I have a confession to make.

I am a band geek.

In elementary school it started out easy enough – class plays and concert choir. Then I taught myself to play a little piano. In sixth grade, I signed up for band class. I thought I’d play the clarinet. The procrastinator gene in my family kicked in and the first day of school came and I still hadn’t picked up that clarinet. So the band director took me and a group of about 15 kids to go pick out instruments. In the pile of square boxes, there was a curvy case. I picked it up.

Turns out that inside the curvy case, there was a French horn.

Soon it was MY French horn. And I was awful.

That was 12 years ago. And I’m still pretty awful, all this time later. But I still play because it’s fun!

But somewhere along the line, I learned about the power of music. To stir up emotions, to bring together a group of misfit preteens with rental instruments and teach us how to play Disney songs, to give high schoolers something to do on a field at halftime, to pep up the crowd at sporting events, to entertain, to enjoy and to step outside yourself.

Up until my senior year of high school, I was pretty sure I wanted to be a band teacher. I wanted to help kids experience the same magic I did. After two stints as a teacher’s aide at a middle school band camp and a couple years as a marching band section leader, I decided otherwise.

But sometimes (like today) I get that inkling.

Check out this video:

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.