The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of....... ( FOOTBALL???)

In my house, music is heard 24/7. From the radio in the kitchen to the stereo out back to the bedroom blasting BOSE speakers, music is non-stop. The panacea for all ills, problems and life in general. Right? Not so sure anymore.

Out of my five children, three are "musically inclined", or so I'm told. It is my opinion that everybody has music inside them but few know how to express it.

Well, my three offspring could easily express it. My first child was a talented violin player at age ten. No, not the mom speaking here, but her music instructor dearly begged me to send her to a School of Performing Arts, as her potential was greatly observed. Then we moved to Santa Barbara from Long Island.

The year was 1986 and the music and art programs were all cut here in Cali much to my dismay and horror. My beautifully talented protégé was told to join band. BAND! {ah..no violins in band} There went that child's future musical contribution to society!

Then there was my son, who jumped from like to dislike of anything as quickly as a flea. He started with flute, went on to drums and then saxophone (alto). That lasted the longest...about 8 months! He played pretty well considering he rarely practiced...not enough time for his basketball, which we discovered was his true calling...at least to help him get through being deaf and having ADHD. It was sports that invited him to take out all his anger and hostility and anxiety in an appropriate manner. He won many awards and still plays today at least 2x a week.

Then there's my daughter No#2...her talent was within dance and the ability to pick the perfect beat and rhythm to move to. She won trophy after trophy from 10 years old and on all the way to auditioning and being accepted into the School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Every competition she entered, she stood out above all the rest and people would be speaking about her talent as they left the halls. I was so proud and so sure she would be the next Michael Jackson of our time ( minus the plastic surgery and the strange eccentricities).

Unfortunately, it didn't last. Friends she made along the way with few talents and fewer dreams persuaded her to leave the limelight and join the typical teen world of parties and associations. I still cry!

Then there's my 2nd son. He started playing the old church piano I bought at Goodwill when he was 3 years old. He could pick out a melody in minutes and seemed to really enjoy it with no persuasion from me. We bought him a drum set that he could beat out rhythms on, like Tito Puente or the drummer from Led Zepplin. The list went on and on. Whatever instrument was before him he played...and well!! I had a true music genius! OMG!

By the time he was 9years old he had begun sports, starting with soccer...hated it..and went straight to football...loved it! I had no idea what a true football frenzy we had created! He was now playing the trumpet and playing it very well in the school band. Football was introduced to help him with ADHD ( yes, it does run in families) and it really was helping along with some music thrown in here and there. He played the trumpet and all his other instruments, totaling 6 now regularly and all was fine until he entered High School...and we were told he couldn't choose music and football! WHAT????

My heart sank and my dreams of his music advancement all the way to college scholarships faded into the sunset! Of course, he chose football.

I know realistically, he would choose the sport over the music for all the reasons you are thinking.. prestige, popularity, girls, friends, venting, etc.... but what I didn't realize is that he really LOVES the game! REALLY!!

I have never seen a child so dedicated to anything in my life...except me...with my music and writing!. Sure I loved other things as well, including my horses and swimming, reading, etc... but Football is to him what music and writing has always been to me...placed in my soul to make me who I am. He is Football!

So I mourn the loss of my music protégé...even as I watch him on the field so powerful and strong and determined. I get a quick glimpse of what could have been when I hear him pick out some tunes on his keyboard behind his closed bedroom door and every now and then I see him walk past the Congas and look at the drum set in his closet, dusty and lonely. But he has his own music and his music is Football!

My youngest is 11 now and she loves music...she plays 6 instruments and more all the time.. There is hope yet..really...as I see her enjoy her music, which to a limited verbal speaker...is actually her language! She comes alive when she dances and sings into her microphone or plays her keyboards. Her soul lights up when she strums her classical or electric guitar and her feet dance on rainbows when she moves to the beat of a good Cuban song. Music is her language and for this I am very grateful. I have enjoyed watching her musical abilities and enjoyment grow over 11 years. But it suddenly dawned on me!

The music in our souls are different for different people. Each person has their "own music"....some may be literally music in some shape or form...some may be nothing at all that has to do with notes on a page or dance steps on a floor.

Some have music in their painting or drawing. Some have music in their cooking or baking. One can see and feel music even in a construction site as the carpenter does his masterpiece. Get my point?

Music is simply a  structurally complete and emotionally expressive composition. Melody.. .harmony and rhythm. A rhythmic sequence of pleasing sounds.....sound can be anything to anyone, even a deaf person has "sound" in a different way then we do with our ears. Pleasing sound is also in the hearing of the beholder. So what am a jabbering about??

I realize that everyone has music in one way or another. My son, who more or less traded his musical instruments in for a leather one and cleats, is still making his own music out there on the field.

Oh the sound of the cleats digging harshly into the deep turf and the sound of the crunching of helmet against helmet or the grunting growling sounds of the players as they charge each other in valiant battle.

The sounds of the crowd, cheering, jeering or both. The whistles of the men and the high pitched shrills of the women( or vice-versa) are all music to his ears and body. He feels the music not just hears it, throughout his being.

So when I hear him playing a beautiful melody of his own on his keyboard behind his closed bedroom door, I definitely smile and feel a tug on my heart strings. But I also get that same thrill now, when he's out on that huge green field with white numbers and strips...his music score...his plays on that field.

I will cherish those wonderful days and nights of all my children making traditional music with their abilities on their instruments, but I have learned, thanks to a young man and a true soul deepened love for the sport of football, to appreciate all types of music appreciation. There truly is music everywhere.

Its all about your definition of music !?

***Mine has changed!       Namaste!