...Facebook is a form driven social media. That means if you can't say it in a form. it doesn't get said.

... I'm taking this opportunity to write a little about my musical interests.

...I began, like many of my age and in my neighborhood, under the watchful eye of Mr. Kates. Mr. Kates would come to the elementary schools in my town, and maybe other places as well, and give lessons in music. In early grade school, we participated in music by playing simple instruments in simple tunes. I liked the triangle and the wood block, but yearned to get my hands on the tamborine.

A year or so later, Mr. Kates informed everyone we would be learning to play the flute. More specifically, the Flutophone, was the instrument of choice. White plastic body with transparent red plastic mouthpiece. We learned to keep time and do simple sight reading of sheet music on memeograph paper with purple, slightly faded notes and staff. I remember Christmas, one year, we learned some Christmas carols. Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and We Three Kings were among the ones I remember.

...Later, in Junior High (T.A.Dugger Junior High, on the hill by the Masonic Lodge), I would attend classes in a cast after an operation on my left leg. A childhood friend taught me a few of the basics of the drum. Not until high school would I learn another instrument; the guitar, then the keyboards. I would play guitar intermittently, for the next 25 years, and not pick up the keyboards again until 2006.

Mrs. Musick, the music teacher ( and I've wondered if her interest in music had anything to do with her name) said a I had an attractive baritone voice ( the sex hormones had started kicking in on everyone) and suggested I take singing lessons. I was more interested in 'cool' things then, though I understood the value of singing lessons and there relation to my interest in popular music, though I did not avail myself of the opportunity at that time.

...Sometime in high school, I picked up the guitar from another childhood chum. I played rythm because I thought lead was to complicated and did not understand the role of lead guitar. I realize now, the role of lead is often mis-interpreted and badly done. Too many clich'es and formulae. Lead guitar, done the way I understood music, would have been difficult and complex. Most over simplified the field, but that was pop music. It wouldn't be until 2006, when I found a 1968 Hammond, dual manual, H-182 with built-in power amp and speakers, in a local second hand store, and purchased it, that I would take the time to do music the way I thought it should be done. I avoided popular clich'es and themes. I probably fit into the Alt Music genre.

The platform I had to build to move the organ, cost more than the organ itself. The thing, seat and pedals, weighs in at over 300 pounds. Needless to say, I rarely take it anywhere. Not like you can sling it over your back and head for the park. I made some repairs and oiled the organ and got it working in fine order.

One of the things I discovered in my exploration of the instrument was minimalism. Phillip Glass is well known for his experiments in minimalism. I would take two notes, close together, musically and physically, and exhaust the musical possibilities before changing a pitch, or adding another note. There's more that can be done with two notes than you may think.

...I began music traditionally and moved into other genres in high school, and after. In my late twenties and early thirties, I explored country, bluegrass, and some folk but mostly bluegrass. By the time I reached my fifties, I had explored most significant genres including Jazz, Folk, Blues, R&R, Classical, Flamenco and gospel. I found others interesting but never took the time to investigate more deeply, e.g. Dixieland, Big Band, Swing and older pop formats.

...I eventually wrote and recorded an album of my music on a couple of DVDs. Instrumental music, with homebrew production techniques, but a good sketch book of what interested me at the time.