Oh, Boy! A story!
A bunch of the boys were lounging around, discussing playing and professionalism, and I remembered a story. Some years ago, I went to a harp guitar
concert - John Doan? I don't recall - but it's a fine, unusual instrument popular in the '20s. Whoever it was, he toured, and searched out old music
stores in the off time, on the trail of harp guitar; "Oh, sure. Try Murphy's Music down there on Third."
It often turned out that it's Murphy's Plumbing Supply, with some old photos of musicians on the wall or in a case. So he looks up whatever old-timers
he can, and asks them about the photos. "Oh, yes; we had a nine-piece mandolin orchestra / accordion orchestra / municipal band ... It was grand
fun."
And how was that experience for you? "People were very supportive. You could be terrible, but somebody would say, 'You know, Chaurice, that was a lot
better than last week, keep it up.' And people had fun playing together."
So he'd ask, well, why did you stop? And invariably the answer would be "recorded music (records)", or "the radio". "Chaurice, you're an okay
violinist, but you're no Heifetz." So the fiddle / accordion / mando, whatever, would go in the attic, now that there was a Professional Standard of
Performance that couldn't be met. Most working people don't have six hours a day to practice to maybe become professionals ...
I remember when I was a boy in Small Town Iowa (pop. 5,000), we had a bandshell in the park, and a one-of-everything town orchestra. It was The Thing
To Do on Monday nights in the summer, smell the cut grass, watch the lightning bugs and stars come out, and listen to the music. Sadly, it is no more.
But it was live, and performed by people we knew, not some recording of strangers.
So - encourage beginners? Keep it up, you're doing well? We're none of us Shaheen? Rome wasn't built in a day? Play with your friends? It's just a
story; take from it what you will. I've lived with it a long time, and it makes me kinder to beginners in any area, and respectful of people who stick
with something.
|
![[*]](images/xmbprobrown/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
