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Born To Play

I don’t remember when I bought my son his first keyboard. What I remember was that he was young enough to be more interested in the box until he discovered and began to play (with) his newly discovered toy that was sitting right beside him.

When I was pregnant with Anthony, I used to stand in front of a full-length mirror while I danced. I don’t know why I preferred watching myself dance. It’s not that I liked my dancing. I didn’t even think about it. I just did it as I felt Anthony move around inside me. Or until I thought that I had perhaps put him to sleep with my movements.

I often wondered if he remembered those movements and if he could hear the music. I later learned that an unborn baby is able to hear sounds. It didn’t take long before he was creating his own melodies that surprised and amazed me. He taught himself how to play the keyboard.

He got accepted into the Creative Arts and Performing Arts (C.A.P.A.) program in the fourth grade. Orchestra was one of the class requirements and where he learned how to play the violin.

I swear he can pick up any instrument and start playing it as if he always knew how. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but he really is good. He had to learn how to read music while in orchestra and I could be wrong, but I think it was easier for him to play by ear.

When he was much older, Anthony had a friend who taught him how to play the drums and how to play guitar which all seemed so simple for him. He’s a natural with an ear for music.

He used to sit at any piano that was near him and a small crowd would gather such as at a church we attended. He was about five then. Of course, being my emotional self and a very proud mommy, the tears of joy would fall.

I don’t remember how old he was, but I’m pretty sure he taught himself how to play Beethoven’s Fur Elise before he was a teenager.

It’s been awhile since Anthony has played any gigs. He still plays the keyboard and guitar at home when he’s not taking the long commute back and forth to college, teaching, or taking care of his family, etc.

I’ve always wondered if my listening to music and dancing in front of the mirror for most of the time I was pregnant with Anthony had anything at all to do with his love for music at such a young age. Not his talent for it, just his love for music.

When I was pregnant with my older daughter, I no longer had the mirror and I had no desire to dance. Rough times. Her father bought her a keyboard when she was a little girl and yet she didn’t become a musician.

Speaking of dancing. Anthony had a dance class in the program as well and he recently told me that he hated to dance. He never liked the class. He hid it well.

A question I’ve pondered throughout the years and I still don’t have an answer. Or maybe I do now.

Maybe the answer is that Anthony is more wired for music than my daughter.