Today I wanted to skip a saxophone lesson because I was not prepared for it. It has been two weeks since my last lesson, and in those two weeks not once did I assemble Brubeck (my saxophone) and practice.
Granted, I'm a beginner player who lives in a small home with disciplined, proficient musicians who are, also, college and post-graduate students. And granted, I'm back in college full-time to finish my undergraduate degree after many years of my highest mental priority being to get 10 hours of sleep a night. But still, I had time, had I wanted to use it for practice. I was embarrassed to go to my lesson unprepared and disappointed with myself for neglecting opportunity.
The good news is that my teacher, Mr. Alex Fields, is an excellent musician, a professional teacher of students, and a caring Christian man. He was patient in his spirit toward me and spent the lesson listening to me "practice." Today he taught me how to practice—he keeps teaching me how to practice. This lesson time was a combination of useful suggestions that will make practicing more effective and MUSICAL to do. Isn't that nice.
I don't think I mentioned that private music lessons for the non-major requires five hours of practice a week. I have missed A LOT of preparation on my instrument. Gonna keep learning and do my best to fulfill this week's required time. I'd love to exceed it, but first things first: MEET THE REQUIREMENTS.
Posted by nancy at November 9, 2010 04:45 PM