Music Lessons

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." ~Aldous Huxley

I grew up with music playing in the background of my life.  My parents were young when I was born, and what is now "classic rock" was constantly playing in our home.  I always enjoyed that there was music in the house, and that there wasn't a specific genre that we had to choose. As we grew up, we covered all of the major types of music. I will even admit that we listened to country, and I attended a few country concerts in my day.

My family has a fair amount of musical talent.  My father played percussion in the high school band.  I believe it was because he could carry the bass drum...  My mother played flute, and was very talented.  I chose the flute and piccolo in school, and my brother played the saxophone.  We have always enjoyed playing and listening, and we do have a pretty mean family competition of Rock Band. :-)

I always feel like there is a soundtrack running in my head.  Throughout my day, I can pair different songs with what I am experiencing at the moment.  It can be an awesome ability, or it can be time-consuming.  I have often become distracted thinking about what song would fit with what I am feeling, like my life is some sort of movie.  I don't think the rest of the world really cares what song it would be.  I think that I think too much sometimes...

I knew that one of my goals would be to approach some sort of musical skill.  I didn't really want to make a goal out of attending a concert or something, because the truth is in recent past I have attended a very fair share of concerts: Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Journey, Foreigner, BB King, U2, and the list goes on...

But I haven't touched a musical instrument in a LONG time.  And I have always wanted to learn to play the drums.  Drummers fascinated me. Don Henley had some impressive skills, Phil Collins was always rocking, and when I was at the U2 concert, I kept my eyes on Larry Mullen the whole time.  There's a certain power behind the drums, and I find it captivating.  Now, I will attempt to learn the method.

Music has always played a big part in my life.  I am grateful for the opportunity to attempt this portion of the project, and for the kindness of a friend, Mandy Contreras, who will be teaching me basic drum method. I will definitely post a picture next week!