Impatient

You know how you go through phases in life? Well, my latest phase is the "impatient" phase. It seems to hit me around the summer time, mostly because I realize that I am a poor college student who has no money, and that sucks. Sometimes I am impatient because I have a burning desire to go back to France, sometimes it is because I see a new gadget I want, or because an old one has malfunctioned and I really want to replace it. In any case, I think that the "impatient" phase is possibly the most annoying of the phases that we go through. It manifests itself in different ways for different people, but there are a few things that are common to all who are going through this particular phase:

1. Sour moods, crankiness in general. When in the impatient phase, no matter how many things go right, they always seem to be outweighed by a lack of money, cool cars, cool phones, cool computers, etc...
2. Compulsive buying. I have noticed in myself and others that when this phase hits we tend to buy a lot of small, random things to try to make up for what we don't have, which usually just leads to clutter
3. Rationalization. People in this phase generally try to rationalize going into debt for non-essentials, which will only lead people into the "financial ruin" phase

Myself, I have managed to stick to a somewhat cranky demeanor this time. I have tamed the compulsive buying urge, and I hate debt so much that no rationalization is good enough for me... Maybe I can beat this thing yet...

Music and the "Rock Star" mentality

In his book “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain” Oliver Sacks addresses many neurological phenomena associated with music. In a section on “ear worms” he said something that really made me think. It was a little unrelated, but I think that Mr. Sacks would not be offended by the train of thought his comment inspired. Mr. Sacks says, “Half of us are lugged into iPods, immersed in daylong concerts of our own choosing, virtually oblivious to the environment–and for those who are not plugged in, there is nonstop music, unavoidable and often of deafening intensity, in restaurants, bars, shops, and gyms.” Music is everywhere, it is on TV, in the movies, used in advertising, for recreation, it permeates every facet of our media. You could say that we have developed into a music-based culture, as many of us, if not most of us, can’t even be comfortable going a full day without music. But is it a good thing?

Music is readily available, if you are bored you can skip on down to Hastings or Borders and find hundreds of CD’s. With the development of iTunes and Amazon mp3 you don’t even have to leave the house, the music is right there, available for download, in most cases for just a dollar per song. Though the studio equipment used to make the albums is expensive, the cost to the individual pop musician is also relatively low, most rockers can get a decent guitar and amp for far less than the cost of a decent tuba, string bass, or cello. Given the relative ease and low cost of producing this sort of music, is it any wonder that school administrators often struggle with budget requests from their music programs? The burning question is “Has popular music cheapened society’s perception of ‘legitimate’ music?”

Since rock first started growing out of the jazz movement the “Rock Star” mentality has been on the rise. It was subtle at first, but we can see its full blown effects in today’s society. The “Rock Star” mentality, at its most basic, is the perception that music is not “cool” unless it is being made by big-name stars according to the latest trends. The “Rock Star” crowd rockets through musical trends so fast that songs are only “popular” for a year or so, then they are put on the shelf, and brought back out for nostalgia’s sake from time to time. The rock stars have taken music and turned it for profit, for propaganda, for advertising, etc. They have convinced the majority of young people that playing in a wind ensemble or and orchestra is uncool, and that classical and jazz masterpieces are “old-people” music. The young people then label anything that isn’t trendy “boring” because “it doesn’t have a good beat” or because they don’t like anything that wasn’t either played through overdrive pedals or made on a computer.

Now, it would be unfair to say that every musician who has risen to popularity did so solely with the intent to make money, just as it would be unfair to claim that all young people follow the trends and snub all things instrumental, classical, or jazz. There are those of us who tend to follow the “Music for Music’s Sake” mentality. There are still people who see music as pure, as art. There are still people who understand that music is timeless, above profit, a means of communicating an idea, thoughts or feelings, across centuries.

The question is, who is right? Or better yet, does anyone have to be? Could it be possible to teach today’s young people to appreciate art music alongside popular music? How do we reconcile such different musical points of view?

Summer Time, and the Living is...

So, I'm finally all done with finals, and I'm a week into my official summer vacation!! I am unfortunately embarrassed to say that I have yet to practice my tuba. I have to say that I am not surprised, the same thing happened to me last summer, and I am beginning to wonder why? What is it about summer time that makes me this way? I'm not sure, but I'm bound and determined not to let it happen this time. I've decided on a few things that I intend to do, and I thought that I would share them online, in the even anyone else is looking to improve their practice.

First, I am scheduling regular private lessons with my studio teacher. As a music major my scholarship requires me to take private lessons for two semesters per year, leaving the summer wide open. As my studio teacher offers lessons for free over the summer, I decided to take him up on it.

Second, I plan to at least warm up every day. My biggest downfall last year was not even touching my horn all summer long. I spent the first three weeks of school learning CC fingerings while trying to rebuild my embouchure, it was a waste of time I could have spent improving instead of backtracking...

Third, I may not have jury materials to prepare for, but I have etude books, and I have chosen a solo to work on over the summer. It is important to give direction to practice time, so that it doesn't become boring and repetitive.

I'm sure there are other ways to enrich practice over the summer, these are just a few that I plan to use.