(I was going to do something entirely different, but I felt this was more appropriate)
Next week might end up being my last lesson with Sensei, who has been my teacher for five years now. I can tell, a lot of the students here at Pallet Town U aren't terribly fond of him, but he has helped my playing improve at LEAST tenfold since I was a newbie. During my first year, I almost had to quit trumpet due to an embouchure problem, and with his advice and guidance, I have gotten past it, and am starting to actually sound kind of the way I want to, sometimes (I don't expect to ever sound EXACTLY as I want to, and as another brass prof says, "the moment you're happy with how you play, quit music, because there's nothing left to achieve"). I bet even the masters themselves get pissed off with how they play, on recordings that other musicians would call flawless.
So, as I said, people at my school aren't always fond of my professor. They'll make fun of how most of his stories are decades old, or how he doesn't comment on much outside of rhythm and articulation in brass class. They make fun of the fact that orchestras played things... well, shorter in his day. They'll laugh at how he'll tell you which of two mistakes is the smarter one to make, when we're all striving to be perfectionists. They'll act as if a "harder" tongue means "laborious," instead of "crisper." Or, y'know, they'll make fun of how, when his orchestra was dissolved, he got his education degree and went on to teaching in the public school system. Or that, since he hasn't really been active for 25 years, his age is audible in his playing.
But you know what? I don't care what everyone else thinks. All I know is that he has been a blessing to my playing, and that his guidance and impact on my life will never be forgotten. He has an approach to playing which is very "well... just do it." The amount of times he'll ask me how to nail a line I'm missing, and his answer is simply "blow through it." His tone might be aged due to lack of consistent playing, but there's a certain sweetness to his vibrato that you notice when you listen carefully.
After a while, I began to realise that he was beginning to consider me a friend as well as a student. He'd tell me about his family, and about his dreams he hoped to accomplish, and when he started talking about how he was probably too old for things, I'd tell him he's full of it and has plenty of life left. Now, he's buying a house with an unfinished basement, to convert into a recording studio. When he leaves the school system this June, I'd like to help him with it, and if he'd be willing, help christen it with the Manfredini Concerto for Two Trumpets.
At one point, Sensei told me the two things that he felt were the most important lessons he ever learned. The first one is: "Never burn your bridges." This derives from his observation of "They tell you music is 90% luck and 10% skill. They lied... it's 99% luck." He considers himself lucky to have had the experiences he had, and though other people might say he hasn't done a lot with it, I would argue, and we both think that the recording studio will be a nice addition to his creative output. So, since music is basically about who you know, and their impressions of you, you want to remain as friendly as you can, as positive, as available, as helpful, and as caring a person as possible. Any personal vendettas you might have will only come back to hurt you if you act on them, so if someone has wronged you, the best you can do is to put it aside, and make sure to stay in good standing with them.
The other lesson, and this one has impacted me a lot, is (and I quote): "Don't let the assholes get you down." Because let's be honest... there will be people who ignore the above lesson. There will be people whose attitudes will be detrimental. There will be people who try to teach you, but in doing so, make their resentments obviously known. And there will be people who will flat-out be rude, flat-out condemn your playing/appearance/personality, and just... flat-out be assholes. But that doesn't matter. They might be after you... so don't let them be. They will try to hurt you, but they're not worth your time. Sensei honestly believes that most people are (in his exaggerated way of speaking) "really just GOOD PEOPLE." You will have to deal with the jerks, the snobs, the elitists, and others. But they shouldn't outweigh the amount of people around you who are caring. The amount of people who support you, who believe in you, who believe you have the dedication to make it. There really are a lot of good people in this world. Let them be the ones you rely on.
That last lesson has meant a lot to me. It sometimes stuns me to see, even after my fails, how much people still support me. Sensei considers me his friend. Ramona somehow still has faith in my playing, even after hearing me at my worst. Even the other quintet members, many of which probably have the right to make fun of me, show me the occasional glimmer of confidence (maybe even accidentally :P) that I needed to see. And Lucca, that damn perfect person that she is, hasn't even heard me for months, but won't accept me saying a single bad thing about myself. So here's my life lesson... "You have more allies than you think." ^-^
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