Music for the soul : You're never too old to learn.

in #steemiteducation6 years ago (edited)


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Monday night I had the pleasure of attending my daughter’s first musical performance. She is 12 years old and in grade 7. This year she decided that she wanted to learn to play the flute and to be part of her school band. This was such an exciting thing for me because I absolutely love music. At least, I have always loved listening to music and watching musical performances. I myself have never played an instrument but thoroughly enjoy hearing someone else play them. This would be my daughter’s second attempt at playing an instrument. She took up the violin two years ago but she was too shy to play in front of people and she decided to give it up. This is part of what had me so excited on Monday night. She was going to perform in front of an audience.


Not her band. Sadly, we were not permitted to take pictures

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Although I have never played an instrument, I have long been surrounded by musicians. My partner is a Conservatory level 7 pianist, her daughter plays a multitude of instruments and my daughter now plays the flute. On any given day in our house, you can hear the sweet sounds of a clarinet or a flute. There are days when the notes of a trumpet or the snare drum are filling the air. With all this musical ambition and talent in the house, I was starting to feel like I was missing out on something.

Growing up, there was never much music in my house. Although they enjoyed listening to music, neither of my parents played instruments. After elementary school, there wasn’t a required music class that students would take. It is much different where I teach now. Students must take a music class in school until grade 8 and they must learn an instrument in grades 7 and 8. These reasons and the fact that I was so into sports in my youth led to me never develop a desire to play an instrument. I always envied those who could play but was in no hurry to learn myself.

As I grew older I started to wish I could play an instrument. I was afraid, however, to start taking lessons. I thought that learning to lay an instrument would be too difficult and I shied away from even trying. Now, the instrument that I have always wanted to play is the guitar. I have long wanted to be that guy sitting around the campfire with his family and playing the guitar and singing songs. We all love to sing. Up until now, I have been too afraid to learn.

When my daughter started playing the flute I didn’t think too much about it because they had to play an instrument. She just happened to choose the flute. She seemed to really enjoy it from the start. She like learning the new notes and was excited to practice and show us how she was progressing. After about a month of learning to play, she decided that she wanted to be part of the grade 7 band. Her stepsister had already been part of the middle school bands and she was really developing a passion for her new instrument. It was at this moment that I decided that I was going to take a leap.


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I was so inspired by the level of commitment that she was showing that I thought to myself, what am I so afraid of? I have spent most of my life telling people that if they put in the effort anything is possible. As a teacher, I consider myself a life-long learner and I truly believe that I can never expect anyone to give their best effort towards something if I am unwilling to do the same. At that moment I decided that I was going to jump into the musical ring and learn how to play the guitar. I even told my daughter that soon enough, we could play a song together. I contacted my partner's brother who is a musician and plays in a band and told him I needed to acquire a good starters guitar. He was excited to hear about my decision and immediately set to finding me a guitar.

A few weeks later he told me he found the perfect guitar and that he would deliver it as soon as possible. He lives a few hours away. About a month later he was at my house for the Superbowl and I had myself a new guitar. There was no turning back now. I was about to embark on a musical journey. I found an amazing website that has very thorough lesson plans and easy to follow video instructions. I promised myself that I was going to set time aside to watch the lessons and to practice as much as possible. I even learned how to tune my guitar using my new tuner app. I had everything I needed to get started and I was determined. He even offered to do some lessons with me through skype. I was very excited.

I had always been afraid to start learning an instrument because I was worried about how difficult it might be. Well, let me say that I was absolutely right. At least when it comes to the guitar. Finger positioning is the most difficult so far for me. I have smaller hands and so it is a little bit harder for me to get my fingers into position comfortably. It actually hurts sometimes and my wrist aches when I am done practicing. I am learning to position my fingers and play specific notes which is so exciting. The most difficult part at this moment is trying to switch from one note to another while still playing. When playing the guitar, there is so much you do without looking at your hand that is working to form the notes. I still need to be able to see the strings as I am setting them up for each individual note.

All that being said, I am really excited at how things are going so far. I would be lying if I said that there have never been moments where I question my sanity and why I am doing this but I am enjoying the progress that I am making. I should probably practice a little more than I am and I will continue to push myself for that goal. The best part for me is seeing how excited my kids are that I am doing this. They love seeing me practice and my daughter always comments on how I’m doing and encourages me.


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Looking at my decision now I wouldn’t ever change my mind. Just having my kids see that I am willing to learn something new and put in the effort even though it is hard is reward enough on its own. I look forward to the campfires and playing alongside my daughter. I love that not only music but instruments are being taught at the middle school level. I think that music plays a big role in our lives and our emotional well being. Never think that you can’t. As long as you are willing to try the possibilities are endless. Who knows, if things go well I might just record a song and post my progress.

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Hello @broncofan99, in the schools of my country it is not compulsory to learn to play any instrument within your school programming, so my mom was in charge of enrolling me in an endless number of extracurricular activities to tell you that I was in a musical band where I learned to play the flute as well as your daughter, also participated in folkloric dances, in an academy where they taught you from diction to ballet, makeup and etiquette, I made countless craft courses, I spent much of my childhood and youth enjoying what for me they were pleasures nowadays I am a lover of all these things and I have tried to have my daughter follow the same steps, at her young age I enrolled her in musical kindergarten where she learned to play recorder and now she is attending gymnastics classes and She is very excited. It's never too late to learn. Today, I'm still learning this kind of things, especially crafts, which is what I like most. I congratulate you for daring to learn to play guitar and more if that makes you more with your family. Thanks for sharing and I invite you to visit my blog !!

It is important to expose our kids to as many different activities as possible. They will choose the things that they are passionate about as they get older. Our job is to support them in all their indevours.

That's so awesome! Way to go pursuing trying to learn guitar. I hope it goes well and you become on expert. When I was a kid I was able to teach myself to play the piano. It was long before the days of youtube and google. I found a book and taught myself using that book. My daughter is 18 months now and we got her a toy piano. Hopefully I can show her how to play when she's older. I think music is a rewarding skill to have for personal enjoyment. Personally I've always wished I could play the banjo. I don't think it would be as easy to learn to play as it was when I was a kid.

Thanks for the kind words. I am having fun so far. The toughest part is finding extra time to practice. I'm looking forward to the day when I can play a song that has multiple chords. Will keep working.

@broncofan99 Seems like your daughter's passion is to play flute. And there you are a Full supportive father. Such a nice thing to know. That still fathers who much pays attention to their child/children and give them support to the fullest. I vow to you. I miss my father so much and I love him. He is at somewhere working at a construction to support our daily needs. @broncofan99 Thank you for being a nice father.

Thank you for the nice response. Our kids keep us busy but they provide so much pride. It's fun to see them succeed.

Yes, I don't have any kids, yet My father was like you.

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