At present I and my wife own a small music school called Harmonies Music, Inc. We also have studios at Woodward Academy and Clayton State College. Besides teaching I am also a composer with over 150 pieces in my catalog. I am schooled, taking my counterpoint from Brent Pierce in 1979. In 1962 I began teaching myself how to read music, learning most of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier over a five year period. I also improved my reading by transcribing several large orchestra works such as Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3 and Stravinsky's Sacre Du Printmeps to piano.

First Encounter With The Piano-P

Later I rode back down to that same music store and with my allowance bought every piece of music in stock with the name Bach across the front. It took over 5 years, but I taught myself how to read and play most of The Well Tempered Clavier, The Two and Three Part Inventions and most of Bach's "Little Preludes". Being very over weight and shy worked to my advantage because I had absolutely no social life. My parents allowed me to bring home C's and D's because they could hear me practicing downstairs and believed that activity was more important than academics. I was in the 9th grade and by the 11th I had brought my grades up to a 4.0 average. Those years, down in my parent's basement, I discovered that I had a magnificent obsession for music.

First Encounter With The Piano

The band room in my high school had a small spinet piano in the corner. One day, by accident, I heard a student playing this incredible piece on that poor instrument. It was my second musical epiphany. The piece I later discovered was the Invention in A Minor by J.S. Bach. I knew that I had to learn how to play this man's music. That winter I sold Holly door to door and raised $75.00. I rode my bike down to West End in Atlanta, Ga. and bought an old upright piano that had been painted red. It had beer stickers plastered all over the sides but it was still wonderful. For my $75.00, the store delivered it with bench. My mom knew nothing about this until she answered the door and the delivery men asked where she wanted the piano. It went downstairs to my room which was in an unheated basement.

Epiphany

Until the age of 14 I had no desire to play a musical instrument. Even though I was entranced by classical music whenever I heard it, I never thought to seek recordings or broadcast of serious art music. Our father forbade us boys to play football or participate in any rotc programs which left only one thing-band. So, after asking the band director to let me play trumpet (I heard trumpet players make the best kissers, and subsequently told french horn was to be my instrument, I started attending beginning band rehearsals. At first I was a terrible student, never taking the horn home and only blowing it during the band period. And then one day completely by accident I heard the french horn on the radio played as it should be and I was mesmerized. I knew I had to make that sound. That night I practiced the horn from 4pm till the next morning. My parents were so shocked by what they heard they allowed me to stay up all night. The next day, after hearing me play, the director moved me up to advanced band. Three hours practice daily was the norm for me which led to the first horn position in the advanced band, 1st horn at all district clinics, and 1st horn all state orchestra three years in a row.