Guitars, Angels and Meryl Streep

I had a spat with my husband last night.  The details aren’t important, but it was about music and it set off a chain of synchronistic events.  When I thought about what had happened, I saw the divine pattern in it and the fingerprint of Sandalphon, Archangel of Music.

The spat brought to my attention one of my disappointments in myself.  I have always loved music and never quite put it into action.  When I was in grade 8, I moved to a new town and got to be in the “band” class by virtue of my scholastic ability.  That still doesn't make sense to me:  that the academically inclined kids got to be in band, whereas some who might have been less so but possibly right-brained and musically gifted, did not get to be in band.

I digress.   I was a shy and unassertive child, and ended up with the instrument no one else wanted:  the French horn.  It was a struggle trying to play such an uncool instrument but I had a music teacher who saw something in me.  He kept me after school one day and had me listen to pairs of notes on the piano without looking at the keys.  He wanted to know if I could discern slight differences, and apparently I could.  He offered to switch me to a more palatable instrument.  As it turned out, I moved away again at the end of that term.

Fast forward thirty-five years.  By this time, I had been married to, and divorced from, a musician, and had three musically talented sons.  I had dabbled a bit with a keyboard, a bass and then an acoustic guitar.  One day, I met Hubby; that is a synchronistic story all its own.  Hubby is a fantastic guitar player and we ended up playing music together.  I remember the first time I dared sing into a microphone; it changed something in me.

I came home from work one day, when I was his Mrs., and found a gift waiting for me:  a beautiful red and white Fender Precision bass guitar.  I was very excited to have my own bass!  I practiced and learned some songs until I began to notice my shoulder was sore.  Before long, I was diagnosed with “frozen shoulder”, and if you have never heard of that, it may be worth a Google.  It ended my bass playing for over a year.

When my shoulder started to improve, I traded my bass in for a gorgeous white Epiphone SG.  It seemed a little lighter and less stressful on my body, but my shoulder still couldn't take the pressure.  That glorious instrument sat virtually untouched for another year.

Then, last night, it came to my attention in a big way that this was an unfulfilled area of my life.  I could blame it on my shoulder injury, or I could be real with myself and stop making excuses.  I decided at last to take charge.  I did not want to go to my grave with such a big regret. 

The sequence of events unfolded like this:  spat, feeling regret and disappointment, reading about Meryl Streep (to be explained momentarily), casually asking Hubby to check out basses when he was at the music store today.  He found a super-light ¾ size Stagg in a smooth, natural finish.  Now I have a new bass, new inspiration and a new goal.

Here is where Meryl Streep comes in.  When I was feeling so bad last night, I was mindlessly browsing internet articles and came across one which told of what extremes actors will go to prepare themselves for a role.  I read that Meryl mastered the violin and Bach's 'Concerto for 2 Violins' in just eight weeks by practicing for five hours a day for a role in “Music of the Heart”.

What had made me feel so bad was thinking of all the time that passed with my bass just sitting, whereas had I practiced even once a week, I would have five years under my belt and would be a proficient bass player today.  Well, that didn’t happen:  it’s in the past and out of my control.  What is in my control is what I will do from this point on, and today I made a new choice.  I may not practice five hours a day, but I will practice most days and I will make this pledge right now:  I will post a video right here in eight weeks time. 

Thank you, Meryl, Sandalphon, Hubby, Synchronicity and Stagg.  See you in eight weeks!