OK, I admit it: I have absolutely zero musical talent. But that hasn’t stopped me from trying.
As a young teenager I did a stint in my church choir. It wasn’t that I could sing. It was more that my mother – who had a steady, sturdy and on-pitch voice that was frequently featured in soaring solos – preferred dragging me along with her to choir practice on Wednesday nights rather than leaving me to commit some sort of mischief at home.
Out of respect for my mother, the choir director worked with me for a while, trying to teach me the basics of carrying a tune but she eventually gave up. Although there was no formal declaration, we both understood that if I sang soft enough, the booming voice of bassist Joe Wall would make it all but impossible to tell if I was off-key or not.
During my college years I tackled the instruments of my musical hero, Bob Dylan. Though I was never proficient on either the guitar or harmonica, I was eventually able to twist my fingers into position for a few difficult chords but retained the rhythmic skills of a cantaloupe. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my showoff brother Dave played trumpet in a rock band while in high school.
Despite my musical shortcomings, I’ve always enjoyed music. Both of my parents were quite musically gifted – Dad was a high strutting band major in high school, Mom was a singer of some repute – but they put their musical talents on the shelf while they raised their kids. In their retirement years, though, they were regulars at Southwest Iowa jam sessions, Mom on her violin and Dad on his dobro.
In recent years, I have learned that my Dad’s grandfather once played a horn in a band at North Bend, Nebraska. On my mother’s side, my Danish-born grandfather became a shortwave radio fanatic so he could sing along with the music programs broadcast from Copenhagen. All of my grandparents were dancers, another gene that somehow skipped me.
If pressed, I might be able to strum the E-D-A progressions of “Gloria” or the opening bass line of the Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire” on a guitar but it wouldn’t be pretty. But I’m still satisfied with how things have turned out, knowing that I’ve passed on the music appreciation gene to my children.
Writing prompt for the day: Do you have any musicians or singers in your family tree?
Larry Lehmer is a professional personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site, send him an e-mail or follow him on Twitter.
Photo: Jack and Elsie Lehmer jamming at the Andersen Family Reunion in Underwood, Iowa, on July 10, 2004. (lwlehmer collection).
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