Busy Schedules

I have never met anyone in my entire life as busy as a high school band student in Plano ISD. Having said that, the rest of us have a lot on our plates, too. Do you ever wonder how we're supposed to get all of it done? How are we supposed to attain perfection as human beings, balancing a healthy diet, exercise regimen, all of our homework, all of our practice, time for our families, time for our friends, and all of our responsibilities in harmony? The answer? I guess we can't. Sometimes, we just can't be perfect.

No matter how hard we try, sometimes we won't be ready for the test. Sometimes we will completely forget to call someone and then disappoint them when we don't show up. Sometimes we will have to eat a Pop Tart instead of an egg white omelet. Maybe if we realize that that's okay, we will not only start to get more things done, but we might actually enjoy ourselves more in the process!

I teach my students that sometimes in music we have to look ahead (like in a fast piece, where the notes are coming at you a mile a minute) and sometimes we have to let our eyes linger on the very note we are playing at the time. I think in life, too many of us are not just thinking of the next few notes, but of the next few lines. Sometimes, this is good. We have to save money for the future, make plans for our career, and figure out how to make our schedule next week work. However, if we always do this the notes right in front of us become a blur, and we lose out on the memory of having ever played them.

At my first orchestra concert as a masters student a couple weeks ago, I tried something I had never done before. Instead of letting my mind constantly race to the next difficult section, or the next part the audience would hear me play, I enjoyed what was going on from moment to moment. As I counted my rests, I enjoyed the goosebumps and excitement offered to me by the trombones, trumpets, horns, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, percussion, strings, conductor, audience and the piece itself. When I let go of the worry about my next responsibility and began just to listen, I experienced a sense of heightened awareness that made everything magic. I hope that I can continue to develop this skill not only when I am participating in a musical performance, but when I get up in the morning and face each new day. Life is such a gift - I don't want to miss a single moment, simply because I'm worrying about the next one.

September 30, 2008: Patience

I am dedicating this first blog entry to my very first 6 year old flute student, Rebecca. She and I both remind each other that our favorite word is "Patience." It takes patience to make a sound on the headjoint when you are 6 years old. It also takes patience to change your hand and headjoint position when you are a 27 year old masters student. Being patient is definitely the only way to survive in the music world and in life.

I think everyone wants what they want, how they want it, right now. If we could all just take a deep breath and realize that what we want may change very soon or what we want may be coming just around the corner, we could all rest a little easier and smile a little more. I've been telling my students and myself for the past month - "Be the turtle!" The hare may have gone faster, but he soon got bored, conceited and stupid. The tortoise patiently plugged along, one step at a time, and as we all know... won the race.