I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing

...in Perfect Harmony....

remember that Coke commercial? The original one, I mean. And the song?

The Sun is in String Camp this week. It's been a struggle. Coming right off the trip to Peru we're both a little burned out and suffering from some Traveler's Tummy issues. Not bad, but seriously uncomfortable right after we eat anything. I'm a little closer to better than he is, since mine started first. I think I also drank more chicha morada than he did, since he quickly became addicted to Inca Cola.

But also we're tired. So today was Thursday and it's the first time we got in on time all week. He's also his usually recalcitrant and violin-resistant self, and I waver between letting him quit and forgetting the whole thing, or forcing him. The latter usually wins because while I don't think he's going to be the worlds greatest violinist, I think he'll continue to play as he grows up. And every so often he gets that look in his eye like he did today when he watched Joe Deninzon demonstrate his Mark Woods electric violin with the guitar pedal set and amps.

But the first class he so annoyed me by walking into an empty room and choosing a seat in the back, that I walked out. I told him I wasn't going to sit around and watch him waste his own time. By the second class he was warmed up and in a better mood, and so I decided to sit in on Matt Glaser's class "Embracing the 7th".

When we walked in, the Circle of Fifth's was drawn on the blackboard and I thought "uh oh... Sun's in trouble." The circle of fifth's tormented me in High School; I'm not sure if it's because I started learning to read music late, or if it's because I'm not very mathematical, but I just never got it. I managed to pass the required theory classes for a Music and Art diploma, but I didn't retain the information. And I never learned to read music fluently.

But the Sun already reads pretty well, and is EXTREMELY mathematical and he seemed to grasp the concept pretty quickly though he struggled with actually finding the notes on his violin.

But the class was about finding the harmonic 7th of a chord, and how to either harmonize with it or improvise on it. And I don't know what triggered the thought as he helped the students through a "guide line" built on the 7th of each chord in each measure, but it suddenly hit me:

Life is a harmony; millions of people and beings working and living and coexisting together. And music helps us hear it.

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