http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2010/03/20/your_community/stories/living032001.txt
Published: Saturday, March 20, 2010 2:59 AM CDT
Reporter learns she can make musicBy Hillary Gavan
hgavan@beloitdailynews.com
Enter at your own risk.
This story starts with a misfit child and ends with a clarinet.
People always ask me if I have “any good stories” I’m working on. The best stories are the newly discovered people or ideas that you stumble upon that change you. They are jewels to be treasured, and most often they are found right in your own backyard. This is one of those stories.Musical phobia
It all started when a little business card tumbled out of an envelope. James Simmons, clinic director at Anatowind, 615 Eighth St., wanted a story on the organization’s 50 plus year history. However, with the sight of that little trumpet on his business card, my panic set in immediately.
See, I have a little secret. I dread music, or at least writing about it. I see a band instrument and I turn the other way. Sure, I enjoy listening to music like anyone else, but when it comes to singing at a church or a birthday party, I’ll lip sync and face the floor.
When it comes to covering a band or symphony orchestra for the newspaper, I freeze. Reading music is akin to making sense of hieroglyphics. Making music is a mysterious talent I just never had.
It started with a hearing test I took at the end of third grade to see if I could go on into band class. I got the lowest score out of the entire class, a 68 percent. I was told I “failed.” I could “try” band, but needed to be aware I might not do very well when it came to musical pursuits.
So, I took the advice and was about the only student in my class who didn’t join band. I admit I wasn’t too devastated. The thought of wearing hot, clumsy costumes and playing in parades on the weekend didn’t exactly appeal to me, either. And I already dreaded practices for the spring and winter music concerts, singing, where I secretly prayed to faint in order escape the overheated risers.
I gave music one more whirl by joining choir, but I continued to feel sidelined. As an alto female I didn’t receive much individual attention, and eventually began to lip sync. No one seemed to notice.
It didn’t help that I couldn’t read music. Somewhere after “do,” “re” and “me,” I fell behind in music class and never got caught up.
As an adult, I can’t say my music phobia has ruined my life, but it has resulted in a certain degree of deceit, either by head nodding or by pretending I understand music when I have absolutely no clue.
An answerAfter the little hot potato of a business card fell in my lap, I called Simmons to see what kind of story he’d like to do, hoping it would be as quick and painless as possible. He wanted to meet for coffee to talk, so my dread level increased.
However, after he agreed to meet me at my favorite coffee spot, McDonald’s across the railroad tracks from our offices, I decided to meet him. At least I could get some caffeine.
Simmons said it’s normal for those who don’t understand music or have a challenge in playing an instrument to give up and assume music is some mystical talent only the masters can tackle.
Simmons explained how his father, Joseph Simmons, founded Anatowind. Pronounced a-nat-o-wind, the word is coined from the words “anatomy” and “wind” as referred to in wind instruments. The clinical process teaches a performer or music organization how to use the muscles properly in playing all musical instruments. Through the proper use of muscles Simmons said that any players or music organizations can improve their performance, although I highly doubted any of that could apply to myself.
After his explanation, I admit I was still utterly baffled what Anatowind really was. On its Web site it mentioned the possibility of franchises and said it was being registered with the U.S. Patent Office in 1961, for “Teaching proper muscular coordination in the playing of musical instruments through personal demonstrations, clinic, reports, etc.”
It seemed like some military secret experiment. What exactly was Anatowind? A school of sorts? A band? Yoga while mounting a saxophone?
But to my surprise, Simmons didn’t chastise me for ignorance. He said I wasn’t alone in my musical phobias and said I could actually benefit from Anatowind. He said if I asked people on the street about music, many of them would feel the same way I did. The only solution was to experience Anatowind firsthand and see what it could do for me.
Oh boy.
Here goes
At my first Anatowind meeting on Feb. 27, I was so nervous I had a coughing attack outside the office while trying to tame my chin twitches. I met with Simmons and Mark Quinn , a music teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, who participated via a Web camera. Directors Jack Schroeder and Cliff Vandre were there to share their experiences and learn about me.
I was pleasantly surprised, and a bit taken aback, the four took my music phobia so seriously and had taken the time to go over a questionnaire I filled out. Every story I report on is usually focusing my undivided attention on someone else. The tables are never turned, so it was downright scary.
