08.09.07 Wrong Notes
I remember a music stand flying across the room once and my band director yelling, “Wrong notes are not funny!”
I was thirteen. Everything was funny when I was thirteen. I weighed eighty pounds, my legs looked like two anorexic snakes that had swallowed watermelons, I had a mullet and a middle part with “wings” and braces, I was a saxophone player (the worst saxophone player in school) and my face was a general plague. It was laugh or cry. Those were the only options I saw at the time. Realistic optimism and diligent disciplined perseverance were not in my “toolbox” back then. Nor was practice.
But my band director cared about right notes. He wanted me to care about wrong notes. If I cared about wrong notes, he may have figured, I wouldn’t laugh. I’d react the way he did. I’d throw something.
He had the luxury of being able to care about wrong notes though because he knew the difference between them and right ones. He knew what my notes were supposed to sound like. He had the score in his hand and perfect pitch and a degree of some kind and an office and stack of tapes from Bartok to Coltrane. I just pushed stuff and blew hard and hoped for the best. Sometimes doing this created sounds people like him might label “wrong.” Who’s to say really?
Brant said:
This is dangerously theological, as you know.
Artistically dangerous, too, as you know. Welcome to the dark absolutist side. Mwahaha.
Cruz-Control said:
So 21st Century, Shaun.
I like it.
I remember in my music composition classes, we’d write entire sections of ‘Pick a Note’ for the orchestra, or whatever. We’d actually write that into the score and let the cacophony ring.
There were no wrong notes. Granted, of course, that was the composer’s wishes in that section that there be no wrong notes.
said:
I too suffered from saxaphone playing in the 8th grade. It was not pretty either. I’ve now graduated to playing my mp3 player instead.
Beth
Katie Larson said:
it does get pretty bad. my high school band teacher made me play drum set in junior high jazz band—I thought I was playing the (more acceptable for a girl, for sure) piano when I agreed to join the band as a percussionist. I wanted nothing to do with those terrible boys instruments....that’s what happens at really small schools (by the way, I was sorta terrible)
shaunfan said:
I knew there was something that made me feel like Grovesfan, Shaun and I were kindred spirits. I also played saxophone from 5th grade until college. I also play my mp3 player now instead. I’m not sure if our former President’s playing saxophone makes it cool or un-cool to admit this skill.
Top 5 Saxophone rock songs of the 1980’s:
1)Urgent-Foreigner
2)You Belong to the City-Glenn Frey
3)The One You Love-Glenn Frey
4)You Can Call Me Al-Paul Simon
5)Sledgehammer-Peter Gabriel
RevJeff said:
He was only concerned for your welfare. He didn’t want you to grow up and become an accordian player.
Seth Ward said:
I had a horrible obsession with wrong notes in undergrad piano performance. Senior recital I played this 30 minute long Liszt piece at the beginning, missed on note on the first page and thought about the whole joyless recital. It sucked.
It is pretty incredible how a teacher can destroy the esteem a student with the fear of messing up.
I think the 80’s about ruined the saxaphone for me.
Two words: George Michael.