Music part 2

Frank's memoirs

When we moved

 

our Church activities to Frankleigh Park I shared the organ-playing responsibilities with Ron Schwass. It was enjoyable working with John Hodder, the minister, who became a great friend. We were devastated when he died of cancer. 

In 1999 Margaret started lessons on the classical guitar.  This opened up a whole new field; guitar music and guitar composers are different from the mainstream, especially in respect to South American and Spanish music. So I arranged with one of the music teachers at Spotswood College to start learning the clarinet. 

I suppose I chose the clarinet because my father had wanted to learn it, had bought one but never got to play it before he died. I discovered that the clarinet is a very distinctive instrument, acting like a stopped organ pipe, not like other instruments which function like flutes. This means it has a range twice as great as other instruments. 

After I had learned for six months, my teacher, Stewart Maunder, established an adult learners’ concert band. Around 40 of us would practise on Wednesday evenings. There were people older than me, and some much younger; there were players of just about any wind instrument you could name, besides percussion. We all very much enjoyed the practices, and the annual competitions and eventually a few performances. 

We steadily improved over the following years. Meantime Ross Townsend, Margaret’s guitar teacher and our friend, suggested I play with him. So we practised together and before long I was playing clarinet to his guitar at wedding receptions and so on. We also played items at the Festival of Lights in the programme put on by the New Plymouth Classical Guitar Society. 

I very much enjoyed this learning and playing process, but eventually decided that further improvement, which was very much needed, would take such intensive practice that I would have time for nothing else; besides which I doubted that at my age I could make much more progress, partly because my fingers would not move fast enough! 

So I reluctantly gave up playing the clarinet. 

Meantime I had off and on for several years been playing the organ from time to time at the Hospital Chapel on Sunday mornings, both for Peter Mitchell and then for Robert Anderson when Peter retired. I also helped by playing at a couple of staff weddings. 

Later still, when Ruby was attending the Friday Club at the hospital, I played the piano for their community singing. This activity, organised by Alzheimers Taranaki, continued until 2014, when  a new co-ordinator was appointed, I was finding it increasingly tiring, and reluctantly decided it was time to retire. 

Two or three years ago I acquired a toy piano accordion, which I taught myself to play. I still get it out from time to time and have a tinkle, but only for my enjoyment. 

Music is an important part of my life; I enjoy a variety of kinds of music and could easily draw up a list of 100 tracks which I enjoy and admire. Life without music would be a bleak prospect!

At Julia's Twenty-first party