TAMPA - Whenever he hears about budget cuts in music education, James Crumbly gets a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.
For him, life without music would be unfathomable.
“Just take away music for one day and see what life would be like," Crumbly said. “No singing, no radios, no instruments, no background music. I think the world would realize what an important role music plays in our lives. It's not just entertainment. It's an expression. It's essential."
Crumbly said music has helped define who he is. He's a musician, composer, lyricist, arranger, producer and music educator.
He's also a single father of five children ages 14 to 24 and grandfather of one, all of whom live with him at his Riverview home. And he holds positions as chairman of the music department at Middleton High School in Tampa and as an instructor at the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
Crumbly figures that treble and bass clefs are imprinted on his DNA.
“My dad played boogie-woogie music, and my mom and her four sisters had their own gospel-singing group and traveled all around the country," said the Toledo, Ohio native. “Both of my parents came from families with 13 children, so I grew up with lots of cousins, all of them musical, and we'd all sing and perform when we got together."
As a youngster, Crumbly would hear a catchy tune on a television commercial, walk over to a piano and play the jingle by ear. When he and his cousins began taking formal piano lessons, he would listen to the songs his cousins played during their lessons and then imitate them, rather than learn to read the music.
“I'd use my ear to cheat because I didn't want to learn to read music," he recalled.
For him, life without music would be unfathomable.
“Just take away music for one day and see what life would be like," Crumbly said. “No singing, no radios, no instruments, no background music. I think the world would realize what an important role music plays in our lives. It's not just entertainment. It's an expression. It's essential."
Crumbly said music has helped define who he is. He's a musician, composer, lyricist, arranger, producer and music educator.
He's also a single father of five children ages 14 to 24 and grandfather of one, all of whom live with him at his Riverview home. And he holds positions as chairman of the music department at Middleton High School in Tampa and as an instructor at the Patel Conservatory at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
Crumbly figures that treble and bass clefs are imprinted on his DNA.
“My dad played boogie-woogie music, and my mom and her four sisters had their own gospel-singing group and traveled all around the country," said the Toledo, Ohio native. “Both of my parents came from families with 13 children, so I grew up with lots of cousins, all of them musical, and we'd all sing and perform when we got together."
As a youngster, Crumbly would hear a catchy tune on a television commercial, walk over to a piano and play the jingle by ear. When he and his cousins began taking formal piano lessons, he would listen to the songs his cousins played during their lessons and then imitate them, rather than learn to read the music.
“I'd use my ear to cheat because I didn't want to learn to read music," he recalled.
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