If the title of this message conjured up images of laying on the living room floor helping your little child with Legos, or playing Chutes and Ladders, that’s not what I am referring to, although those are vital and rewarding activities. (Nobody, but nobody beats me at Candyland or Chutes and Ladders – ask anyone!).
No, I’m referring to playing music with your family, something I enjoy whenever I can. I also get a kick out of watching other families play.
I grew up in a very loving family, but it wasn’t a family of musicians. All three of us kids (my two sisters and I) took up playing some instrument or another in grade school, and one of my sisters stuck to piano for quite a while and was a good player. But we never “jammed” as kids (what are we – the Partridge Family?). We were just kids, beginning to learn to play – laboring over dense sheet music, starting and stopping endlessly.
I was the only one in the family that grew obsessive over playing music.
When I grew older and started a family, I dreamed of a time when the whole family would play together. Just as in my own childhood, all three of my kids also took up an instrument in grade school, and our home echoed with the cacophony of beginners on flute, saxophone and violin. Not simultaneously, thank God!
But one by one, each child of mine drifted away from playing music. I was secretly shattered. Unlike the home I grew up in, my children were raised in an environment where live music was played often – almost every get-together with friends included singing and playing. How could my kids reject that?
Somehow, I forgot that most 13 year olds don’t want to be hanging out with Mom or Dad, even if it involves playing and singing. My youngest son used to require me to serenade him with Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” on the acoustic guitar before he could go to sleep, but that was when he was very young…
A few years later, a miracle happened. My two sons, independent of each other, drifted back into music, of their own accord. Possibly as a reaction to my own wild-eyed enthusiasm, they didn’t make any announcements. I would just catch them playing my guitars now and again, and by golly, they were good at it – each had his own style, too. My oldest son actually minored in music in college, and while he has zero stage ambitions (is he really my son??!), he has become a very gifted guitarist and jazz pianist. His younger brother evolved into a very emotive guitarist and singer, and would often steal away with friends to busk downtown for pizza money.
So, when do I get to play with these guys?
The first time came on a Christmas get-together at home. Max (the oldest) sat down at the piano, playing Vince Guaraldi tunes from “Peanuts”, and then he drifted into a spirited boogie-woogie blues riff. I jumped up and grabbed the upright bass and did a walking bass line to complement Max’s left hand notes. Liam (the youngest) grabbed a guitar and by golly, we had a VERY cool blues/jazz groove going. It was a seminal moment in my life. I got my wish!
There ain’t gonna be no Campbell Family Band, so far as I can see. We three gentlemen are all adults with our own lives. But we live close enough that when the family gets all together, a jam session can and does break out. I’m almost afraid to tell them how much this means to me, for fear of scaring them off.
Here’s the other cool thing – both of my granddaughters seem like they want to play music, too! [Happy birthday, Trinity!]
