Music was one of the languages in the household I grew up in and probably the main reason for the development of my 'Sensuous' spiritual style (see Christian Schwarz's book 'The 3 Colors of Your Spirituality' released September 09). The family record cupboard represented an eclectic mix from symphonic classics to hippie ballads and a 'Hot August Night' or two of Neil Diamond. My grandfather had been a Tuba player for 40 years, my Uncle a television session band player, and my father had been a pretty darn good Flugel Horn player until his medical studies 'got in the way'. Though I had dabbled with Kawai organ lessons for a couple of months at age six, it was not until a few years later when an old friend of the family asked us at church one day if I'd be interested in learning an instrument, that the musician in me began to wake up.
Verse 1 - "The early years"
The C Major scale conquered, followed by Brass stints on Flugel Horn, Baritone and Euphonium, saw me eventually land on what would become my thing - the trombone. By this stage I was still by no means a motivated bone player with the usual childlike approach to home practice well established - next to none. However, between school and church ensembles, various musical directors managed to drag me to a reasonable competency.
Being informed that "it can't be done", has been and still is one of the great red rags to a bull in my life. I start with "why not?" and then continue step by step until "they" are conclusively proven right or wrong. Such a time was when at 16 I was given my big break as a brand new Bass Trombone player. Numerous voices within the band openly scoffed at the notion of a 'skinny kid' being able to play such a physically demanding instrument in one of Australia's premier brass groups... The bull was charging with a prominent horn in the air.
"Chorus"After some time of literally drowning out the noise of scoffers (and becoming good friends and spiritual companions with many), I threw myself into a year of breathing lessons under one of the top Symphonic Bass Trombonists in the country. Shortly after came a couple of invitations to play with the Annual Australian Brass Band - a group hand picked from across the country. Musically and (as they are intertwined for me) spiritually, this reached a crescendo when playing Pictures at an exhibition, some Vaughn Williams, San Saens' Organ Symphony and others - a Bass Trombonist's dream. During this time I also had some fun adventures in some Big Bands, Pep Bands and Wind Ensembles.
"Coda""Career" is a strong term to use in conjunction with my 15 years of more intense music-making. However it was a very important part of life that taught me many things that now apply to my ministry (not the least, the notion of inhaling and exhaling that I've written about in my book 'How to Implement The 3 Colors of Love in Your World'). In latter years I have dabbled with Bass Guitar, Alto Saxophone and Drums. Its all a lot of fun. My musical world now mainly focuses on teaching my daughters flute, drums and, amusingly, violin (just keep one page ahead and feast on YouTube).
But, like most, I still want to be a rock star (if only someone would return my long flowing locks).
Just for a laugh, watch the clip of a young guy who looks like a haired version of me making some noise.