A Fresh Start

I'm not sure that I intended January to be a fresh start for me, but so many things are shaping up that way...at work, with regards to my health regime, and with music.

I've signed on to coach a band and ACTUALLY TEACH BASS at a local rock fantasy camp for adult women. More on that in another post, but I'll say that it lit a fire under me to get a better handle on the theory of the bass...which I've been meaning to do for some time now.

With drums, I feel like I'm rededicating myself. That means better mastering the songs that my bands play, but it also means getting back to basics. I restarted lessons kind of on a whim, but after just one with the new instructor, I can see a door crack open to a new reality. If I apply myself (and really just in marginal ways), with his guidance I think I can advance more quickly and more completely than I ever really thought possible.

It's hard to explain what I mean by this. But the first taste of it is that he spent about 7 minutes with me on a concept on Sunday night. Last night I sat down to review, and instead of it taking 7 minutes to get back to where I was on Sunday (or not being able to do it at all, which so often happens to me when I try to approach concepts several days after being introduced to them), it only took a moment or two. A few hours later, when asked to play the concept for the sweetie, instead of having to go through the couple of minutes of reacquaiting myself again...I sat down and played it perfectly on the first try. And it happened sort of my muscle memory...I wasn't thinking super hard about anything except how to start.

Besides signalling skill advancement potential...this really just is a huge morale boost for me. To know that if I just spend some very limited focuses time on concepts that I can master them quickly is so reassuring. It drives me to want to try the next hard thing...instead of being scared away.

I know that this feeling won't last. Life waxes and wanes. But it is good to be reminded every once in a while that hard work and focus really does pay off. Things that seem impossible rarely are if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other.