No, this isn't as morbid as it sounds. It's about playing the saxophone. When I was in elementary school, I played the violin in 4th and 5th grade. A neighbor across the street gave me (or rather, gave my parents) his violin when he retired. My parents signed me up for small group lessons at my elementary school. I didn't like them. I kept trying to tell my teacher and my mom I didn't like them. I wasn't getting very far. For better or worse, my dad occasionally reminds me (even to this day) that once I tried to play Happy Birthday for someone on the violin and it was unrecognizable. That probably didn't help encourage me at the time. Finally, one day I left my violin, in its case, on the chair in the music room with a note taped to it saying "I quit". They called my mother. The upshot was, I no longer had to take the weekly lessons.
When I got into junior high, I signed up for band. Everyone had to take music and I knew I wasn't fit for choir. The first day of band, the teacher went through the class roster asking everyone what instrument he or she wanted to play. I wanted to play the flute. I was actually looking forward to playing the flute. When he finally got to me (my last name was near the end of the alphabet) and I told him I would play the flute, he said, "No. We have enough flutes. We need saxophones. I'll put you down for alto saxophone." I was devastated, but I was too timid to argue with him. So I played saxophone for the next two years. When it became optional to take band in 9th grade, I dropped out.
When I started high school in 10th grade I opted out of band again. Then I went to my first high school football game. I saw a marching band perform for the first time. I was mesmerized. It looked like the coolest, funnest thing I'd seen in a long time. I went to the band teacher and asked him what I had to do to join band. It was some significant work catching up to my classmates after almost a year and a half of not playing. But I worked at it and I got there. And I absolutely loved marching band and pep band. I loved the music we played, I loved the band teacher (everyone called him Papa Joe), and I loved the camaraderie of my fellow band members and all the fun things we did during and after the games. We played for all the football games, basketball games, and hockey games. We got in free to most of the events, and we had excellent sports teams that kept us going to the state tournaments. Being in band made high school some of the best years of my life--and I did learn to love the saxophone. There are a few songs here and there that have excellent sax instrumentals in them. Billy Joel is a musician who has strong sax in his music. If you listen to his song Only the Good Die Young, about 2:30 minutes into this 4 minute song, there is a phenomenal sax solo. Every time I hear it, I go back to my marching band days.
I did eventually learn to play the flute. My sister took up the flute and I was delighted to discover the fingerings for sax and flute are almost identical. When she no longer wanted her flute, I bought it from her. I still have it and every few years, I take it out and play, just because. My other sister played the trumpet for several years and my brother played drums. I suppose at some point we could have all played together, but we never did. I also learned how to play guitar and loved that too. I can tap out a bit here and there on the piano, but mostly only things written in treble clef. My girls all took piano lessons though. My oldest daughter played flute in the school band. My middle daughter preferred vocal music and never took band, although she took up the bass guitar on her own time when she was in high school. My youngest daughter played the saxophone. Music is a part of our household. My husband listens primarily to classical music. I listen to country. My girls are all over the map.
I had the privilege of working with a music teacher who was one of the four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year one year. He spoke strongly about how important the arts are in schools. They're often the first to go when budgets are tight, and yet they have a significant role in students' developmental thinking. I've joined the Facebook group, "I Bet I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Think Music Education Is Important." It's why I love that the curriculum at my school ties music education in so strongly to the rest of the curriculum. Not only is it important for its own sake, but there is a correlation between music education and math ability. It also teaches students to think differently, creatively. It teaches them about other cultures too. And I've seen some students who struggled in all other areas, but came into their own during music class. That, in and of itself, is worth its weight in gold.
I still have my violin. To this day I can't stand listening to violin concertos. They're squeaky, they rasp, and they get on my nerves. But I love listening to the fiddle in country music. It's lively and down to earth. One of these days, when I have nothing else taking up my time, I'd love to learn how to fiddle.
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