Someone from the hs drumline posted this link on Fbook today and I'm amazed at how STRESSED I feel watching it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nituITimRXA#t=5m47s
I can't believe I used to obsess over music that way...so many days spent in rehearsals. THOUSANDS of hours of my life....I feel like it was kind of a waste. I wish I'd done more in high school than just band. It seemed so incredibly important at the time but I don't really have that much to show for it now.... I used to be able to play some of my scales as fast as like 300 bpm or something...it was like a reflex. I was noticing yesterday that my arms look completely different as well...I used to stick out my arms and have this huge and prominent forearm muscle and now it's not noticeable at all. No wonder I was so skinny! lol I remember being committed...but never comitted enough to take things to that next level. I would always freeze up in auditions no matter how well I knew what I was playing and I'd just lose confidence over time. It would have been fun to just continue on to become a music major in college...but that route just never seemed very practical to me and I couldn't imagine how someone would make money with that degree after college without having to become a band director (DEF not something I EVER wanted to do) and I just wasn't brave enough to find out either way.... I also knew I didn't stand a chance in hell of making it into UNT's music program since I could never really play anything well other than Marimba and auxillary and I didn't care enough about any of the other instruments to study them intensively enough to put together a respectable audition....and I was afraid I'd just choke at the audition anyways. Lucky for me I kind of forced myself into a hiatus from school and any efforts would have been completely lost regardless. :)
Anyways, I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time because I learned a lot about work-ethic and leadership that I never would have otherwise and I met my best friend through band and I don't think we would have been close at all if I'd chosen to do choir, art and drama instead. I def. think I would have been a lot happier in school if I'd escaped the stresses of drumline, especially that year I did winter-drumline (hello 40 hours of weekend rehearsals on top of school, on top of 10 hours of daily rehearsals on top of private practice. UGH.) I can't say I would mind buying a marimba at some stage and picking up the mallets again for another go, just for fun. Too bad they cost like $10-$12k USD, I don't even want to know what they'd cost in Australia. I don't know that the bars would go very well in the heat besides and we don't have central air. Maybe when I'm like 60 and our kids are all grown up and out of the house I'll be able to start again. But maybe I'll have arthritis or something at that point and won't be able to. LOL
Just some thoughts. :)
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You are so funny. I enjoyed seeing the picture just now. It is weird how music or seeig something like that brings you back in time. You met lots of great people in band Enjoy that
ReplyDeletehey u still want that drumkit? its sitting over here waiting for its new mummy :)
ReplyDeletexxx K
I wish they had like an intramural drumline. Carrying around a drum for two hours a day had its perks (I miss my marching calves). I've found hacking around on my Reel Feel to be a nice way to relieve some stress during finals though. I definitely lost a lot of my "chops" from HS, but it's still fun. Now I can also impress people with my above-average drumming on Rockband, haha.
ReplyDeleteI think its kind of unfortunate that there aren't a lot of good career options in music, and that it drives a lot of talented people away in pursuit of other things. But I'm glad I had the opportunity to do something that I'll always have a little passion for. I definitely want to buy myself a marimba someday, too. FYI... there are some great deals on used ones out there. Some pretty nice-looking ones are going on the Dallas Craigslist for only a couple grand, though I know for you it'd cost an arm and a leg to ship it over there. Just thought I'd mention it though. :)