Music to My Ears

Music has always been a blessing in my life.  The only thing I ever hated about it was when my mom forced me to sing.  On the bright side, it brought out and developed my talent.  I learned early how to harmonize and yodel.  Even though my family was self-taught musicians we could really bring it!

My mom was determined that I learn music.  She started me out with accordion lessons, which only lasted a few weeks.

Then she sold eggs to help pay for the six months of piano lessons I had as a child.

I found my piano lesson music a little easy, so I didn’t practice very much.  I would arrive early to my piano lesson, wait in the music room of my piano teacher’s house, play through my assigned songs once and pass them off at my lesson.  This frustrated my dad, along with the fact that I would always twist and change the music from what was written, and contributed to his putting a stop to my lessons.

I was so excited when, in Junior High, we were introduced to band.  They had a demonstration about the different instruments and I fell in love with the flute.  It was so dainty and beautiful.  I went home that day after school and announced that I was going to play the flute.
PROBLEM: the flute costed $400; which translated to, “No, Debbie.  We can’t afford a flute.  You can play your dad’s old trumpet.”  It was a horrible old, stinky, dinged-up thing that never worked very well.  But I was determined to take band, so…stinky trumpet it was.  And what a surprise it turned out to be.  I was the only girl in the trumpet section with a whole bunch of very fun boys!  Guess what?  I LOVED playing trumpet!

Our band was very good.  I watched the best trumpeter in the class play a solo.  It strummed my heart and I decided right then and there that I would make him my boyfriend…and I did.  (Miracle – because he was a very popular guy, and a great singer.  I was a social outcast, and a great singer.  He didn’t mind that I wasn’t popular, and I didn’t mind if he was.  We were asked to sing all over the place, and we were GOOD!  More about Wesley Harris later.)

Dad’s old trumpet would cease up, and my band teacher would cuss and help me fix it.  It finally gave up the ghost and died, and I had to drop out of band.  It broke my heart.  I went to their Christmas concert and came home in tears.  That Christmas was one of the best ones of my life.  To my delight Christmas morning I found a new old trumpet under the tree.  It was used but at least it worked.  I cried tears of joy when I saw it and back to band I went!

Thankfully, one summer when I was about 14 years old my cousin bought me a brand-new guitar.

He had lived with us for a few months and instead of paying my parents rent, he bought my brother and I gifts.  I couldn’t believe it.  I taught myself to play…poorly, but adequately enough to sing around a campfire.

I could always play the piano by ear better than I could by note.  I would hear amazing music in my head, and would sometimes lean over the piano keyboard and cry because I couldn’t make it come out of my fingers.  It has been a powerful motivation.  I was a music minor in college and learned the basics of theory, voicing and composition and have written many arrangements for church choirs, celebrations, treks, and Christmas programs.

I was in a college music theory lab with several piano performance majors.   We were expected to play by ear.  They were at a real loss without their music and I was in my element!  My teacher was very impressed and said that I could write scores for a jazz band and save them tons of money.   They envied how I could play by ear, and I envied how they could by note.

When Steve and I got married, his grandmother, Anne Russell gave us the beautiful piano featured above.  It made all the things I wanted and needed to do possible.  I couldn’t believe her generosity.  Did she know that that gift would bless generations?!

What is amazing that here almost 40 years later, I can remember most of the rules for writing choral music.  The computer and great software has changed my musical life.  When I first started writing music I had to use a hymn book to see which side to put the tails on the notes, and how to draw the music symbols.  Now the computer makes my compositions look professional and plays back the music I have written.  Now I can finally write what I can hear!!!

In later years as an adult, I took another year of piano lessons.  When Steve’s mother, Elaine Wassom, passed away, we were given her organ.  It was a wonderful gift that sat unused for years until I was called as ward organist.  Then it saved my life.

Playing the organ in front of people was one of the scariest callings I ever had, but one of the most fulfilling.  I loved going to the church to practice.  Being all alone in the chapel with those lovely hymns was deeply satisfying, and opening the volume clear up on the louder hymns was absolutely thrilling!

I am extremely thankful that Steve and I have had the money to put all of our kids in piano lessons, band, and choir.  I pretty much made them learn.  My theory is that they watched from heaven as I planned this whole thing out, and if they didn’t like it…was their fault ‘cause they chose to come to our home anyway.  I didn’t want them to know how it felt to slump over the keyboard crying because they couldn’t make music.  They had to stay with the lessons until they were good enough to play the hymns and could be useful to God.  Now, I see their children play so beautifully, and it’s music to my ears!