SLEEPLESS IN ROUTE TO SEATTLE

SLEEPLESS IN ROUTE TO SEATTLE
A few years ago I was en route from Salt Lake City to Seattle. The ride was uneventful, I sat down with one of my musical scores to read on the trip next to a man deeply committed to reading a magazine. As we took off over the Wasatch range of the Rocky Mountains, the change in air pressure caused the plane to lurch and bounce. The luggage compartments came open and items began to cascade down out of them. We all became very concerned and frightened as the man and I began to converse with each other. It is interesting how friendly we can become when on the point of annihilation. When the plane finally evened out, he explained to me that he was an employee of Bowing Aircraft on a routine visit to Salt Lake airport to examine the airworthiness of planes there. He then told me all the possible things that could malfunction on the plane. It was a trip I will never forget. He asked me if I was a musician, since I was reading a score while everyone else was reading magazines. I confessed that indeed I was. He said he had a question for me. It seemed that his best friend had raised his teen-aged son since birth, having lost his wife in childbirth, and the boy had become a severe problem. In spite of the father’s deepest desire to help his son achieve, nothing seemed to help. Then something remarkable happened. It seemed that the boy became acquainted with a high achieving boy at school who was also their paper boy. He asked the paper boy why he did so well in school, in fact all his brothers and sisters did well. The paper boy could not think of any reason, unless it was their family band. He invited the boy to come and witness the band in action. One evening the boy went over to find the family were economically challenged, yet, in spite of it all they were happy and productive. They all assisted in helping clean up the dinner in order to get to the living room and begin their evening of playing together. The first 15 minutes was devoted to playing an assigned piece of music, then they spent the rest of the evening “jamming”. Jamming is an exercise in improvisation, with each participant bringing to the experience what they can. It requires understanding and abiding by rules such as meter, key signature etc. A theme would be proposed and then everyone would improvise according to their ability. The mother of the family would finally have to bring the evening to a close and remind them to go to their rooms for a few moments of homework before bed. Somehow those few moments were enough to cause them to succeed at a very high level. After seeing this situation, the boy went home to his father and asked if he would buy him a violin. The boy’s father went to see the gentleman telling me the story and asked what he should do. The man said why not buy it, what could it cost $150.00 (student model price)? The father agreed, and the boy began to learn to play the violin with the help of the paper boy. Within a few weeks the father was called to the principal’s office. This was not uncommon (he even had the phone number on his speed dial), but this meeting would be different. Instead of jut the principal being there, the entire faculty was in the room wanting some answers. The father began by saying “look, I’ve done the best I can with that kid”. The principal continued that they were impressed with the fact that the boy would be on the honor roll this trimester and that he had not been hauled into the principal’s office for detention in weeks. What was different in his home? The father could not think of anything that had changed in the home...no tutors, no computer programs to help in school work, no altered study habits. The only thing he could think of, when pressed, was the violin. Could the playing of the violin influenced the boys cognitive and social skills?