Music

I am one of these people who was very blessed to be raised in a good Christian home by parents who loved me and loved The Lord. My Father, who was "Promoted to Glory" last year (a Salvation Army term for "went to heaven") worked hard in all aspects of youth programming at my home Corps (Salvation Army jargon for Church) in Coventry, England. Dad was a very keen fan of Salvation Army Brass Bands and a Baritone player in his day. Also, I grew up in a Salvation Army Corps that had a very fine Brass Band, something a young Mike Harris aspired to join.

As an 8 year old I was taught to play a cornet (a Brass Band Trumpet) and at 10 I was given a Tenor Horn (A Brass Band French Horn). At 12 I graduated to a Tuba, and it was the Tuba that caught my attention. My Band Leader took the time to teach me how to play the instrument, and have the ability to augment rather than hinder the band as a whole. Looking back, however, I realize that my Band Leader was doing much more...he was getting involved in my life. He would visit my home weekly to teach me, he wanted me to succeed, and I wanted to please him. His commitment to me made me work harder, and God has since used my limited tuba playing ability in the ways that only God can.

These days the foot is on the other shoe as I take something of the leadership role in music. The Fredericksburg Corps has a fledgling music program that will develop into The Salvation Army School of music. We have a young Christian Music Director who wants to teach young people music...but he also wants to get involved in their lives. We want the children who participate in our programs to aspire to something, and perhaps the effect of our music program on the our children could be the same as its effect on me...that they see what somebody is doing for them, and they want to please him by improving themselves.