Chapter 3
I found joy listening to jazz on my neighbor’s radio. We couldn’t afford one, but on my way home from junior high school I found a grassy spot to hide and listen to the exciting music coming from theirs. I loved Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Glenn Miller. One day, the music teacher, Mrs. Minnie Dill came to me and said she’d observed I had an ear for music. She wondered if I’d like to try the clarinet. At first I said no, thinking I’d rather play a stringed instrument like my father’s family. But then I hesitantly said I would. She loaned me the clarinet and gave me my first three lessons. After she moved away, a man named Norman Unwin organized a town band in Montour Falls and gave me some additional lessons.
My mother cashed in a life insurance policy to buy me my own clarinet. From that point on, the clarinet became my good luck charm, a kind of designer of lucky circumstances, an extension of my mother’s will to see me succeed. It not only gave my life a purpose – to play the clarinet was my purpose. It provided a way to express myself, to attain the admiration I craved, enjoy the companionship of great musicians, and eventually to earn a good living.
![Young me with my clarinet](https://linnbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Part-One-Young-me-with-my-clarinet-161x300.jpg)
No one ever had to tell me to practice. I played every minute I could. I copied what I heard on the neighbor’s radio. I played along with the few records we had in our collection. I played with the town band in parades and concerts. After the band dissolved, I played in variety shows. I became an avid jazz improviser. I’d play solos I’d memorized from tunes by Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, then improvise on those. I played with adult jazz trios at teen dances, clubs and restaurants while still a student at Cook Academy and later Odessa High School.
My mother was proud of me. My sister, Marguerite, made long lists of her favorite tunes for me.
![My sister, Marguerite](https://linnbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Part-One-My-sister-Marguerite-156x300.jpeg)
Bob carted me to gigs as soon as he was old enough to drive. (Cars were his passion.)
![Brother - Robert Brown](https://linnbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Part-One-Brother-Robert-Brown.jpeg)
My cousin, Paul Kelly, knew music theory and one day taught me about the “flat fifth”. He said to add it to the end of a song for a big finish, so that night, at the Town Hall, I tried it on the end of “Blue Champagne”. I raised my clarinet and exaggerated the new note. I can still hear the roar of the crowd… the roar of approval… the roar that said “Keep doing this… it will bring you success!” And it did.
🔹 The Flat 5th – A basic triad, or three note chord, consists of the root, third, and fifth. In a C major chord the fifth would be the note G. To play the note that I added at the end of “Blue Champagne”, play G flat.
You can hear me add the flat fifth to the end of “I Got Rhythm”, from my CD “Frank Brown Turned Loose”.