[TPIN] Tribute to band directors/trumpet teachers

[Tualatin Valley Brass]

I too had a band director/trumpet teacher that was more of a taskmaster, but 
with me he became a beloved mentor. I started taking lessons with him before 
I entered high school and because of that he put me in the marching band 
instead of the "B" band, and that's all it took, the music bug bit me real 
hard. He encouraged me, pushed me and helped me be better than I thought I 
could be.

And now, some 35 years later, I'm a comeback player who just finished his 
first comeback orchestra concert. We played Finlandia, among other things, 
and I now remember how nice it feels to have someone applaud what I/we did. 
But my perspective has changed over the years. From wanting to impress to 
now wanting to bless the lives of those who hear us/me play.

Thank God for music teachers who care!

Larry Beck
-----------------
Tualatin Valley Brass
tvbrass at gmail.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Paint4Real at aol.com>
To: <Mark at cfotech.net>; <travisw at pdq.net>; <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 7:46 PM
Subject: Re: [TPIN] Re: I couldn't practice your lesson this week becauseI 
hadtoo much band work to do.


> I, too, was extremely driven during the years that happened to include 
> high
> school band, so the fact that our band director was a stickler for 
> excellence
> -- and all the work that those double-A ratings in competitions 
> required -- 
> didn't seem then to be excessive, and in fact it was reward enough for me 
> to know
> that we really sounded great at concerts.   I do wish the director might 
> have
> been more of a mentor than taskmaster, but fear was a good motivator, too.
> He was not unknown to charge up through the stands, knocking music down on
> both sides of his path, until he reached the offending player, whereupon 
> he'd
> snatch the instrument from his or her hands, play the part the way he 
> wanted it
> played, hand the instrument back and make his way back down to the 
> conductor's
> riser.   Not many of us missed an intro or an accidental for a while after
> that.
>
> And yet he was the reason I was in band at all, a guy who took in a kid 
> with
> piano lessons, put a trombone in his hands and, without charge, gave him
> lessons long enough to be able to make the grade in varsity band.   So I 
> owe him a
> lot.   Can't tell him, though, because a failed heart (in an overweight
> smoker, but a helluva trumpet player) finally charged up the stands at him 
> and took
> away his instrument.
>
> Tonight I went to a concert, by a top-tier, tough-to-get-into community 
> band,
> which was billed as "A Salute to Music Educators."   Over 40 of the 
> members
> of the band (many of whom are themselves now music instructors in some
> capacity) listed in the program the name of and, if applicable, the school 
> at which
> their specially-recognized music educator or mentor provided to them the 
> gift of
> music appreciation and proficiency.   A number of stories were recounted, 
> and
> what surprised a number of the band members was not that they still
> remembered their teachers with such gratitude, but that in most cases, 
> those teachers
> remembered them, even after several decades.
>
> Musicmakers are a bless'ed subset of the population.   I am so glad that I
> get my music from a trumpet, and at other times from a trombone, 
> saxophone,
> guitar or keyboard (or, yes, a nose flute or kazoo), much more often than 
> from
> headphones or speakers, and I am grateful for every offer of information 
> and
> advice that comes from everyone generous enough to spend time either in 
> person or
> online to, as the admonition goes, pass the torch on to a new generation.
>
> The community band I've become associated with has a monogrammed polo 
> shirt
> "uniform" for concerts, unlike the charcoal suits and long dresses of the 
> band
> mentioned above, but I'm already a "changed man" by virtue of their 
> acceptance
> of a player who is still a few lessons short of junior-band proficiency.
> The "join us and just have some fun making music" invitation is now part 
> of my
> good music memories.   What I enjoy as much as anything is that it's not a
> competition anymore, it's playing for the love of it, which winds up 
> producing
> more music to the ears.   And the director and section members are all my 
> mentors
> now, and perhaps someday I'll be able to pass something along, as I've 
> often
> been able to do with guitar.   The circle goes round and round.   The
> frustrations of a single topic or thread, the difficulty of "distance 
> teaching" (and
> of "distance learning") a hands-on art, are details.   Something much 
> larger is
> always in play, though it may not manifest itself for years or decades.
>
> Thanks to all here who give of their knowledge and experience.
>
>
> **************
>
> Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at 
> AOL
> Autos.
>      (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)
> _______________________________________________
> TPIN mailing list
> TPIN at tpin.okcu.edu
> http://tpin.okcu.edu/mailman/listinfo/tpin