Friday, September 11, 2009

Cornbread and Baked Beans...

I have had this life long desire to play the violin. I have always loved to hear the violin being played, whether it be a hymn or a peppy little fiddle piece. This last February my young neighbor friend asked me if I would like to be in her grown up violin class. I was overjoyed... then reality hit... I was scared. You know, someone MY age learning something new and difficult. I still really, really, wanted to learn the violin, I didn't want to back out of lessons even though I had serious doubts, there was really only one thing to do... call Danielle (brother Bill's wife) and beg her to take lessons with me. Lucky for me she consented and we have been practically faithful every week since.
We had our first recital in May- I haven't been IN a recital since elementary school, how do kids do it?? I was sooo, nervous and was sooo glad when it was over. Our poor Brooke (the teacher), her adult class, which includes, Myself, Danielle, Janet ( Brookes mom), and DorAnn (Janets friend from work), we were wound up so tight we had a natural vibrato going on with the bows!! Bill said we sounded good, but I am pretty sure he was just being nice. Since that memorable music debut, Brooke decided that we needed to play more in front of people. We have now started playing for small church gatherings- the Tooele 1st Ward talent show and DorAnn's Stake primary BBQ. We even had our first paying gig for the Tooele Master Gardeners, they were so sweet and gave us each a thank-you note with a $5.00 McDonalds gift card inside! I am sure that any day now our calendars will start filling up with many scheduled violin events.
Before we could play as a group, we needed a name. We were each to come up with a name for our group, something country, garden, herb, related, then we would all vote on it. Danielle wasn't any help at all, she couldn't think of anything, I thought of "The Rusty Hoes" but then retracted it thinking we wouldn't be able to play for church groups any more, DorAnn thought of "The Garden Mumms", very cute. I should mention here that this was all just before we were to perform, we didn't have a lot of time to come up with something before we were to be announced. Brooke grabbed a piece of scratch paper out of her bag to jot down our play list, on the back- an old banquet menu. On the menu that night.. "Cornbread and Baked Beans"... now introducing.... We are having a ball!

1 comment:

  1. That is funny, I have to admit I wouldn't be able to come up with a name either. I actually like the name though ;)

    I think what you are doing is awesome, and as a fellow violinist (haven't played for a long time) I am giving you two thumbs up and thinking I should see if there is a group of "older" people around looking to add one more person to their group.

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