Music

When I was 8 in 1956 we moved from Tujunga, California to Glendale, California to be nearer to the church my parents were in charge of in Los Angeles, California. My cousin who was a boy and 5 years older than I also lived in Glendale with my aunt, my father's sister.

So since my cousin played piano and took lessons from about age 6 or 8 I began to take lessons from his teacher, Mrs. Hall at age 8 in 1956. I took lessons until I was 16 in 1964 even though I refused to play in public recitals after I was 12. I loved to play but didn't like recitals by the time I was 12. I found playing the latest popular songs as well as classical music the best thing for unwinding after the stresses of going to school each day. I only played each piece once through but it was enough over 8 years to make me a decent sight reading pianist. And since I was gifted musically like my mother was was an operatic type of singer, it came sort of naturally. By age 12 I joined my church choir and sang there until I was 21 when I separated from my family church and started thinking for myself rather than having other people telling me what to think.

When I was 9 years old at Horace Mann grade school in Glendale Paul Gruss played, "It's a one eyed one horned flying purple people eater" on his violin at grade school to interest 4th, 5th an 6th graders in learning a musical instrument to form a band or orchestra. Since my cousin also played the violin I took violin lessons too at school and played in Horace Mann's orchestra and Woodrow Wilson Jr. High Orchestra until I was 14. AT 14 I just got tired of being teased by kids in carrying a violin home from school and seeing others beaten up for it. I wasn't beaten up because I was over 6 feet at fourteen and people didn't mess with me physically because they knew they might not survive it. However, I gave up the violin also because I just wasn't very good at it. However, I was very good at piano, organ, and keyboards so I stayed with that and then during and after high school I taught myself to play guitar and flute. But mostly when I jammed with friends it was either on piano, guitar or vocals or just vocals and one instrument whatever I was playing at the time. I also started playing a concert grand Steinway at church and then eventually I played the Baldwin organ there too by age 14 or 15.

I met many of my girlfriends especially from age 21 on by playing at parties and at friends houses and singing. Some of my friends became professional musicians and I still have one friend who is a successful musician who travels and plays music all over the world regularly.

I played basically for all my girlfriends from about age 15 to 25 when I settled down and got married at 26 and had a son.

I almost always either owned a grand piano or upright piano over the years so I could play and write songs for my own amusement and sometimes sing them for friends and relatives. I had gotten a lot of attention playing music for relatives and friends since I was about 8 or 9 so it was a big part of my life. In fact, I gave up being an electrician because my fingers would swell up from the cuts from wires and metal boxes bigger than piano or keyboard keys and I didn't want to lose the ability to play piano and keyboards. I still programmed computers and built houses but I didn't specialize in the electrical trade that I learned from my Dad, Grandad, and uncle. They were all Electrical Contractors.

I played piano pretty steadily until my father died when I was 37. It seemed like all my emotions about the loss of my father came up every time I played so I just pretty much stopped playing when he died. My mother could still get me to play sometimes though and we would sing a lot of the songs we sang together as I grew up while I played piano. She was an incredible singer. She passed away last fall after a long bout with senile dementia(about 10 years at age 89). Since her ashes are still on my grand piano I've noticed that I play a little more because it is like she is here listening like when I was a boy and singing with me. My daughter is gifted musically but is also a very gifted artist. Since her mother has two art degrees and an MBA she has gravitated more toward being an artist like her Mom, even though her Mom says she is better than she was at 12 or 13.

But tonight was kind of a breakthrough for her. My daughter is asking me to teach her to sight read music. She was asking me what all the symbols mean. I said, "The big C there means it is in 4/4 time which means the 1/4 notes get 1 beat and the whole notes get 2 beats." She said she didn't like the way it was designed. I said, Europeans designed this system and you have to remember there were no video or tape recordings when this was designed. It was created so a composer could write a song in one country and ship it to a friend in another on paper and the friend could play it for friends or even for money there without ever having heard it played before."

I think this idea sort of impressed her. Then I said, "But if you want to you can just go on Youtube and call up the songs you want to learn and just watch the finger positions of the people who demonstrate the songs there on the keyboards and pianos."

Since she is very studious and likes to read I know she will also learn to read music on her own time but I want to make sure she has fun learning songs and playing. Also, my daughter takes after my mother and I and has a great singing voice.