wsma board perspective
Music – Always in Arm’s Reach Robert Hanson, WSMA Board Member
We all know how pervasive music is. It is everywhere around us and within us and interwoven into the fabric of our lives. Even in 1864 this was true according to Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Journals he wrote, “What omniscience has music! So absolutely impersonal, and yet every suf- ferer feels his secret sorrow soothed.”
Everyone listens to music. It is universally enjoyed through listening only. It is further enjoyed by those who learn its intricacies of form and creation. Those who compose it find pleasure in its invention. Those who “play” it enjoy it another way. Playing music can be done for one’s own solitary pleasure as well as for performance for others.
Some create music. Some perform it. Everyone listens to it. Some tap their feet to the rhythms. Others clap their hands. Those who claim to be tone-deaf still smile when a favorite tune is heard.
But, does music really last a lifetime? Oli- ver Wendell Homes, Sr. laments the fate of non-musicians suggesting this in 1853, “A few can touch the magic string, And noisy Fame is proud to win them: Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!”
Given the overwhelming power of music on human lives, we can begin to consider
its long-term effect by studying individu- als. Does music really last a lifetime?
A Case Study Name: Robert A. Hanson
Occupation: Retired Educator (Math and English Teacher, School Administrator)
Years of Employment in Education: 1964 to 2008
Date of Birth: February 1, 1939
Significance of Music in His Life: Impos- sible to measure.
Narrative: Subject became interested in the trombone early in life. In fifth grade, he attended an evening meeting with the local band director. It was held for parents whose children were interested in learning to play a musical instrument. When Robert’s turn came to meet with the band director, he was told his arm was too short to reach seventh position on the trombone. The director advised him to “go take piano lessons for a year and give your arm some time to grow, or play a smaller instrument.” Piano lessons with a private teacher, Mrs. Robertson, were arranged.
A year later on “band night” the director informed Robert that his arm was now long enough and he would be allowed to enter the lessons program conducted weekly at the A. E. Woodward elementary
school in Sandwich, Illinois. He would be required to bring his own trombone!
After weekly lessons for a year, Rob- ert’s father took a job constructing a gas pipeline which required the family to frequently move. Trombone lessons ended until he entered high school in Crystal Lake, Illinois. There, band direc- tor Clayborne T. Harvey had structured a two-level instrumental program: cadet band and symphonic band. Robert brought his treasured trombone to his freshman audition and was quickly assigned to cadet band where he stayed for one year. His move to symphonic band brought the suggestion that his parents buy him a new horn as his aging pre-owned Lewis tenor trombone leaked more air than his young lungs could overcome. His new Olds with F valve brought him pride and possibilities!
(Aside: This case study has so far de- scribed a beginning not unlike thousands of other young people who learn and play music through high school. We will now jump ahead to his retirement years to see if his music lasted a lifetime).
2011: Subject is 72 (and a half) years old and still enjoys all three of his trombones a great deal. He plays in two separate community bands with weekly rehearsals and regular performances. He also plays weekly in a Dixieland band and a brass quintet. On occasion (like last Saturday) he joins other groups such as The Bavar- ians or a northwoods big band as a sit-in or sub for other players. He also plays in pit bands for high school musicals in his local community. In each of these groups he finds himself surrounded by players from middle school age through the nine- ties (yes, the 90s).
During the intervening years, Robert taught himself the plectrum banjo and guitar, and finds opportunities to enjoy playing both locally. Every Monday
8 September 2011
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