Music is one of the joys of my life. I enjoy listening to all types of music, attending concerts and singing in the shower. Unfortunately, I’ve learned through the years that I just don’t have any real musical talent. I have no musicality, I can’t play an instrument and my singing is cringe worthy. It’s hard to believe; but I can’t even whistle. You might think that I’m exaggerating; but I can assure you that I’m not.

Let’s Sing

I’ve tried through the years to find some type of musical talent that I could develop — at least a little. I sang in a Church choir for a few months when I was in high school – of course they let any one participate. One of the older choir members tried to help me find my voice (alto or soprano). Finally, she simply told me that I should use the first month to find my range and that it wasn’t necessary to sing loudly to be in the choir. My friend had a wonderful voice; so I stood by her and just barely raised my voice. Yet, I still remember the wonderful feeling of being even a small part of a group that made such a beautiful sound. I still love to sing as long as there is a very limited audience. I sang to my children when they were young and I sing to my grandchildren now (as long as no one else is around). Much of the time, if there isn’t music playing I’m singing in my head

Instrumental – Not

I always wanted to play an instrument. My first attempt was learning to play an accordion. I wasn’t very old and all I really remember was that it was heavy. As a teen I took guitar lessons; but I had a difficult time stretching my short fingers across the strings. The sounds that came from my guitar were never very pleasant. Eventually, it was easier to tell everyone that I didn’t like keeping my fingernails so short. My son took guitar lessons and my daughter took piano lessons when they were in elementary school. After several months, I was brave enough to try piano lessons with the same music instructor. The experience was rather traumatic for our music instructor. Even though I was using the right keys and form (mostly) my results never sounded correct. He finally said that he thought he wasn’t the right teacher for me. Luckily, he continued lessons with my kids. Life was busy; so I just let the music dream slide away.

Take What You’re Given

I do have an unusual (almost) musical talent. I can remember the words to many, many songs. When I was younger, I won many radio contests by knowing the lyrics of a song. I always had a record or radio playing and you could often find me dancing around singing to the songs. (I didn’t know what lip syncing was at the time.) Somehow I just remembered the lyrics. I even knew the lyrics of many of the songs from my parents’ generation. This musical non-ability was helpful when my daughter was in choir competitions because I could listen easily as she practiced. (Yes, she can sing and play instruments. –That’s a post for another day.) I can still remember at least parts from many of my favorite songs. It’s a helpful talent for singing along to the radio or your iPod in your car. I also do pretty well in many categories of Song-Pop.

Music Collector

I got my first album, “More of The Monkees”, when I was about 10. This started a collection of music that I still continue today. My collection includes a few eight tracks; some cassette tapes; over 100 record albums and lots of 45 records. I also have several hundred CDs and MP3s. Collecting music became an easy way for me to enjoy music. Though I still purchase a CD once in a while; I don’t buy as much music as I use to because it is so easy to listen to a variety of genres through sources such as satellite radio and iHeart Radio.

Have you ever tried to develop a talent and found it impossible?  I’d love to hear your story.

You can find For the Love of Music (Part 2) here.

 Note:  This is a rewrite of a post from an old blog.