The other day I saw Mr. Andy Mormile. I thought he was dead.
Walking on the sidewalk, presumably from the music store to the grocery store, I saw my old clarinet teacher. I haven't worked with him in at least five years, and since then, I've only run into him maybe three times at most...all of them completely awkward. Had I been driving and not Dan, I think I would have caused an accident when I spotted him. Like I said, I thought he was dead. Last year while in the music store looking for some sheet music, one of the clerks behind the counter asked if I was waiting for Andy to come down and get me for our lesson. She said he wouldn't be around for a while since he had had a semi serious heart attack maybe two weeks prior. I was in shock. I mean I knew something like that was bound to happen to the poor old man, with his diabetes, poor eating habits, and strange lifestyle for someone his age. After that I hadn't heard anything about Mr. Andy Mormile, I suppose I just assumed that someone in his condition would pass away rather than recover, and I was wrong.
I really enjoyed working with Mr. Andy Mormile, for the most part. And I have no idea why I still call him by his full title, its a cool name and I think thats what he would call himself on our answering machine. Anyways...I started working with Andy in 8th grade when I received a scholarship to start up private lessons. I got 10 lessons for free and I liked Andy so much that I decided to stay on. After taking lessons with him, I think I decided to take music a little more seriously than my fellow band members. When I talked to other kids about what they did in their lessons, their teachers always made them work on their band music. I never did. First of all, I never really needed help on my band music, even in high school I had yet to be challenged by our concert music, and secondly, Andy couldn't read music. He was pure jazz, swing, and big band all the way. He taught himself how to play the clarient and when he was good enough, he joined a couple of bands. Everything he loved to play came from his head, no sheet music needed, no sheet music allowed.
For the most part, we worked on scales and technique...according to just about every music teacher ever, you can't play anything unless you know your scales. Ok...so I bored myself with the scales, worked in the books he made me buy, and got to listen to some cool jazz. I was starting to lean towards the jazz side of the clarinet, mostly from his influences, until I got to high school. I was hoping that I could make it in the jazz band but the band director wouldn't let clarinets in. Without even hearing me play, he said no. That was so incredibly discouraging.
After that major disappointment, I started to realize just how little I actually accomplished in the lessons. Once a week I took a half hour lesson. For about 20 of those minutes, Andy and I would sit there and talk about various things...actually, it was more like I would sit there and listen to Andy go on and on about gun control, our stupid government, and China. So, most of the time I just sat there, smiled, and nodded, and then played when I was told to. It wasn't all that bad, but the lessons could have been a little more productive. I quit taking lessons with him in 11th grade, when I started getting sick of band...if it wasn't for symphony orchestra, I wouldn't have stayed in band all those years. Mr. Andy Mormile knew nothing about symphony orchestra.
I was sad leaving Andy, I had been with him for so many years. The first time I ran into him after I quit, I think he was upset with me, and I had no itention of upsetting him. I had started teaching clarinet lessons myself, only taking on middle school students, and two of the students I got happened to be Andy's old students as well. S & E was coming up and I had to help the kids pick out their music...and we all ran into Andy. I never meant to take his students, but I can completely understand why the mother decided to switch...Andy is completely inappropriate for younger kids.
But I still miss the man to death.
*~Katie~*