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Music comes from the soul
Music is art, harmony, rhythm. Music is beauty. But, would a flat, off pitch, out of tune sound of a bagpipe waking you up on a weekend could still be called beauty? For me, it can. My father was the one playing this loud instrument. He was proud of it, he knew he wasn´t any good, but nevertheless every weekend he took out his bagpipe, warmed up his breath a little and started ‘spreading inspiration’, he would call it. His face lit up when the family members started gathering near him, it didn´t matter to him that most of them were telling him to be quiet. ‘Why don´t you take lessons? We asked almost every time and what he would answer it´s what makes that instrument so special; ‘Music comes from the soul, not from lessons or practice, but from your inspiration within’. He got the bagpipes on a family trip to Scotland and for years they were untouched, one day, out of nowhere, he gathered the family and see him play for the first time. Of course it wasn´t pleasing to the ear, nonetheless it was the beginning of a beautiful tradition full of learning and to bring together the family. Once in a while, I even join him, randomly playing the guitar trying to find a strumming that feels appropriate to the bagpipes, I am yet to find a strumming that sounds even remotely good. The bagpipes are now always in the middle of the living room, rather than put away where no one could see them, like it was years ago. They even make the room look brighter, and happier. And even more when someone, usually my father, goes out and play them. Before he started playing them, the joy of music wasn´t heard much at the house, and I now know that music is a necessity in a household. The harmony and peace it brings cannot be compared to anything else, even the strong, loud, high pitched sound of an instrument like a bagpipe can provide de joy a household needs. Some might think it annoying, but the way my father lights up, and the way the family comes together because of it makes it, at least for me and my family, a beautiful instrument. Although, I personally believe he should take lessons to make the beauty even greater and the harmony larger.
