Compounding musical interests
- Mar 18
- 2 min read
Exploring Music as a Family Tree
Ask a music historian where music first originated and you’ll usually get one of two answers: the self-important historian will tell you at length about the discovery and implications of 40,000 year old bone flutes; the honest historian will break down in tears and beg you to leave.
Though it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly where, when, or how music first made an appearance in the course of human history, there’s an interesting game we can play within our own (albeit comparatively short) lives. I have long had a minor obsession with the origins of music in my family tree, and I’ve only recently taken the opportunity to discuss this with my grandfather. Although he may not know it, my grandpa has been the most influential figure in my musical life.
When I was younger, I fondly remember visits to my grandparents’ that were full of music. A talented pianist, my grandpa used to sit down at the piano in the evenings and serenade us with “Beautiful Dreamer” and “The Entertainer.” Something about his playing has always stuck with me at the heart of my musicianship, serving as an early impetus for me to learn piano (and a motivator to keep learning in later years).
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My love of ragtime can be directly traced to those evenings listening to him play “The Entertainer.” I played a different Joplin rag for my college auditions; the first thing I composed in school was a rag; and one of the last pieces I performed there was a rag.
Recently, my grandpa recounted to me his early beginnings in music. In elementary school, his mom signed him up for lessons with a nun at his school. There, he learned the essential skills that would show up 70 years later in his living room where a young boy lay on the floor hanging on every note. (It’s fitting he primarily played for his loved ones in his home, given he quit lessons after eighth grade because he hated recitals.)
It’s this sort of thing that I think about with every student I teach. Sure, each lesson may just be a lesson. Some, however, are the beginning of a story that will outlive me.
Take a moment to reflect on how music first came into your life. Is the story as simple as it seems on the outside? What great details are lying just below the surface, waiting for you to dig them up?
Happy story-telling!
Luke
Songhorse Founder
P.S. There’s a 1950s Martin 000-15 (gifted to my grandpa by my grandma at their wedding) sitting beside me waiting to tell another family story… but that will have to wait until a later date.
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