There's a place you walk.
This is the course of my musical development*: I started playing the violin because I wanted to play the saxophone. This made sense to my fourth grade mind as orchestra started a year earlier than band at my school. Little did I know that when fifth grade came around, my parents wouldn't let me take up saxophone as well.
I switched to the cello after seventh grade because my fingers are fat and slow and generally ill-suited to the violin. It turned out for the best, though, as I have come to appreciate the cello a great deal more than I ever could have the violin. It's got such a sexy sound and can be very surprising in ways that the violin--as the traditionally featured instrument in a string ensemble--cannot.
In high school I discovered rock & roll. I didn't really have specific tastes in music before that. I owned a lot of soundtracks and listened to whatever happened to be popular/on the radio at the time. When I discovered rock & roll, I started listening to a lot of Tom Petty. Then I worked my way back through the history of rock and landed on Bob Dylan. One of the things these two have in common is the harmonica. So I learned to play the harmonica. I told my grandmother that I was learning it in case I ever went to prison for anything and/or became a hobo as was (and still sometimes is) a life goal. But I didn't. I learned it because of Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.
Then in college I discovered The Who. Aside from Petty and Dylan, who are ongoing, my rock interests had generally been towards the earlier end of the spectrum, so it was not surprising that I had skipped The Who previously. And, I will admit to having come to The Who by way of TV, specifically CSI. They had this kick ass theme song that seemed vaguely familiar, so I bought a CD, and there you go. In the three years I have had The Who in my heart, I have come to own all but two of the albums they have ever released. Sweet. I have also come to conclude that the perfect volume setting for my headphones is the point at which I can hear Pete feathering the guitar during the bridge in "Who Are You?" over the noise of the subway. That brings the full volume sounds somewhat close to ear-splitting, but it's entirely worth it because that bridge is one of my favorite bits of music in the world.
Which brings me to my latest urge: I wish to learn the guitar. I have a guitar. It's an old, kind of cheap but nice, country box. It's highly sentimental, as it was my Papa (pronounced "pa-paw") Glenn's, and he was one of the kindest, sweetest people I've ever known. My Hell-elf of a grandmother--their marriage did then and does now completely baffle me--gave the guitar and his hour glass to me after he died. One of the few nice things I ever knew her to do for anyone. However, it is in Ohio, and it has a hole in the back of it. I am also stone tonedeaf. Honestly. The harmonica is easy because you don't tune it. You just play it, and either the song sounds right or it doesn't. My cello I couldn't tune to save my life. I had either Mr. Wallach, our conductor, or Steve-o, my stand partner, help me tune all the way until I graduated high school. So this is what I need: a playable guitar, a how to for Dummies (perhaps by Esteban!), and an electronic tuner.
The point of this post is unclear to even me, except to get this written down where I can remember it. But if there's a Music Fairy hanging out in the clubhouse with the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, consider yourself forewarned. My mad mediocre skills and I are coming for you.
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*or "development," if you so prefer
I switched to the cello after seventh grade because my fingers are fat and slow and generally ill-suited to the violin. It turned out for the best, though, as I have come to appreciate the cello a great deal more than I ever could have the violin. It's got such a sexy sound and can be very surprising in ways that the violin--as the traditionally featured instrument in a string ensemble--cannot.
In high school I discovered rock & roll. I didn't really have specific tastes in music before that. I owned a lot of soundtracks and listened to whatever happened to be popular/on the radio at the time. When I discovered rock & roll, I started listening to a lot of Tom Petty. Then I worked my way back through the history of rock and landed on Bob Dylan. One of the things these two have in common is the harmonica. So I learned to play the harmonica. I told my grandmother that I was learning it in case I ever went to prison for anything and/or became a hobo as was (and still sometimes is) a life goal. But I didn't. I learned it because of Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.
Then in college I discovered The Who. Aside from Petty and Dylan, who are ongoing, my rock interests had generally been towards the earlier end of the spectrum, so it was not surprising that I had skipped The Who previously. And, I will admit to having come to The Who by way of TV, specifically CSI. They had this kick ass theme song that seemed vaguely familiar, so I bought a CD, and there you go. In the three years I have had The Who in my heart, I have come to own all but two of the albums they have ever released. Sweet. I have also come to conclude that the perfect volume setting for my headphones is the point at which I can hear Pete feathering the guitar during the bridge in "Who Are You?" over the noise of the subway. That brings the full volume sounds somewhat close to ear-splitting, but it's entirely worth it because that bridge is one of my favorite bits of music in the world.
Which brings me to my latest urge: I wish to learn the guitar. I have a guitar. It's an old, kind of cheap but nice, country box. It's highly sentimental, as it was my Papa (pronounced "pa-paw") Glenn's, and he was one of the kindest, sweetest people I've ever known. My Hell-elf of a grandmother--their marriage did then and does now completely baffle me--gave the guitar and his hour glass to me after he died. One of the few nice things I ever knew her to do for anyone. However, it is in Ohio, and it has a hole in the back of it. I am also stone tonedeaf. Honestly. The harmonica is easy because you don't tune it. You just play it, and either the song sounds right or it doesn't. My cello I couldn't tune to save my life. I had either Mr. Wallach, our conductor, or Steve-o, my stand partner, help me tune all the way until I graduated high school. So this is what I need: a playable guitar, a how to for Dummies (perhaps by Esteban!), and an electronic tuner.
The point of this post is unclear to even me, except to get this written down where I can remember it. But if there's a Music Fairy hanging out in the clubhouse with the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, consider yourself forewarned. My mad mediocre skills and I are coming for you.
___________________________________
*or "development," if you so prefer