Music

One week ago today, I had the awesome privilege of accompanying the West Fork High School and Middle School choirs to their regional Choral Practical Assessment. (yes, ironically for me, it's abbreviated CPA)

As I did last year, I not only accompanied them TO the place, I accompanied them on the piano. Yes, I'm now "that lady" whom nobody knows who shows up every so often at school and plays the piano!

The choirs this year sang wonderfully! ALL of the high school groups, including women's, men's, concert choir, and chamber singers, got a Superior rating! Isn't that awesome?! To say they were all excited would be an understatement. The middle school received an Excellent rating as well.

The contest was held at the Arend Arts Center at Bentonville High School. This facility rivals the Walton Arts Center in form and function. MANY other high schools in the region are jealous. (Heck, *I'M* jealous!) The fam and I attended a performance of "The Nutcracker" there a few years ago. What I didn't realize back then is that the facility is attached to a gymnasium and the rest of the high school. So the way they had it set up, the choir went to a "holding area" before entering the warm up room. This holding area was in front of the gym.

Which got me to thinking.....

MANY young people these days play sports. Soccer, basketball, baseball, football, etc. In fact, it's almost impossible, though not quite, to find a youngster who hasn't participated in any team sport at some point in their elementary years. The reasons all these kids play sports are many and varied, but some of the biggest reasons cited include learning teamwork, learning responsibility, and being a part of something bigger than yourself. These are all very good things to learn. However, is sports the only way to learn those things?

As I watched these choirs prepare for last Thursday, these 3 things materialized right before my eyes.

Teamwork - you have to listen to the other people in your section and blend. You can't make the entire section sound better by singing louder than everyone else.

Responsibility - in singing, you must sing with "tall vowels." That means you can't sound like a hick. You have to sing more in Queen's English than redneck. :) If even ONE person doesn't use a tall vowel sound, the entire section sounds wrong. And boy does it stand out!

Something bigger than yourself - In choral singing groups, you must ultimately do what is best for the group even if it's not what you think is best for you. What you create together is much more inspiring than any one part by itself. (In 4-part choral music. Not getting into acapella soloists here!)

Back in the fall, a musical group that one of my children is in was trying to determine when to practice each week. One mother was very honest and said upfront, "Well, if there's a conflict between this and basketball, we're going with basketball!" Now, PLEASE don't think that comment is what inspired this post. I really appreciated her honesty. Music groups aren't for everyone. What do you think would have happened if the Manning boys' mother had insisted they forego football to be in band? What if Michael Phelps' mother had forced him to take piano lessons instead of swimming? See? The world would have lost out on a great deal of talent. So I'm not trying to make this a "down with athletics" post.

But watching these kids (KIDS I tell you! The oldest are only 18. I'm old enough to be everyone of them's mother! lol!) prepare and then present this music convinced me that parents who are focused solely on athletics to help prepare their children for life are really limiting their possibilities. (Unless their kids really ARE future Peyton Manning's or Michael Phelps's) Their kids could possibly miss out on one of the best team building exercises there is - being in a musical group.

To conclude, youth sports do have their place. They certainly aren't bad. Nor am I trying to say that they're ok but music is better. But if you've tried youth sports and your child doesn't like it, or if your child refuses to do sports at all, try music. Learning to play an instrument or sing is a skill that will stay with you the rest of your life. Also, unlike sports, the child will probably be able to perform that skill the rest of his or her life. Most NFL players retire by their 40's while it's not unusual to see conductors working well into their 80's. So give music a try. Sign your child up for lessons on an instrument of his or her choosing. Let them be in band. There's a world of wonderful possibilities for those who can make music. :)