forget how hard the teacher tried to convince me to play something else because I had such bad allergies, which affected both my breath control and my hearing. Same issues my Vietnamese teachers at DLI thought I’d have at learning a tonal language. But I prevailed (at both), and I loved it. I still play from time to time. I also played alto sax from 6th to 8th grade, which I hated, although I was okay at it.
I have my dad’s electric guitar and his mandolin, neither of which I know how to play. That’s my goal, along with the ukulele, which my kid plays.
2. When do you play with your food?
Only when I hate it and have to make it appear I’m eating it!
3. What’s your favorite stage play?
There’s a special place in my heart for Annie with Andrea McArdle as the title character, as it was my first Broadway performance. I also love Rent, Cats, Wicked, and Hello, Dolly!
4. What games do you play on your phone?
Words with Friends, Trivia Crack, along with a few puzzle games. Logic games, sudoku games, nonograms.
5. When did you recently play it by ear?
Not as much as I did pre-pandemic. I can’t even really remember at this point!
I found it tough to grow up in a musical family since I hate performing. People always shame me for wasting my talent. Bah!
My father was enrolled in music college, and returned to his high school to conduct a concert, then times changed and he had to quit. Not clear on the details, but he was born in 1914, so lots changed when he was a young adult. We always had a piano, and he tried, tried, tried to help me learn! He even had a friend’s older sister give me lessons. Nope. I did play flute for many years though, in school and private lessons. The private teacher would poke me in the abdomen if I wasn’t breathing correctly! A friend took a class from him and ended up crying. He was a good teacher though. The flute was the most popular instrument for girls in 4th grade, the grade for “real” band classes where I lived, and apparently where you lived too! Most stopped after the first year.
I still have a very nice (expensive) flute my daughter upgraded to for high school and then the teacher didn’t let her in the class because she never learned scales. The elementary and middle schools that fed into that school didn’t teach it, but she could read music, while the class couldn’t, so it didn’t make a lot of sense.
Wow, so much music in your life. I hope it has been as much a blessing in your life as it appears.