Playing the Trumpet, Together and Alone

Maya and Cameron’s dad and I do the “kid exchange” at Cameron’s trumpet lesson on Saturday mornings. Cameron takes lessons from the wonderful Gordon Alt at the in Sappington, MO, which is about a 20 minute drive for me. Stephen’s kids spend Friday nights with us, so on Saturday mornings, since I am fresh from being kid-free for a couple of nights and to avoid the inevitable and incessant “When are Maya and Cameron going to get here?” chorus, I agree to take them with me, leaving Stephen palms up saying, “You’re taking ALL of them?”

On the drive, I hear all the important news from the previous two weeks from Ian, Teagan and Quinn. Who won or lost their basketball or softball game, who stayed home from school because of allergies, who is getting braces on next week. They ask me a bazillion questions, such as can we go to the pool today, why doesn’t Cameron like anything but hot dogs for dinner, and is it true that there is a coffee bar at Maya’s middle school? This time is golden for the four of us, because we won’t really hear each other the rest of the weekend. They and my kids will gel back into the pack of five that they are, and I will gradually lose the patience to converse with so many energetic and curious people.

At the Trumpet Studio, Maya and Cameron’s dad and stepmom wait for us with their 2-year-old son Kai, so we number six children aged 2-12 in the tiny, second floor, store front lobby. Rather than fight the clamor, Gordon invites everybody into the studio and sits Kai on his lap while Cameron finishes his lesson. I wouldn’t have expected a music lesson to present such a rich opportunity for family togetherness, but it is.

Back at home, trumpet is the last thing on Cameron’s mind on a weekend with all the kids. He’s been taking lessons since he was 6, and he is 9 now, so it’s getting easier to get him to practice as his skills improve, but it has been slow. There are so many other things he would like to be doing, and I sometimes lack the commitment to sit with him and make sure he does it. Ultimately, learning the instrument is his effort alone, no matter how much family support he has, but as Gordon reminds us, his dad sat with him for half an hour a day making sure he did it right.  

I studied guitar and piano as a kid, although I wouldn't say I ever became disciplined about it. Maya takes guitar lessons and plays the saxophone at middle school. Stephen has been a DJ for years, and all of his kids love and appreciate the bonus music brings to their lives. The beauty of it, and the thing that keeps me and Cameron's dad getting him to lessons and trying to get him to practice, is that knowing how to play an instrument, knowing anything about music at all, is a gift Cameron can use for the rest of his life when his family isn’t around.

I love that already he turns to music when something very sad happens and he doesn’t know what else to do. If a family effort results in Cameron’s ability to carry on all by himself, I can’t imagine a better way to spend Saturday mornings.