Marimba Harmony

[from the archives]

My husband made a marimba.

Several months back we were at a music event in downtown Seattle, and we saw a marimba band. It was very cool! The marimbas looked as though they were made of PVC and 2x4s. We all agreed we should make some someday.

The other day Tim decided that someday had come and he learned how to make marimba notes through internet research and made a 12 note marimba. It’s been played practically non-stop ever since. That first night Annie, Josiah, and Lizzy plunked away at it until 11:30 pm or later playing the same thing over and over and over. That’s what people do when they’re creating music. They play the same thing over and over and over.

The three of them together created a very enjoyable tune, but a very short one. We all decided they should play it for our upcoming recital, but they needed to add more to it. Audiences don’t always appreciate hearing the same short tune played over and over and over like the creators and their moms do.

The three of them set out to create something new to play, and then they would figure out how to join the two bits together. Annie quickly tackled the task  by creating a different low note pattern.  She had an idea of what Josiah could play but she was thwarted in her efforts because the “I can’t” attitude came flowing out of Josiah to meet her. From my seat at the sewing machine, sewing TuTus for a special funny dance in the recital I heard their conversation.

Annie was bursting with creativity and ideas. She showed Josiah what he could do, but she wouldn’t know if it sounded good until he actually did it at the same time she played the other. She was talking fast in her excitement, and as Josiah gave a ½ hearted attempt, she hurriedly said things like, “Na na no. Like this.”  She pressed into his space on the Marimba and did it again.

Phillip was standing by, and he added his assessment of the difference between what Josiah had played and what Annie wanted him to play. Josiah’s “I can’t” attitude grew deeper and he began a combination of whining frustration and sulking while still making attempts that actually seemed like he was trying to fail. Meanwhile Lizzy had come along and started trying to create yet another part on the same marimba at the same time.

When I came in Annie was losing interest because it was getting just too hard to press forward against Josiah’s bad attitude. Josiah had sat down with tears in his eyes, and Lizzy had wandered off after the cat. Teamwork and unity were absent, and all harmony had ceased both on the marimba and between the kids.

I talked with Josiah, “It looks like you’ve got a bad attitude.”

He whined out, “They won’t let me even try….” his words gave way to an exaggerated reaching and grabbing motion with some irritated noises that was supposed to represent what Annie and Lizzy were doing to him. He had entered into self-pity. Self-pity always carries blame with it. He was rehearsing his wounded state while blaming all the other kids. Just as in all cases of self-pity, he was the one in the wrong.

Annie calmly and objectively said without offense, “He’s not really trying mom.”  Her voice was filled with the grace of understanding, knowing that she has had this same attitude many times in the past, and she knew that attitude from the inside out.

Josiah was already shifting his attitude internally realizing he was wrong. He picked up the sticks and stood back up as I was saying, “Show me what Annie’s asking you to do.” He played ½ of it, caught his error and started over, successfully completing it on the second try. The “I can’t” attitude was gone.

Annie’s excitement welled back up and she encouraged him. He played it again, and I told Annie to give him time to practice it a few times and be a little bit slower in her excitement.  She adopted a very encouraging demeanor toward Josiah, and slowly joined him with her part, being careful to stop if he messed up, and let him work it out.

Lizzy came back and Annie showed her how to do what she was doing.  She calmly asked Josiah to stop long enough for Lizzy to get it, and led him back in. Then she quickly created a new thing to add in the middle of the marimba and off they went, playing it over and over and over, enjoying it and each other more and more. Harmony was restored.

Harmony – Unity combined with desire to be with the other people involved.

Here you can see the kids’ performance at the Lifestyle of Learning Performing Arts Program. I love the tall guy in the tutu! That’s my son Phillip, he had just danced a very silly dance with his buddies in tutus and rubber boots prior to the marimba jam.

[originally posted September 2010]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjc1Vj5B5eE]