As
a school music teacher, I taught the typical music stuff: time signatures,
rhythm, harmonies, notes, etc.
However,
in my classroom, I wasn’t as concerned about teaching note values . . . as I
was about teaching life values.
It
was not uncommon for our rehearsals to take unplanned detours to discuss
tangential topics of music—such as . . .
Paying
the price of practice (not just in music, but for anything we want to be good at
in life),
If you’re
going to fail, at least fail forward (again, not just in music terms, but as a
general rule in life),
Seek to
express, not to impress (this, of course is very important in the arts, but
transcends to so much more. I often told students, “I really don’t care as much
about the sounds coming from your instruments as you think I do. Yes, of course I would like you to master the
music. However, it pales in comparison
to the concern I have about students showing kindness to each other, respecting
instructors, and in general being good citizens. What impresses me isn’t necessarily when
someone hits all the notes perfectly.
What impresses me is when a student opens the door for someone carrying
a drum, or the student who picks up a piece of trash not knowing I’m looking,
or the one who is quick to say thank you . . . and so on.”
