Leap Day!

A day that occurs once every four years is too sweet a chance to not write! Sitting in my office, I notice that the sun is up later and later, and that means spring is near ... and summer is close!

Marching music goes on, though! Corps are in full rehearsal mode, winter guards and percussion lines are gearing up for their own version of March Madness before the the winter guard and percussion April championship events in Dayton arrive. And high school band directors are counting heads now and planning the next fall production.

I hope to be lucky enough to see Blast! twice, once in mid-March with my son's band on a field trip, and again in late April with my darling beloved, who bought a pair of tickets for my/our Valenbirthiversary! Either way, I'm goin' to the show! You should, too! In fact, that is going to be an exciting week, as that Thursday will be what I call the "DCI Movie".

Hey, lot's of reasons to leap!

"Anyone can cook!" (more thoughts on talents)

L.D. Bell HS (Hurst, TX) won the 2007 Bands of America Grand National Championship. In reading the items below on their website, it’s evident how. But this goes beyond band into our everyday work. I’ve commented {accordingly} , starting with this clear "mission" statement:

AT LEAST ONE HALF HOUR PER DAY MUST BE DEDICATED TO INDIVIDUAL IMPROVEMENT.

{Wow. How many of us devote one half hour today to individual improvement in whatever we do? And notice the word most musicians hate was not used - "practice"!}

Start by taking your instrument out of the case and place it where you will be inclined to pick it up and play. {Ouch. That confronts the basic obstacle head on. You've heard it before, right? "Out of sight, out of mind." Absolutely true. Do we exercise if we hide the machine where we are not likely to see it?}

Students {aren't we all?!} need their:
• Instrument, Metronome, Tuner (w/clip), stand, and a space that is distraction-free. {The right tools and equipment in the right place. Without these elements, it won't be that you are not mentally ready. You won't be physically ready, either.}
• Warm Up Sequence (w/metronome), Breathing, Starts, Tone, Endings, Flexibility, Technique, etc. {The simple things. The basic things. The fundamental things. You do it over and over again. Why? To remind yourself what it takes.}
• Foundations Exercises, Range Extension Exercises. {More than a once-over re-hash. A review of the basic skills and more that are needed for what comes next.}
• Preparation for you weekly playoff. {A weekly measure of actual performance, not just “practice.” How are you doing today?}
• Prepare sections of etudes from your All State Music. {Work on your reach goal. You may not make All State, but it seems to me that the directors take the position of Auguste Gusteau to the student’s Remy in Disney-Pixar's Ratatouille, “Anyone can cook!”}

Stewardship of Talents

For several weeks at the beginning of the year my pastor has delivered sermons on stewardship. Now, before you think this a few hour long lectures on money and how we need to “give and give more” to the church, this is not what he was talking about. Well, not entirely.

Stewardship, he says, is managing someone else’s assets. In the Bible there is the parable of the talents. “Talents” was the currency of the day, but there is the modern definition as well – a talent that you have.

But more than something you have a talent is your gift to the world, a thing you do. We have a talent for writing, for stories, for composing … for … everything! And I believe, as a popular radio host says, that we have “Talent, on loan from God”.

You may or may not believe in God the way I do. But I believe He has given you a talent … sometimes innate, sometimes uncovered. Talent seems to come naturally to some (such as my wife, who was born to be a nurse). For others it is pure work. But when you find it, it has to be managed, and often our number one talent manager is ourselves.

I’ve been fortunate to know a lot of talents in my marching music life. Scotty Sells with Carolina Thunder. Kevin Ford with Tarpon Springs HS, Carolina Crown (Stormworks, Chess) and Boston (1999’s Red). I’ve seen the creative talent in the abstract forms of George Zingali, and the geometric forms of Steve Brubaker (two who have left us). I’ve played (and enjoyed) Jay Bocook music, and have been intimidated when playing attempting to play a French Horn sitting next to his wife in a church orchestra in South Carolina. (I once told her that scripture says to "make a joyful noise", and not much about it being in tune!)

Are there others? How much time do you have ... I've also been around some great talents in my work life, my "political" life, and any other "life" I have had the privilege to experience.

Today is a reflective day for me - where I've been, where I'm going, and how I have used and cultivated the talents that I have been loaned from God. Am I being a good steward of the assets and gifts God has given me, and that others have given me through His providence.

Thank you to the talents around me. I hope I live up to what you have given me! And I hope in some way I've given you something in return.

Ensembles

This past Saturday I attended (selfishly - my son was in it!) the all-county high school band concert. It was great to hear these kids, especially since they have had so little time to come together and put together a great concert!

Sunday the New York Giants, a little bit longer at work as an ensemble, but together an improbable win in the Super Bowl. So much so that two members of the losing team backed out of the "ensemble" Pro Bowl. (And by the way, Niner Noise was invited to perform at the Pro Bowl.)

In my line of work, physicians tend to work in "groups". And group is probably the right word. Trained as individualists, they have a hard time becoming a "group." (When I interviewed for the job here in Maryland, the first question I asked was, "Are you a group, or a bunch of doctors practicing together?") But now, the more I think about this, even the word group is inadequate.

Dictionary.com defines a Group "as any collection or assemblage of persons or things; a number of persons or things ranged or considerd together as being related in some way." An Ensemble, on the other hand, is defined as "all the parts of a thing taken together, so that each part is considered only in relation to the whole."

Sometimes we say we want to be soloists, or mavericks. Or we want to be part of a team, or a group. But looking at what successful groups are, they are ensembles. Tom Peters talks about teams that come together to work on a project, each member bringing a talent, and then disbanding until they get into another project, perhaps with or without the same players.

I'm going back to music for inspiration at work, and not just playing motivational soundtracks. I'm going to look for a role to play in an ensemble.