My Musical Ear Has Not Improved Over the Years

When I was in the first grade, my teacher went around the room with a pitch pipe and asked us to replicate the tone she was blowing. I could not. I have ever felt very inferior about my musical ability, especially singing. It was humiliating and  embarrassing then.  Now, sometimes, I sing off key purposefully just to hide my embarrassment. But, I still love to sing.

I love sing alongs: Hootenannies, sing alongs, campfire sings, even church singing.  I love to sing along with music I have at home.  I used to be embarrassed by that, but when the TV show Murphy Brown http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094514/ included her singing to herself at home, generally a little off key, I decided so what.  So, now I sing along, off key, whenever I want to.  If someone around me does not like it, they can stop listening.

Over the years, from time to time, I have had the opportunity to attend "sing along functions."  Some sort of party, group activity or what have you. I am in hog heaven at these events.

I like music. I have specific types of music I really like:  I like cowboy songs, not country and western songs. I like classic pop, 40's, 50's and 60's popular music.  I love the traditional musicals of the 40s and 50s, even into the 60s. I like the Top 40 music I grew up with, and I like so many other kinds of music, I can not fairly list it. 

When I was in junior high school, we were required to attend music and art appreciation.  I did not realize at the time what a gem of a teacher we had when I was in the 8th grade: Mr. Gilmore was our teacher, and he had been an Air Force band director. In addition to trying to teach us more traditional music stuff, we listened to Bill Cosby. 

The best gift Mr. Gilmore gave us was teaching the high school band the US Air Force arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner"
http://www.usafband.af.mil/recordings/index.asp. Today, if I hear a band arrangement of the "The Star Spangled Banner" I expect it to be the US Air Force arrangement, and nothing else compares.

As the years have progressed, I have begun to like more and more, classical music.

I enrolled in an Osher Life Long Learning class What to Listen for in Music by Dr. Thomas Cimarusti.

I really appreciate the opportuntiy to learn more about music and appreciating music.  There is one more session for this offering.  I enjoyed tonight, and I am looking forward to next week.