Whether you can sing, play one, many, or no instruments, whether you enjoy classical, jazz, R&B, hard rock, soft rock, or classic rock - music is AMAZING. When we hear certain songs, they can bring up memories and emotions. Music makes us feel. It connects us through generations. Music from centuries ago can and has been passed down living on and on.
Over the past weekend, I enjoyed live music at a couple of different venues. One of the best parts was I enjoyed it with friends who I consider family and my children The songs that the bands played were familiar and many of us sang along. Any particular piece sparked a memory or emotion that was unique to each person.
Soundtracks for movies are built to create emotions throughout a film. Silent films may have been silent in and of themselves; however, theatres added music while the movie played. The music accompanying the silent films played on a phonograph, a lone piano, or sometimes even a whole orchestra. It was typically dependent on the individual theatre.
No matter our skill level, many of us sing, hum, or whistle at some point in our lives. Music calms. A caretaker, without thought, will often sing or hum when an infant needs calming—this choice to use music is almost instinctual.
There are music genres each of us loves and those we are not fans of, and that is okay. Music will affect each one of us differently. Sunday evening, while having dinner and enjoying a fantastic musician with my adult children. Singing along with them and watching them enjoy the music that we all could sing together was a memory I will keep. Later that evening, I saw my daughter's Snapchat. The screenshot is below. It made me smile even more. I consider my family extraordinarily lucky to have had such a talented musician not only who taught my children a love of music but we also get to enjoy him together presently, that's a huge bonus.
Music brings people together and helps heal. As I wrote this blog, the news came on and showed a vigil of music that brought people together to honor and memorialize the shooting victims of Tops Market in Buffalo, New York last week.
Their names:
Deceased:
Roberta A. Drury, 32 Margus D. Morrison, 52
Andre Mackneil, 53 Aaron Salter, 55
Geraldine Talley, 62 Celestine Chaney, 65
Heyward Patterson, 67 Katherine Massey, 72
Pearl Young, 77 Ruth Whitfield, 86
The three surviving victims are:
Zaire Goodman, 20 Jennifer Warrington, 50 Christopher Braden, 55
During the newscast, a woman in attendance spoke and said, "The music brings us together and helps us heal." I believe she summed up what music does very well.
Love Lots; Smile Often
MommaHattie
Links to the people my family, friends, and I enjoyed this past weekend are here: