Fin Brennan

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I wish I played music

I wish I played music. In my family, I am not the musician. I am the writer. I am the only member of this household with a blog so by default I guess I must be. I love music and am a writer so I guess all I can do is write about music and not play it.

This isn’t to say I don’t have any musical ability. I was forced to learn piano in third class as it was mandatory back then. Not much from that period has been retained. However, I can still nail Mary Had a Little Lamb every time. I hate to brag. The one instrument I was always attracted to, was the drums. I did play them pretty consistently for a few years. I eventually gave them up and my dad sold my electric drum kit that I got a few years previously. Life goes on. The thing about the drums is that even when you don’t have a kit at your disposal, you still have a kit at your disposal i.e. every surface (within reason). When I sit at this desk I am at right now and I can’t think about what to write next, I tap beats out on the corner edge and get out some pent-up energy.

My parents bought me a Cajon a few years ago. Fred and Kurt, two guitar players had been badgering me to get one for a good while so I could at least do something when they were playing a bit. If you think you don’t know what that is, you do. It’s a drum box. Whenever you see a band perform acoustically, the drummer is most likely playing a Cajon. I love having one and I should play it more. Currently, it acts as part of the charging station for my phone. I would like to take the opportunity to apologize to said Cajon for the disrespect I have been showing. Writing about it has made me reconsider my current relationship with playing music. It’s not a case of not being able to play. It’s finding a way to incorporate it into my life. When I say I wish I played music I mean I wish I played something like guitar or piano. I mean, when was the last time you were at a party, and someone said: “Yes, let me play something. Anyone got a cajon lying around?” I won’t be too hard on myself because I just didn’t have the interest when I was younger. As I alluded to earlier, for me it’s more of an appreciation of music and not the act of playing it.

This has been my, somewhat of a love letter to music. I have been listening to quite a lot of music lately. Some of it is good. Some of it isn’t as good. The good stuff I have fallen in love with again. It’s a nice feeling. Music is great and I recommend you listen to some of it. There’s enough to go around. Thank you for reading this evening. Listen to music. Thank you, music, and thank you for your time.