Where Has All The Music Gone?

      

My grandfather and father.

Although the internet and anything related to this unseen world has taken over the worlds interest and hobby enjoyment, there is one extra curricular activity that has been the hardest hit....musical instrument interest!

     When my grandfather was a child, back in the first decade of the 20th century, there  was little else but imagination  that fed a childs hunger for excitement. Playing an instrument was a luxury because of the cost. Jump ahead to the early 1940s, when my father was a child, purchasing a violin, for example, became easier because wealth had increased and instrument costs were lower because of the supply and demand aspect.

     Now taking a leap to my childhood in the late 60s and purchasing a violin was even cheaper and many more kids my age was in an orchestra or band. I was proud to show off my musicianship to neighborhood friends and family. I had the luxury of my father teaching me at home and having the two finest teachers of violin as my teachers at school, Mrs. Lyndz and Marion McKenney. With my grandfather Samuel having graduated from the Boston Conservatory and my father attending the conservatory in Bangor, Maine, I had the distinct privilege of wise instruction from the age of 5 years.

     Now here we are in the 2020s, with my 10 year old son Thomas being the fourth generation to pick up the same violin and he is at a brick wall. I have been teaching him for over a year now and it is getting more and more difficult to keep him interested. Sure, I(as a parent)control his time in front of the computer or game system but the issue that is facing him, as with so many other kids today is keeping them interested beyond the home. None of his friends play the violin, the school he attends has no orchestra program, even when he enrolls in high school!

     So I have looked outside the box, to the Bangor Symphony Youth Orchestra. But even this ancient organization is severely lacking in offering something that would keep children involved musically. And this is such a shame. He does belong to this group and has even participated in a virtual session, which has yet to be put together by those in charge. It truly is heartbreaking to think at any given moment, Thomas will lose interest even before he becomes fully aware of his potential. I will never forget the thrill I received when the telephone rang one day when I was 9. My mother answered, her face and demeanor lit up while she was speaking with someone on the other end and burst out with joy after hanging up the receiver. I was invited to play with an orchestra of teens at the University of Orono, Maine that summer as a first chair violinist. Even I was ecstatic. 

     It is sad to think what our youth is going to be like without the opportunity to indulge in music at the level of past generations. I would love to hear methods, stories, ideas or gimmicks from those of you who are experiencing the same thing but have found a way to keep our kids curiosity and motivation piqued.