Johnny and the Clarinet

Last school year, Johnny took a great interest in learning to play an instrument. I love to see the kids get interested in music...I think music is a tremendous blessing, and being able to create your own music is a gift not just to that individual, but to others around them. Joe is learning to play guitar, Kelly is learning piano and ukelele, and Laine is studying voice and piano. Johnny decided he would like to learn to play the clarinet (like his older sister, Erin).

I obtained a clarinet and paid a few hundred dollars to get it properly conditioned. I spoke to the music store about lessons and bought reeds. Then school started and we asked for information about beginning band. Johnny picked up his clarinet and tried blowing through it. Not a sound. He tried pushing some keys...still no sound. He became anxious about missing class to take music lessons at school. He thought he would look dumb if he couldn't even make one sound. He demanded to quit band. I made a deal with him...if you still can't make a sound after one month in band, then you can quit.

Every day, especially when he's upset with his father, he gives me grief about practicing clarinet. Yet, we long since passed the one month mark, and he's not only making sounds, he's making music! He was half-hearted in his practicing, and I wanted to step it up a little, so I told him that I would pay him a penny a note during practice time. (See, he's already making money off of music!!) His practicing stepped up dramatically, and he's doing much better. I told him we were committed for a year. I'm just hoping that he eventually comes to like being in band and that music can take hold in him.