Musical Rituals
☺Musical Rituals and Patterns☺
I already posted about one of my musical rituals in my intro post, so I'll have to come up with some others....
Ashokan Farewell - Fiddle Fever
Alright, let's go ahead and get the sad stuff out of the way!
Ashokan Farewell was played at the end of every year in middle school as a way to send off the 8th graders to high school, since my district considered 9th grade as part of the "high school campus." At that time, the orchestra teacher was Mrs. Diehn, and she was literally the closest thing I will ever have to a "second mother." She was leaving teaching in my 7th grade year, so we played Ashokan Farewell one last time-- not only to send off the eighth grade kids, but also her. Covid hit my 8th grade year, so I didn't get to play Ashokan Farewell again after her departure, and I think it's actually a fitting end to me playing that piece--the last time I played it was the last year I was able to see her. She regularly continued to show up to my concerts throughout high school and continued to support me throughout my pursual of music-related education. I love her, and that piece actually has both a violin and cello solo that students could play; she used the violin solo to encourage me to push myself in learning how to express myself through music instead of being a "perfect robot player."
My favorite version of this piece is on Spotify by Fiddle Fever, but the orchestral version is absolutely amazing.
If I Die Young - The Band Perry
Since I already did something about my dad, I'll do something about my mom.
In elementary school, my mom would regularly sing "If I Die Young'; this of course rubbed off on a very musical little me, and I would wing it non-stop. Eventually my friends also got it drilled into their brains, and now its become a tradition for my very old friend to text me randomly the ENTIRE SET OF LYRICS. She does this at least 3 times a year, It always catches me off guard. I regret this song very much, but it was a big part of who I was as a kid and how quickly I picked up on music when I started properly learning,
Extra Story Time: My great-grandmother was very musical; I was born into a Southern singing family. We would sing Johnny Cash, Christian hymns, and Patsy Cline. My great grandmother wrote her own song about Jesus and--although I'm not religious--I catch myself humming it every once in a while. There is no record of this song--written or audio, and it only lives in my heart and head as fragments now, because she taught it to only me, and soon passed afterwards. We would sing it while hunting frogs and gardening, collecting food for dinner. It is something that I hold extremely dear to me, and haven't talked about it to anyone else except right now. So now you know a little more about me!
When she developed dementia, one of the few things that she remembered was music; my family would gather round and sing "Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash; it was really emotional a lot of times because--again, was once religious--we knew she would pass soon and we wanted to remind ourselves that we would eventually all be together again one day. I hope she found solace in it before she passed.
Daddy Sang Bass - Johnny Cash
The way that "If I Die Young" shaped your early years is really inspiring. I've never had a song that followed me like that, but I enjoy the possibility of a song being with you throughout time, even if you later come to regret the number of times you sung it.
ReplyDeleteSophia, I think it is so sweet you got to play that piece for your teacher one last time before she left. I also love that she still came to support you through your years. The high school I went to did not have an orchestra class, but we did have a band class, and my band teacher also left my 8th grade year. I did not continue playing after he left. So I understand the sadness of losing a good teacher. I like the song “If I Die Young,” I remember listening to it when I was younger. I think it is so sweet your mother used to sing it to you. My mother used to sing “You are my Sunshine” all the time and it got drilled into my head. That was almost the tradition for me if I was sick or I was having a bad day, she would sing it to me, she still does to this day. I love Johnny Cash and I love that you and your grandmother had a song together that is so sweet.
ReplyDeleteHello Sophia! Reading your stories and listening to your song choices made me realize- we have so much in common when it comes to this blog topic! My mom also drilled If i die young into mine and my sisters head!! when i say drilled i mean we listened to it on repeat for years BUT i have to say i loved the song so i can’t complain. Also when it comes to having an orchestra teacher you absolutely love… i can definitely relate!! Mrs. Moody was my middle school orchestra teacher and she supported me through every solo, ensemble, performance, etc I did. I can say the same about Mrs. Tipton and it brings me so much happiness because she comes into my job to this day and speaks to me and my dad! On the other hand, I had a teacher my senior year who was teaching an advanced class (which I had been dreading for the simple fact he was my new teacher) and I ultimately lost a lot of love for orchestra. I love the way you tell stories and both songs you chose!
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ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved "Ashokan Farewell" and the tradition that goes along with it. My high school had a very similar tradition to send off the seniors with a specific song, except in our case, the song was the King's Singers arrangement of Billy Joel's "Lullaby." No matter how long ago we were part of these groups (whether band, orchestra, or choir), right from the first moments these songs will always bring us right back to the last time we got to perform them among the friends and family we made throughout our journey with that ensemble.
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