<Begin Segment 31>

VY: I'm wondering, do you think that you had that same experience as a child in camp when you listened to the violin players and you were so...

MM: No, I don't remember, actually, the music part of it. What I remember is the physical, seeing them move their hands, and I might have been moved by the music, but I don't remember that. I remember more the physicalness of being amazed at what they were doing with these things, instruments.

VY: That's so interesting. So it's more like kind of the visual, it's more of a visual impact than an auditory impact.

MM: Right, at the time. But I've always liked music, and, in fact, I was always good at it. Even in kindergarten at Bailey Gatzert, when I really couldn't speak English and couldn't get good grades in anything but music. I guess she wrote on my report card how I was at music. And I was lucky, this is where luck comes in, because I mean, at that school, we had a special music teacher, she was really good. I learned all the songs that a lot of kids don't know anymore, because they don't have music teachers. I know all these folk songs, they learned all these folk songs, all these Christmas songs. I'm not particularly Christian, but I love Christmas music, and all those, "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know," I mean, I know that one and I like it. There are lots of songs that I've liked in my entire life, even as a little kid. Because even the Japanese songs I learned in camp, I remember them. And I like watching NHK because it's bringing back all those memories. Do you know about NHK? Yeah.

VY: Do you think learning the songs in Bailey Gatzert, do you think that helped you learn English, too?

MM: Oh, possibly, I don't really know how that works. But it could be because there's something about, well, one example I'll give you. This isn't exactly tonal music, but music is composed of tones and rhythm. And I remember when I went to Hawthorne, and one of the things that made everybody in my area think I was smart, was I could spell "scissors." But the reason I could spell "scissors" was because it has a rhythm to it: S-C-I-S-S-O-R-S. Okay, if I had to actually stop and say the letters and think it, I probably wouldn't be able to spell it. But because I can say it in rhythm, you know, it's easy for me. And I think that's true for me with a lot of things. If I can say it in rhythm, I can do it. People's minds work differently, so that might be just my mind that is able to do that. Because there are some things I really can't do.

VY: That's fascinating, isn't it, the way all our minds work differently?

MM: Yeah.

VY: Anything else you want to talk about in terms of music before we move on a little bit in your timeline?

MM: Oh, there's more? No, I can't think of it. Well, okay, so I think the only thing is that I had a stroke when I was, how old was I? Seventy-four or something like that, and that made me depressed for a couple of years because I really couldn't play my violin, and I still can't really very well, and I'll never be able to play. And part of it is just getting older. But I realized now that need to move on, and that it doesn't define who I am totally. I mean, I'm a human being that can learn all sorts of things and appreciate a lot of different things. So I'm trying to, kind of like get my life more... what am I trying to say? Experience more different things and realize what there is in this world, and not just music, and not just classical music. I still haven't listened to Taylor Swift, however. [Laughs] But I liked all the old songs that I missed. Simon and Garfunkel, I mean, I always liked the Beatles, I mean, even when they were, when I was in college and all that, so there were certain songs from the past that I've liked, but they've all been related to music. I'm starting to like plays more now than I used to. I even watched the Super Bowl by myself. [Laughs] But that's only because I heard about Taylor Swift and what's his name. So it's interesting.

VY: And you sing now, right, in the choir?

MM: Oh, right, I do. One of the things that I've learned to enjoy is singing. But it has to be the right teacher, I mean, the correct choir teacher, okay, because I tried one before. It was so boring, it was terrible. So I sang in it about two or three months, and forget this, but I went to Aljoya, and Rebecca, who is the choir director there, she was the director of the Seattle Girls Choir, and she's a really good choir director. And she knows how to work with the elderly, because she also lives at Aljoya, but she also has a group that is of younger adults (...) so that's really good. So we rehearse every three months and then take off three months, so she can do her other choir like that. But I always looked forward to that, now that I can't play the violin as well. Although I did play my violin with the last choir thing, I thought, oh, I hope I can do this.

VY: How did it go?

MM: It went well, but it was really easy stuff, I mean, I wouldn't have done it if I couldn't play it.

<End Segment 31> - Copyright © 2024 Densho. All Rights Reserved.