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| Taken from walnutstreet.dmschools.org |
by Susan Palmes-Dennis
You know what, next to my love for reading is my passion for listening to what I consider to be good music.
Of course I have no idea how music is made but I guess it starts with the right sounds and of course the right lyrics.
My father (Tatay) Simeon Naelga is very good at playing musical instruments like the banjo and ukelele. He's also good at picking up beats by tapping his hands on the table.
Would you believe that my dad's simple tapping on the table perks me up? Yes I remember now how he taught us rhythms and clapping to different beats but I don’t who among my siblings inherited his musical skills.
I'm more proficient in listening to music played in radio, TV, the Internet and in my IPhone and tablet. Singing is on my bucket list but I know I would fail because once I open my mouth all the rats would hide or the lizards would fall from the walls.
I was reminded about my “musical background” when I was pulled out of my class the other day in school because the band teacher got an emergency.
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| Taken from charlottelatin.com |
In short I was taking care of five periods of band class here with band students, setting aside my social studies and English classes.
Seeing the different instruments made me feel high.
There's the baritone, saxophone, trumpet, flute, clarinet, French horn and the drums, the small and big violins and a piano at the other end of the corner.
The saxophone and the rest of the instruments were so shiny, the flute was so silver smooth in its cute tiny case. Believe me, when the students played in their first class at 9:15 am to 3:15 p.m I was transported somewhere in time, to a more pleasant period in my life when music was a treasured luxury.
The band students practiced “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Oh Susana” and “Tom Builder” and their performances were so perfect it was as if I was listening to an orchestra.
It was so pleasing to listen to “The Lord of a Thousand Dances” and “Imperial March” as the band students took me to that time in high school at St. Mary’s in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao, Philippines.
Mesmerizing
In those days, band students like my school mates Robert Valdehuesa on trumpet and Zito Guegue played under our teacher Alexander Ipulan.
There were student conductors also who can read notes who led the band students and the way they moved their hands with a tiny stick to the left, to the right, up and above was mesmerizing to watch.
It was one two, one two, three and four. One volunteer conductor even closed his eyes at the middle of practicing “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Young they might be, but the band students I had the pleasure of overseeing had a great time, laughing whenever something is out of tune. I'm not as talented as they are but even I can tell when one instrument is out of sync with the rest.
I know a band or an orchestra is a team effort and all members must act as one to play the music they were supposed to deliver to the audience.
I was frustrated when 4:30 pm came, it was too fast. That band class was a treat of a lifetime. Bear with me as I practice my conductor pose. Here we go, “One two, three four” one two” (music fades into the background).
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| Taken from schools.cms.k12.nc.us |
(Susan Palmes-Dennis is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who worked as a nanny and is now employed as a sub-teacher and a part-time teacher assistant in one of the school systems in the Carolinas.
Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com and at http://www.blogher.com/myprofile/spdennis54. These and other articles also appear at http://www.sunstar.com.ph/author/2582/susan-palmes-dennis.
You can also connect with her through her Pinterest account at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/41025046580074350/) and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Straight-from-the-Carolinas-/494156950678063)
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