I explained how I didn’t read music, didn’t understand bands or symphonies and would like to learn about them. My instrument of choice would be a fiddle if I did decide to play something, and added that I would like to sing, although I currently dislike my voice and picture it as deep and manly. My only obstacle was basically time, seeing I have a 9-month-old baby and a demanding job. I told them my musical pursuits may have to wait a few years, but I was curious to learn their “diagnosis,” nonetheless.
During the meeting, I also learned more about Anatowind’s effect in peoples’ lives. Mark Quinn , a music teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, was a trumpet player at Kent State University when he was having trouble reaching the level of performance he desired. He suspected his performance became derailed after getting orthodontics and teeth removed as a child which resulted in a new jaw structure. Little did I know, orthodontics and the mandibles have a profound effect on playing wind instruments. Quinn said he left his family to study for three years with Anatowind. Now he’s passionate about Anatowind, adding that “no child needs to suffer like I did.” Vandre also had a physical obstacle, an issue with his lip which caused him to hit a plateau in trumpet playing.
Schoeder, who played drums, however, wanted to learn how to put music together in a band. Although he wanted to form a band he admitted he didn’t understand horn instruments and figured he was just too old to learn. Through Anatowind he learned to write music and play a horn. Anatowind had helped Quinn, Vandre and Schroeder all find the answers they were seeking.
The five us covered a lot of territory during the intake meeting, with no rock unturned in regard to music in their lives or my own. They asked if I ever sang to my daughter, have a CD collection and what types of music I like. I said country and the band, Nickelback.
Toward the end of our meeting, Schroeder gave me a test using a piano to see if I could differentiate tune and pitch. It turns out there are people who lack this ability, although I was floored to learn I wasn’t one of them. Out of about a dozen questions, I only missed one. There was nothing in my physiology preventing me from reading music or playing an instrument.
Second meeting
During my second meeting, Schroeder, Simmons and Vandre were there in person, along with Quinn and Tom Burt, a music teacher from Medford, Wis., beamed in via the Web camera.
Quinn started out by explaining how Anatowind would approach instructing me, if I decided to pursue music at the clinic. He said it would be important to go very slowly, and step by step. It would be critical not to repeat my negative experience from grade school, where certain steps were skipped or glossed over. Because of my bad experience and music phobia, he said it would be critical that no negative experiences could occur, causing me to quit.
Vandre suggested to learn to read music I play a clarinet. He said a fiddle is a relatively complex instrument, and that I would need to play guitar first. The benefits of a clarinet would be that I would really hear and feel the notes. I was surprised to learn that learning to play the instrument was suggested before singing. Once I knew the sound and pitch of notes, he said reading music and singing would come easier and make more sense.
Schroeder went over the results of my music test, and stressed again there were no “disabilities” preventing me from music.
The final step of the session was to get me to play notes on a clarinet. It was a bit cumbersome at first. The clarinet reed kind of reminded me of a tongue depressor and it was a bit odd manipulating my mouth in mixed company. But we went slowly, and after a couple reed adjustments a wonderful, strong and clear sound came out. Simmons said I had strong jaw, a good asset for clarinet playing. He added that he could tell I was intense from the way I played, but that it was another positive attribute, at least to a wind instrument.
They all agreed the clarinet would be a good fit for my personality and a great way to learn notes.
What’s next
I’m probably not taking up the clarinet right now. My life has become too busy with work, baby, housework, trying not to get too fat, relationship tending, bill paying and unruly garden management.
However, I will definitely encourage my daughter to pursue music when she gets older. Simmons advised me that it’s good to expose children to music without putting pressure on them, something I’ll also remember.
Exploring any phobia was a step in the right direction. We all have small, seemingly silly things in life that we fear and dread. But those things can add up, impeding us from enjoying all life has to offer or from personal growth.
Covering this story also made me think more seriously about music’s place in society, and education in general.
Yes, you can survive being musically illiterate, but it’s a huge drawback in life. Playing music or singing is done in places of worship, in bars with friends, at birthday parties, between mother and child and more. It allows people to bond with each other, express themselves, create and share.
And just because someone fails one test, or has a unique lip or jaw doesn’t mean he or she needs to stop progressing in their career or hobby. Most of all, music isn’t a locked away treasure for the few, it’s a gift available to anyone. Although some people have different speeds and modes for tapping into that gift, each instrument and each song is a free gift. Anatowind is simply a way of helping people discover these musical gifts in their own unique way.
For more information visit www.anatowind.com or call 608-362-1920.
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