It was a major comeuppance!
I took up learning to play the flute as an adult. I was working in a junior high school at the time and the music teacher was coaching me. She had taught me the basics but I was having trouble with making a clear sound and with finding exact pitch. She listened to me for about 30 seconds then bludgeoned me with the words:
“Don’t be such a wimp! Let me see you take a deep breath and blow that
thing! Sound like you mean it!”
I was thoroughly
chastened. And to be honest, my feelings were a bit hurt.
I had been prepared for her to correct all sorts of periphery things –
my stance, the way I held the flute, maybe even tell me the flute was
faulty. Instead she challenged me on the
very core of making sound – be
purposeful about it! I learned that to make even the
softest sound I must blow purposefully, though not strongly, across the
mouthpiece.
That lesson was one I learned well. That one statement of correction has profoundly affected my life. In everything I do, or attempt, there it is - that benchmark!
BE PURPOSEFUL!
2 comments:
Very encouraging words Velma. I will take your advice and try to be purposeful.
Thanks for sharing!
Purposeful... good word.
Sis
Post a Comment