A Time for Music

For years, Dusty and his sister, Vonnie, have been after me to join the Montrose Community Band. I played the flute in elementary school, Jr. High School and a little in High School, but haven't done anything with it since. My Dad used to tease me, saying he was going to get me an attachment so that I could do the drapes, because when I played early on it sounded more like a vacuum cleaner than a musical instrument. Presumably, I did improve with time, though I was never top-notch!

Having not done anything musical or with "organized music" in more than 34 years, I was more than hesitant to join this band. But with the family's insistance, I finally broke down. And so that's where you'll find us on Monday evenings! The band practices every Monday night at Montrose High School, which coincidentally is where Dusty is an evening custodian! James goes to practice with me and gets to sit right there in the middle of the band, as we practice. He LOVES it and sits so quiet and still for the two hours that I certainly don't recognize him as my child!! It has become one of his favorite parts of the week, and if only for that reason the experience is worth it!! He is working on drawing pictures of each of the instruments as he sits and listens to us practice, and what he comes up with amazes me! He is quickly learning and can identify the different sounds from each instrument. All of this he would never get from school in 2nd grade, so I'm glad to be able to give him the experience.

I started at a good time, music-wise. The band does several concerts a year and when I joined, just after the holidays, they started learning a new set of music. This next concert (April 5) will be entitled, "Montrose Does the Movies" and all the pieces we are doing are movie showtunes. We are doing "Pirates of the Carribean", "Star Wars", "The Incredibles", A James Bond Medley, A John Williams Medley, "Hymn to the Fallen" (from Private Ryan), "Catch Me If You Can", "The Wizard of Oz", "Jesus Christ Super Star" and some others! Quite a line up for someone how hasn't played in 34 years!! Yikes!!

My sister-in-law, Vonnie, plays the alto sax and her daughter (my niece), Katie, plays the flute and sits next to me, giving me moral support. And so it goes! If you're sitting around on a Monday evening, toss a positive thought in my direction please, as I will be, no doubt, struggling with a measure or two at that very moment!!!