I went to see my mother for the holidays–she lives in another city and I hadn’t seen her since I started playing the whistle, about nine months ago. Well, I thought I would bring my whistle so she could hear me play.
Now, my mom has always played guitar (since before I was born) but it’s not something I ever think about. When I started talking about my music experiences, so did she, and suddenly my mom & I (who don’t have too much in common) were fellow musicians!
I brought out Captain Picard’s Air to play for her, and it turns out she’d seen the Ressikan flute episodes and LOVED the song. She picked up her guitar and started playing this cool almost classical picking pattern with the chords above the sheet music and suddenly we were playing a guitar and whistle duet!
First of all, I can’t believe how good the whistle sounds with a guitar. They seem to balance each other very well, and it certainly made my whistle playing sound MUCH more like actual music. Also, Captain Picard’s Air sounds particularly beautiful with a guitar, so if you have acccess to a stringed instrument player, do try it!
Second, this spontaneous bonding was a great thing to happen with my mom and made me realize what an amazing thing the whole world of music really is, and how it has the power to really bring people together in a unique way. I was so grateful for having discovered music, and so happy I play the whistle because it’s just been just a new wonderful world.
And third, the great sound of whistle and guitar inspired my mother & I to pick out some songs and we’re going to arrange them and hopefully make a CD–just for friends and family.
It’s just incredible to think that a year ago, I didn’t know how to play any instrument or read music or NOTHING–and now I’ve played in public, have made up songs and plan on cutting a CD with my mother! I mean, it just goes to show you never know what’s going to happen in life…
