Music and Family Blog

 

Music and Family Blog 

Tonight I was able to interview my grandmother, Nancy Strange. She has been a musical inspiration for me my whole life, and I wanted to learn more about her relationship with music. This interview was lots of fun, and I loved learning about music when she was my age. 

My grandmother's earliest musical memory was her mother singing to her. She said it was difficult to pick her first memory because music has always been a part of her life. As a child, it was singing nursery rhyme songs like "Here We Go Around the Mulberry Bush." In middle school and high school, it was mostly pop music from the radio. Towards the end of high school and the start of college, she fell in love with beach music. It quickly became one of her favorites and still is today. When she was in high school and college, she went to many dances, one she particularly remembers was her Jr/Sr prom. It was a huge deal. They got dressed up, and the boys brought them flowers. They had live music from Edwin Starr, a popular regional singer who even had a song on the radio. She thinks dances were very different from today's dances in some ways, but they were very similar in other ways. All dances have groups of friends standing around, and it was awkward when a boy asked you to dance, and everyone loved the slow dances. 

Her first concert was to see Peter, Paul, and Mary when she was in elementary school with her father and sister. She thought they were hot stuff for being old enough to go to a concert. When she was young, everyone would sit and listen to the music at concerts, unlike today where everyone stands up the whole time. She said she liked the music when she was growing up because the words were easy to understand and sing along with, unlike today's music. Peter Paul & Mary - Puff The Magic Dragon (with Lyrics) 

My grandmother never had any formal music training. She doesn't play an instrument, and she can't read music. She has a great ear and learned how to sing in choirs. She has been in a choir in one form or another since elementary school. Some of the choirs have had great singers who taught her how to sing. 

My grandmother has some significant songs that stand out in her life. The first one is "My Girl." This is my grandmother and my grandfather's song and has been ever since they started dating. For Christmas this year, he had a special arrangement with four variations of "My Girl" composed for the organ. He had it played for her on Christmas Eve at our church. It made both of them cry when they heard it. She thinks her theme song is "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by John Denver. Every time she hears it, she thinks of R & R in Hawaii and her life as a Military wife. My Girl - The Temptations (1964) (HD Quality)

Leaving On A JetPlane - John Denver (lyrics) HQ.

Music is a big part of her life. She feels people who don't appreciate music miss out on a lot. She thinks life without music would be boring. She finds music comforting, uplifting, and tied to memories. One musical experience that she would love to have would be to sing in a choir accompanied by a great symphony. I am so glad my grandmother and I share a love of music.