Thought for today:
"Whereas teaching, training and instruction do much, encouragement is everything!
I grew up loving all manner of song which I daily heard from the family wireless, and by the age of 10 years, I was the best singer in my school and had won a number of prizes. Gradually, dance came into my life as a means of legitimately putting my arms around a pretty girl's waist without getting my face slapped for insolence. I also became highly proficient at walking the floor and also won two medals for old time dancing by the age of 11 years.
Being born the eldest of seven children during the 'Second World War' years, there were no such luxuries in the 1940's and 50's of having musical instruments or musical lessons at either home or school. Indeed, the only instrument I ever learned to play was a mouth organ that my uncle gave me when I was laid up in hospital for nine months following a serious traffic accident just before my 12th birthday. My nine months in hospital did enable me to learn to play 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White', but that, unfortunately, was the full extent of my repertoire.
I was in my middle twenties before I was introduced to the magical sound of classical music. It is a love of mine that has grown with the passing of every year. The two instruments I do love to hear are undoubtedly the piano and violin; either of which I would have given my left arm to have learned to play. Instead of being able to play a note myself, I've been confined to listening to the finest musicians in the world coax and bring forth the sounds of heaven from these angelic strings with the organic extension of their hands. Indeed, whenever I see a violinist stroke their Stradivarius with graceful and loving touch, my mind is instantly transported back to my childhood dancing days with my arms around the waist of the best looking ten-year-old girl on the dance floor.
I now know that liking something is of itself insufficient to make one do it well; neither is deep appreciation enough to lead one to do something about it. One has to be warmed by ambition to become better at it and be driven through the fires of burning desire to become the best. And even that can be insufficient unless one has the encouragement at their back, forever willing them on to practise! practise! practise!
The greatest of responsibilities with parents today is to persuade their children to pursue their dreams and to be inspired by the things they love. These are important things to encourage, along with having open minds to try things new and to go that extra step when they discover a talent that is worthy of developing. Parents today would do well to remind themselves they are the chief influential forces in their children's lives; the ones who are there to encourage the promotion of natural talent and the development of a confident and proficient self.
I never took piano or violin lessons, but I know deep down that with a bit of the right encouragement and the proper teacher to instruct me, I would have jumped at the opportunity. There is simply no way that any growing boy cannot be enticed and encouraged into a greater sense of cultural understanding.
And should it happen that all the instruction and encouragement in the world from the one who loves you most is still not enough to bring forth sweet song, deft dancing and perfect instrumental play, then, as my dear mother used to advise, 'Be no less of the good person that God intended you to be and learn to love and share what you have; learn to be the reason that someone smiles today.'" William Forde: October 25th, 2017.
"Whereas teaching, training and instruction do much, encouragement is everything!
I grew up loving all manner of song which I daily heard from the family wireless, and by the age of 10 years, I was the best singer in my school and had won a number of prizes. Gradually, dance came into my life as a means of legitimately putting my arms around a pretty girl's waist without getting my face slapped for insolence. I also became highly proficient at walking the floor and also won two medals for old time dancing by the age of 11 years.
Being born the eldest of seven children during the 'Second World War' years, there were no such luxuries in the 1940's and 50's of having musical instruments or musical lessons at either home or school. Indeed, the only instrument I ever learned to play was a mouth organ that my uncle gave me when I was laid up in hospital for nine months following a serious traffic accident just before my 12th birthday. My nine months in hospital did enable me to learn to play 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White', but that, unfortunately, was the full extent of my repertoire.
I was in my middle twenties before I was introduced to the magical sound of classical music. It is a love of mine that has grown with the passing of every year. The two instruments I do love to hear are undoubtedly the piano and violin; either of which I would have given my left arm to have learned to play. Instead of being able to play a note myself, I've been confined to listening to the finest musicians in the world coax and bring forth the sounds of heaven from these angelic strings with the organic extension of their hands. Indeed, whenever I see a violinist stroke their Stradivarius with graceful and loving touch, my mind is instantly transported back to my childhood dancing days with my arms around the waist of the best looking ten-year-old girl on the dance floor.
I now know that liking something is of itself insufficient to make one do it well; neither is deep appreciation enough to lead one to do something about it. One has to be warmed by ambition to become better at it and be driven through the fires of burning desire to become the best. And even that can be insufficient unless one has the encouragement at their back, forever willing them on to practise! practise! practise!
The greatest of responsibilities with parents today is to persuade their children to pursue their dreams and to be inspired by the things they love. These are important things to encourage, along with having open minds to try things new and to go that extra step when they discover a talent that is worthy of developing. Parents today would do well to remind themselves they are the chief influential forces in their children's lives; the ones who are there to encourage the promotion of natural talent and the development of a confident and proficient self.
I never took piano or violin lessons, but I know deep down that with a bit of the right encouragement and the proper teacher to instruct me, I would have jumped at the opportunity. There is simply no way that any growing boy cannot be enticed and encouraged into a greater sense of cultural understanding.
And should it happen that all the instruction and encouragement in the world from the one who loves you most is still not enough to bring forth sweet song, deft dancing and perfect instrumental play, then, as my dear mother used to advise, 'Be no less of the good person that God intended you to be and learn to love and share what you have; learn to be the reason that someone smiles today.'" William Forde: October 25th, 2017.
