Category: A Better Me

January was certainly a very hard month. Thing is, I had trying moments but didn’t realize how much of that was adding up inside until this past week. The month finally took toll and I came very close to crashing down this past week. I’m glad it’s all over.

This morning, I went to San Marcos to support my student Danny in his auditions at Texas State. It was so nice to be back in San Marcos again. There is something very calm and comforting about that town for me. I think Danny did very well (from what I heard through the door) in his auditions and I wish him the best. The Sound Recording Technology program has always intrigued me but I never took the time until recently to start understanding how easy it’s become. Maybe he can come back and share with me what he learns….

TMEA is in about a week and a half. I’m really looking forward to going. I always get so much from the seminars I go to and I love seeing all my friends. I think I’ll have to take some time during the College Night (if there’s nothing urgent and pressing going on at the same time) there to look into different grad school programs. Going to grad school is still a few years down the road but not something I want to miss out on.

This year is flying by. I can’t believe we’re already at Solo & Ensemble contest. I have to finish picking music for Concert & Sightreading and PRAY that a good chunk of Concert Band stays eligible this six weeks. Getting them back at progress report seems like something that really doesn’t happen…. How depressing. Okay, can’t think about that…..

I spent all of Saturday at a Conducting Symposium. As Ski asked me when I was done, “Can you conduct yourself better now?”. It was a wonderful event and I learned so much from it…and it left me quite frustrated as well. I didn’t apply early enough to do any actual conducting but just watching the way everyone else conducted and putting myself in their shoes, I really picked up some key points on how to be a better conductor.

Now, my big question is, how do I apply this to my every day world? How and where can I really practice my craft? The pieces they pick for these symposiums are very high level and there’s no way that our top group at Stony Point is mature enough to perform it. It is absolutely inappropriate to ask my mostly freshmen & sophomore group to attempt any of this. Okay, so pick pieces that are at the level of the kids and use the big ideas to create music from these notes on the pages. Can do. Problem is, I spend a lot of time teaching notes and rhythms. We have glimering moments during the process of learning pieces for contests that there is actual “music” being made. By the end of the process, it does happen more often but there’s still something missing.

Dr. Gary Hill from Arizona State University was the guest clinician at this symposium. I really agree with his philosophies about conducting and creating music with a band ensemble. The more I talk with professional conductors, I am fine tuning and understanding what I feel is my philosophy of how I can be a better conductor.

Dr. Hill talked a lot about balance. He talked about how you must balance the intellectual parts of music with the emotional parts of music to really make a piece come together. “Put the brains with the heart.” There was also a lot of discussion about non-verbal communication. How to tell your ensemble to be “more soft right here” without stopping rehearsal to tell them verbally, etc. There was a lot of talk about different styles of leadership and how each style has it’s ups and downs. I guess the best leaders are the ones who are able to know which style is appropriate at each moment and put them into practice.

I learned so much that really, my brain was almost over stimulated. Luckily, I took a lot of notes about what was said and how things were suggested. Next symposium is at the beginning of March at Texas A&M Commerce. Dr. John Whitwell from Michigan State University will be the clinician there. I’m definitely balanced between nervous and excited!