Hannukah music

I've written before about my love of bluegrass and how, at the age of 27, my particular love of the banjo spurred me to ask for one when my mother asked me what I wanted for Hannukah.

At first, I played all the time. I was young and single and childless and had endless time to hang out with my musician friends, singing and playing and drinking bourbon. Then I got married and had children and didn't live in places where my circle of friends all played the guitar or the fiddle or the upright bass or the mandolin.

That's still where I am. I pick up the banjo from time to time. My kids ask me to play songs for them. But my friends are almost all married with kids, and my limited social life does not involve picking parties full of song and bourbon and bonfires. And banjo isn’t really a solo instrument.

I love music, though. I always have it playing, often I'm singing along, often my kids are often singing along. It turns out Zeke has a beautiful voice. He's in choir and was selected to be in the all-city choir group and is going to audition for the Denver School of the Arts. I don't know if he'll get in, or even if it's a good fit for him, but it's cool that it's an option.

It also turns out that he's taken to playing the piano. His after-school babysitter has a piano in the house and she encourages the kids to bang away at it. Zeke has learned/taught himself a bunch of songs, and is always fiddling. Let's just say that while we were at my parents' house for Thanksgiving - they have a piano - we heard a LOT of "Heart and Soul."

We didn't mind too much. It's catchy.

Hannukah is early this year. When we got back from Thanksgiving, it was upon us. Like my mother did for me 21 years ago, I asked Zeke what he wanted for Hannukah. Like I did 21 years ago, he responded that he wanted a musical instrument - a piano.

I looked on Craiglist. Turns out you can get a rehearsal piano for practically no money. And I would have happily bought one, except that I don't know where I would put it. We could put it in Zeke's room, which is huge, but that would entail getting up the stairs. No thanks.

But there were also a gajillion electric keyboards for sale. Some people the next neighborhood were getting rid of theirs. It's in perfect shape. It has a ton of different settings. It came with the stand and a seat. I got some cash out of the machine and Zeke and I went and got it.

It's in his room and he loves it. And best of all, it has a volume button.

When Josie came back to me after being with her dad, I asked her the same question. "What do you want for Hannukah, JoJi?"

She thought about it and said, "a guitar."

So today we went to Guitar Center and got her a guitar that's the right size for her. My parents gave her a set of lessons that will start after the new year. She has a case that allows her to carry the guitar on her back. I got her a book to get her started, and I'm teaching her the basic chords.

It's made me want to pick up my banjo again. We can have a family band and go on the road.

I'd need to learn "Heart and Soul" on the banjo.

Happy Hannukah, everyone. May your lives be full of music.