Collaboration.

I love music. But I have never been able to play an instrument.

I have tried.

I tried guitar when I was a kid. The son of a friend of my parents was even recruited to give me personal lessons.

I just wasn’t any good.

I once took lessons for blues harp at the Old Town School. I couldn’t get those notes to bend.

Three years ago I tried again.

Ukulele.

Again I tried a class at the Old Town School. I had a wonderful teacher. But she was teaching us Hawaiian music and while I respect it, it’s not quite my thing.

I mentioned it to Cynthia, the music teacher across the hall.

She went out and bought a uke and then so did Matthew. Matthew could play guitar, among other instruments. Then Dawn. She has taken a bunch of guitar classes at Old Town. And then Sean joined the group. He’s also a music teacher. And then Suz, Kerrie and Harley. And then the LRC assistant, Chris.

For a year we would meet every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

I struggled that first year.

“Visualize the chords,” Cynthia would say. “Don’t worry about it if your fingers land on the wrong strings. Visualize the pattern.”

And little by little I got better.

We got better.

Then Cynthia applied for a grant and got a class-set of ukes for her students. And a senior volunteer who was in a uke group came in to help teach the kids.

And Sean, who was now teaching at another school in the district, got a teacher uke group going over there.

Sean used that set of ukes for his students’  classes.

About three months ago we decided on our playlist.

And we practiced those songs over and over again.

And we got better.

One morning Brian, an instrumental music teacher from the middle school, walked in on us with his trombone and played along with us to Brown Eyed Girl.

We sounded like musicians.

I have never felt the way I felt playing Brown Eyed Girl that morning with all of us and Brian on the trumbone.

It was real collaboration.

Tonight we are playing our first gig.

Our group will be playing at my retirement party.

All of us. Playing together.

Do you remember when, we used to sing? Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da la te da!