Seth's Sax

Because my little niece arrived last week I have been a little bit behind on the family updates! A lot happened in seven days, and I am hoping to blog a bit in the next few days.

On Thursday morning was my eldest had his first music lesson. In our school district two weeks before the end of third grade they go through a music testing. It is meant to help determine what instrument would best suit the child to increase the chances of success and long term participation in the music program. So before they go for the audition of sorts, they pick three instruments that they would like to try.

Seth was chosen to play alto saxophone. In so many ways the emotional, expressive, moody instrument is a perfect fit for his personality. Now we only have to wait and see whether or not it fits his other aspects. I am already dreading the wars over practice times after the novelty of it wears off a bit. But for now he is down right exuberant when it comes to "his instrument".

So last Thursday we headed over to the middle school to have his first lesson. We are blessed that the school provides summer lessons free of charge. And it gives him a bit of a head start for the fall, when soccer schedules and getting back into the swing of school will give him enough change to think about. Off to the lesson we went.

Low and behold, the music teacher who is giving lessons this summer is the man who gave me my first flute lesson decades ago. Seth settled in, they gave him his instrument and accompanying paraphernalia of reeds and music stand, etc, etc. He liked all the brand spankin new shiny stuff. But more than that, he had a glitter in his eye. He listened to the history of the instrument. Learned the parts of the body of the saxophone. Wet his reed and put it on the mouthpiece. And finally go to put the mouthpiece on the neck and got to make noise. My household will never be the same! Granted, the addition of the neck to the instrument has blessed us with more of a honking goose than the shrieking without. But still, the last thing I would willingly want to add to a household of four growing boyz is a loud noise on a regular basis.

But I am a band kid. I played flute for about ten years, all of the way through high school and into college. I also played the baritone sax for my senior year of high school to round out the band that had the traditional twenty something flutists. But I definitely support the addition of a musical instrument into my child's education. I remember the mental exercise of counting, reading the music and simultaneously making my fingers flit over the instrument. I did great things with the band. Whether it was the excitement and school spirit involved in pep band, the trips to music festivals, or the joy of playing at the state capitol. Great experiences. I look forward to Seth experiencing those as well.

The lesson started to come to a close. The teacher told us that instead of the month and a half of 30 minute lessons that was originally scheduled we would instead be doing 3 one hour lessons. Seth raised his hand to let him know that this week he would be away at sleep away camp. The teacher looked to the back where I sat, he said to me "what was your maiden name". When I answered he said "yes, Jennifer. You played flute. The fingerings are the same. Teach him B, A & G before the next lesson in two weeks". And in an instant I was fifteen again and nodding yes to my teacher. When we returned home Seth gave his Dad and brothers a lesson in what he had learned. Then after he finished, I picked up his instrument and played for a moment, trying to bring back the memory of the notes and how to play. It was like riding a bike, in a matter of moments I was playing again. But the bonus was that Daddy D had never seen me play and indeed found it very attractive!