Post#28 » by MajorDad » Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:41 pm
Adamz - i was being serious. I realize it sounded like I was stating the obvious. i detect your wows were probably sarcastic.
My mother wanted me to be a music major at UW. Rather than going to sports camps, I went to music camp twice at UW as a high school student. I had a great baritone voice. Think of the song O holy Night, and that was me. there was a Harry Chapin song about Mr. Tanner. if you ever heard that song, I lived that song. My mother thought I could be a lounge singer and work my way through college singing at local coffee shops and night clubs. In high school I was in a touring group of Godspell. Unfortunately for me, I have very bad eye/hand coordination and very short fingers. You ma y have surmised tha t fro m m y lack of typing skills. I took piano and voice/vocal lessons for a year and my piano instructor told me to give it up. I was just not physically meant to play the piano or typist. In high school, I realized the only steady jobs in music were in music education and music shops. And to be a music education teacher, you are either a band instructor or vocal teacher. and 95% of all vocal teachers play the piano. the other 5% play the autoharp. ever notice , there is a very low turn-over in music teachers and they always seem to be there for 50 years+? there are very few openings for new music teachers. My reality sunk in- if I couldn't play the piano, what school system was going to hire me as their music teacher? Answer = Zero.
So destroying my mother's dream, I went to Purdue rather than UW to study a new thing called computer science (1974) rather than going to UW to be a music major. I was part of the Purdue Glee Club and sang around the world, at the Crystal Cathedral, at Disney World, and before two Presidents, Bob Greise, and Neil Armstrong - and of course Big Dog, Joe Barry Carrol, and Eugene Parker. I sang solos before old ladies and before 6,000 in Purdue's auditorium. My voice was heard over the Indiana farm bureau radio network singing Sweet Little Jesus Boy. I was even in the Purdue theater production of 1776 singing Mama Look Sharp. i was a mixed up kid in college. I changed my major 5 times. I ended up with over 160 semester hours and a BA degree in Elementary ED with a dual major in Secondary math Education and about 5 minors in accounting, computer science, math, and business. Because I had completed so many credit hours, I later completed degrees in finance and information systems and management at the government's expense. After teaching 7th grade math one year, I joined the Air Force and made it my career in that new thing called computer science.
I never gave up singing. I just never sing for money. I can still sing O Holy Night and Christian classics and still bring tears to listening ears. I can still sing the complete Handel's Messiah. But like Bing and Frank, I've lost a portion of my range so i hide the quality of my voice by using more emotion and expression. I also changed my singing habits to sing songs in my range rather than to take other's requests. the wedding , funeral, church, and kareoke circuits don't pay a whole lot of money. fortunately i've already had one caeer that allows me to do what I love for free. I would have loved to have been a part of the Metropolitan Opera Company and sing at Carnegie hall.- except I hate operas. What I found out in high school and in college was that no matter how great I thought I sounded, there were always 10 others who were better than me. I would have loved to be like Dan Fogleberg or Harry Chapin and just sing songs all over the world. but living on the road 95% of your life takes it's toll. there comes a time when you want to settle down, live in that 4,000 sq foot home and watch your son grow up and live his dreams of wanting to go to U of Mich and then be an NBA star or forensic pathologist.
it's ok to have dreams. I still have dreams 30 years later. What is not mentioned much about the greatest musicians is that the vast majority of them had a benefactor who paid the bills. and famous musicians/composers often placed their name on other less fortunate musician's work. i play fantasy sports with a bunch of dirt poor rock musicians. Several of them have had numerous #1 hits on the independent internet dowload music sites. look up the rock artist Father Time. he's so famous some other rock group stole his name. he has a great song about the Cubs being losers and about Barry Bonds. he makes his recordings in his garage. Fortunately, his wife has a real job.
. i don't think it was too awful though, maybe ill conceived 
