Music and My Family

For my Mother and Father music did not exist besides on the radio, TV, or in a Catholic Mass. Growing up, they made all four of us girls get in the car and attend church every Sunday. We were encouraged to sing in the children's choir for special holidays. I believe that I was the only one that got really excited about doing this. However, singing in church only consisted of standing in one place and singing with the rest of the congregation on the same melodic line to the same rhythms. Christmas Eve Mass was our favorite because we were allowed to bring bells and flashlights with us to jingle and shine during a designated hymn. =) Needless to say, my family has a very formal view of how music should be presented. My parents allowed me to take piano lessons for about 2 years until I stopped practicing. I regret that now. It wasn't until my oldest sister, Jessica, came home with a recorder that any of us really became interested in music outside of those before mentioned designated places. When it was my turn to play the recorder I became obsessive with mastering every piece in the book. Jessica began to play the clarinet in the band at school and the following year Lauren, the sister right above me, chose to play the flute. I also had to follow in their path and chose to play the clarinet. For about 5 years all of us were bringing home music from middle school or high school band to play for our parents. We would also ask to purchase Disney music books to play at home. The only collaborative music that my family has ever attempted was playing through some of our band pieces at home. Occasionally, at Christmas time we would sing a hymn (or only I would). When my youngest sister, Anna, started getting into music I had a great time teaching her to read music and helping her play simple songs on the piano. For my family, music was always played with instruments or simply listened to. There wasn't a large musical influence growing up.