My Summer of Music!

At some point Momma had me taking piano lessons. Momma played by shaped notes and I knew the shapes, (my Grand Father was a big Sacred Harp Singer and they sang the shaped notes), but she wanted me to play music as it is mostly written in lines and spaces. We had a big upright piano at home, so she took me to Mrs. Myrtle Wright in Opp for lessons. I don't remember how long I took lessons from her, but probably a couple of years. I remember how good she always smelled!!! Not like perfume or cologne but just so sweet and clean. She was a very sweet, patient lady. I always enjoyed going to her house for my lessons.

But, my Momma had an Uncle that taught Singing school at different Churches all around Opp, Elba, Cedar Grove, Blue Springs and I don't know where all he taught. Always in the summer and usually he would teach at one location for two weeks. All the neighborhood kids for miles around would attend singing schools.His name was Uncle Jim McKinney. Everybody that knew him loved him. He was a sweetheart of a man. He knew music and how to teach it!!!  It was always Christian songs and each year he would have new song books, some new songs and some old ones were always in those books. One summer, Momma got Uncle Jim to take me with him to the singing school to play the piano for him. Let me tell you, I learned more from him that summer than in all the years of formal lessons!!!  He would call out a number for a song and I don't care if you had never heard or seen that song, you better play it and play it correctly!! I learned pretty fast how to get the timing/beat right!  I mostly remember coming to Curtis Church that summer. Made a lot of new friends, one especially, Mary Esther Jacobs. She had a big family and I even spent the night with her one time.
We always brought our lunch with us and I will never forget how good those homegrown tomato sandwiches, all soggy with mayonnaise by lunch, tasted!!!  They were so good!  The tomatoes today can't compare to the homegrown ones we had then. Sometimes I would have an egg sandwich with mayonnaise and they were just as soggy and good too!! I really appreciate Momma letting me go to Singing School with Uncle Jim. I still am very proud of the lessons he taught me in music and how he treated all the students. I believe all the kids that came to Singing School carried a lot of lessons as well as happy memories with them. I know a lot of them had the privilege of attending more than one summer, hearing and learning with Uncle Jim McKinney!!! I could, and most of the other kids too, learned to recite the lines and spaces. I could do them backwards and forwards. I am sure that there were others that could too. I know Uncle Jim had other girls that played piano too, as the singing went on from I guess 8 am until 3 or so in the afternoon, so we had to take turns playing and singing too.!!  Now that was some good ol' days!!!  Fun,Fun,Fun!!! I still really enjoy playing the piano to this day!