Behind the Musician

Dear Parents, specifically those whose children have attained any level of musical proficiency,

Thank you for putting up with us.

The past two weeks or so, I've been helping my little cousin with his piano lessons.  Bless his heart, but I'm almost completely sure that this child does not have any raw musical talent.  To say that helping him practice is exhausting, is an extreme understatement.  As I watched him leave to go to his piano lesson, all I could think was, "Dear Lord, if he doesn't pass "Oom Pa Pa" this week, and we have to practice it for another week, I just might lose my mind."  For the record, since we practiced it to death, he did pass (and I maintained my sanity for another day).

And then I thought about how all the children in my immediate family had to learn that very same song as we began piano lessons, which led me to think about my parents.  While my siblings and I all have a good amount of musical talent, they still had to listen to "Oom Pa Pa" and the like... hundreds of times.  They also put up with the occasional tantrums that came with getting us to practice, chauffeured us to and from lessons, and attended many a painful recital.  And this was on top of forking over thousands of dollars in instruments and lessons.

Eventually, their hard work paid off:  after almost ten years, I learned to love piano, and I've since learned several other instruments on my own (fortunately, my siblings all learned to love their instruments much earlier). In high school, I became a pianist at church and at school, and my siblings and I headed up the praise team at church.  When I went to college, my siblings continued the praise team, and my sister filled my spots as pianist (might I add, she is so much better than I ever was).  And when I come home to visit, there is a lot of good music-making that happens.  Right now, I am obsessed with a cappella:  today, I just finished arranging my second a cappella piece, and it's SO much fun to be able to write and arrange what I want.

But like I said before... this was an eventual process.  None of us sounded good at first, and my parents had to put up with a LOT before we (1) sounded good, and (2) became motivated to play/practice on our own.  Right now, I'm listening to another cousin practice.  Thankfully, she's good--better than I ever was.  But her parents (especially her dad) definitely still has to sit with her as she practices; she hasn't yet developed that kind of work ethic for herself, and there are excuses galore.  And I'm a little awed by my uncle's patience.

So THANK YOU, and a huge round of applause for my parents and every parent who has "stuck it out" with music lessons.  I, for one, appreciate it deeply--I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to make music.  In fact, music has been so critical in making me who I am today... and it's probably even safe to say that music has saved my life.  I know this gratitude is severely delayed, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you.  It's because of you that I and others are able to sing, play instruments, write songs, or arrange pieces.  And one day, if I have children of my own, I will remember what you did; because of you, I will suck it up, put a smile on my face, and hope for the best as I listen to the thousandth rendition of "Oom Pa Pa".

-Alyce