Just returned from caroling at
Barnes-Jewish Hospital here in
St. Louis. A professor in the
med school invited me to play the
whistle, the other carolers were
physicians, administrators, occasionally
family of patients. These
people really could sing, harmonies too.
Some of them were singing in choirs,
including gospel choirs.
In order
to play so that the singers were in
a key they could sing in I brought
whistles in four keys, mostly Copelands,
which worked pretty well, but it
was a bit frenetic leaping from
whistle to whistle. The hardest part
of it was playing to the children
in the cancer ward. Finally we
played for the doctors at Grand Rounds,
who were gathered in an auditorium.
Worth doing–if you know the carols
I’ll betcha nursing homes will be
glad to let you play. I used to
take my guitar to nursing homes
and play for the residents, especially
during meals. We can bring music
to people who aren’t cared about
very much, that’s for sure.
And when we die and find ourselves
in heaven and ask God, how is it possible
after the sordid life I lived, perhaps
he will say: ‘Do you remember 19 Dec 01,
when you played the whistle in that
hospital? Though I did wish you would
practice your crans!’