I like to surround myself with music when I'm writing. Ravel's "Bolero" when I'm writing a hot scene, Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson when I'm not. Their recordings are great background music for writing scenes with lots of dialogue.
In my teens I studied piano, because all my friends did, but I was never very good. The kindest words my teacher ever had for me? "You are very musical," whatever that means. My metronome failed to keep me on track rhythmically, and my fingers tangled anytime I was asked to perform.
Recitals at Birmingham Southern College on an otherwise peaceful Sunday afternoon were for me a horror show, with me the perp, all sweaty palms and shaky hands, but to this day I still surround myself with music. I can't stand being home in an empty house, so I go to the stereo and turn on some Strauss, or Vivaldi. I keep a CD of waltzes in my car.
My granddaughter inherited my husband's music skill and already plays three instruments well. He firmly believes learning to play an instrument helps children do well in math, and gave her a quarter-size violin when she was just three. She recently inherited his full-size violin with great sound because his arthritic fingers will no longer hold the bow without pain.
Sadly there aren't many instruments left for him to play that his achy rotator cup allows, so we've turned to good classical recordings our musical entertainment. Have you noticed how short LP's seem, now that we have CDs?
I plan to observe with month by digging out the Liberace albums, and one by one listen to him play his piano solos, remembering our younger years. His, too.
In my teens I studied piano, because all my friends did, but I was never very good. The kindest words my teacher ever had for me? "You are very musical," whatever that means. My metronome failed to keep me on track rhythmically, and my fingers tangled anytime I was asked to perform.
Recitals at Birmingham Southern College on an otherwise peaceful Sunday afternoon were for me a horror show, with me the perp, all sweaty palms and shaky hands, but to this day I still surround myself with music. I can't stand being home in an empty house, so I go to the stereo and turn on some Strauss, or Vivaldi. I keep a CD of waltzes in my car.
My granddaughter inherited my husband's music skill and already plays three instruments well. He firmly believes learning to play an instrument helps children do well in math, and gave her a quarter-size violin when she was just three. She recently inherited his full-size violin with great sound because his arthritic fingers will no longer hold the bow without pain.
Sadly there aren't many instruments left for him to play that his achy rotator cup allows, so we've turned to good classical recordings our musical entertainment. Have you noticed how short LP's seem, now that we have CDs?
I plan to observe with month by digging out the Liberace albums, and one by one listen to him play his piano solos, remembering our younger years. His, too.
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