Bates Reunion Musicing
June 18th, 2007 by vincebates
We had an evening program at our annual Bates Reunion in Gandy, Utah a couple of evenings ago. It included a few songs accompanied by guitar, one story, skits and jokes, a poetry reading, and one solo song. My sister and her family sang “If I had a Million Dollars”; she sang and played guitar and her husband played djembe and harmonized. Their two sons played egg shakers and sang along. It was awesome. My soon-to-be sister-in-law played guitar and sang (beautifully) “When You Say Nothin’ at All.” Grandpa, in his 93rd or 94th year, sang his “Bumble Bee Song.”
I was tickled by a wasp; I was tickled by a flea; But, the thing that really tickled me was a yellow bumble bee (followed by a chorus of laughter)
Pretty sweet! Grandpa used to play harmonica and guitar at the same time. He also played accordion back in the day.
My cousin’s husband writes cowboy poetry and he read a couple of them, my brother did his annual one-man version of “Who’s On First” and my aunt told “Little Bunny Foo Foo” (we make her do it every year). Mom, of course, sang a song and played the guitar. I can’t remember the title of the song she sang–something about dealing with the changes in our lives. My other cousins husband, who spent some time trying to make it big in Nashville, sang a couple of songs (hey, Romeo? something about going down to Mexico, sha-la-la. . .)
This was pretty authentic, true-to-life, applicable-outside-of-school, musicing. I wonder whether schools can and/or should foster this kind of stuff. I could have pulled out my French horn and played a tune or two, but it would have seemed rather out-of-place. I’m not sure that the music that is emphasized in school (classical, some jazz, classic folk) lends itself well to performance at family gatherings–at least not my family gatherings. Growing up, I remember my mom and others singing what was on the radio and accompanying their singing on guitars and other social/portable instruments (mandolin, accordion, ukulele, etc). That still seems to be a rather common way to make music. . .
Technology is pretty cool. (I like the things that Evan Tobias writes on his blog.) But there is still something to be said about taking an instrument along on a camping trip or jamming with others in the backyard or on the front porch or in the front room. I don’t think technology will replace these “unplugged” musicings.
