good line

**Ozman1944** · 7th December 07, 07:51 AM

A (Black) singer friend of mine is hysterical to watch; the whole left side of her face automatically scrunches up at the sound of a flat note. I had the malicious glee of seeing her in a local church choir once; the woman next to her was tone deaf.....

(I know, I'm mean; I WILL repent - eventually - when I can stop grinning at the memory.

)

**bikeolounger** · 7th December 07, 08:14 AM

My girlfriend was very apologetic as she watched me cringe. I told her that I've come to terms with it--I could have done other things that night instead of attend a concert I knew would make me cringe, and I wasn't in as much discomfort as I'd expected to be.

This certainly wasn't as bad as the time I was eating lunch in a local food court, only to find we were going to be "serenaded" by a bunch of middle-school students playing holiday carols on their string instruments (mostly beginner-level violins and violas, thus very nasal in tone and very off-pitch). >I< would have to be tone-deaf to be able to stay in a room full of such sounds. It almost ruined my lunch, although it did give me a fun story to tell...

**pipesndrumsnun** · 7th December 07, 08:42 AM

Awwww...the school-teacher side of me says, "But you gotta love the ATTEMPT!"!!

**Daaaaang** · 7th December 07, 08:45 AM

I am one of the lucky few who have a really good sense of rhythm and pitch, but not a picky ear (well, not to the point of it actually being painful, anyway. I still know "bad" when I hear it).

**pipesndrumsnun** · 7th December 07, 08:53 AM

I must add that just to get people between grades 5 and 12 up there performing (be it singing, instruments, whatever) is the great thing...they tend to be so self-conscious in that time of life.

I got approximately 50 8th graders to be a gospel choir for a Christmas concert a few years ago,and the year before that, I got all of my grade 8 boys (OK, remember these boys are at that awkward 13, 14, 15 year old stage!) to perform as a giant percussion ensmble playing on ten gallon buckets to the Little Drummer boy tune...they deorated their buckets with Christmas wrapping, strapped them to their belts, and marched down the aisle to the front of the Church...happy memories! (P.S., only the boys because they were not scheduled for choir class the first semester and I was charged with getting them into the Christmas concert "some how"...I was the English, Lit, and religion teacher..I had no connection to the music department...and the gospel choir year was when all of the junior high students had been banned from taking choir class that year because the teacher found them to be too much of a handful). Both years the kids did a great job and had a lot of fun doing it...and gained some needed self-confidence!

When kids are willing to "perform" in any capacity...I say "YOU GO!!"

P.S. I'm glad you wore your kilt!!

**bikeolounger** · 7th December 07, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by pipesndrumsnun

Awwww...the school-teacher side of me says, "But you gotta love the ATTEMPT!"!!

Yeah, you have a valid point. In the case of the recital last night, I DID appreciate the efforts and talents of many of the students. One student performed a variation on the "Carol of Bells" (a melody that even played well often brings back bad memories of high school) that showed TONS of talent and finger agility.

And, too, the efforts of the middle school string ensemble were appreciated, sort-of. It took effort for them to pack up their instruments after they were done.