Turning Point

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road..."

Ok, so nothing like that, but I think I have definitely hit a huge turning point in my playing. It is something I have thought for a few days now, but today definitely confirmed it.

A month ago, my tone was still very inconsistent and airy. I would die after only an hour of playing. And I definitely could not play lead consistently.

Well, three weeks ago, it started. I played "In the Garden" at my church and it went really well. Pure tone, few mistakes (the ones that were there were good ones), and just really a great run. Then a week of solid rehearsals getting ready for the recital. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing too major. Then the recital which went really well. I was sure there had to be something crazy going on.

Well, this week in Wind Ensemble I have been pretty consistent (except for the one day that I honestly did not care what happened as long as I could get out of there on time). Then yesterday I had a 2 hour rehearsal on lead trumpet for a brass ensemble for Easter. It definitely put my playing to the test, and I passed. I was honestly a little worried because of that "good rehearsal = bad performance, bad rehearsal = good performance" thing.

This morning, for some unknown reason, we rehearsed another hour and a half or so (in which I was unable to take anything down or relax) which again put me on edge. Not only was I having a great rehearsal, but I was worried I would run out of steam before worship even started. Well, I made it through worship and it was pretty damn good. My tone stayed pure, and while I did miss at least one or two notes in each piece, they were good and solid misses.

Ok. This is not a "look at me, I am great" moment. This is more, "holy cow what has happened to me?" My mom asked me if I ever thought that I would be able to play like this. In all honesty, I never in my life expected this... at least at my age. I figured maybe in a MMA or DMA I would get to this point. It is a really great feeling :) Of course it hurts a bit because one of my friends asked me why I was stepping away from music to go into ministry, right when I have hit something this great, and in all honesty part of me is asking the same thing. I guess that is how you really know you are doing the right thing.. when you don't want to necessarily, but you can't NOT do it. But as mom pointed out, I don't have to stop music. I am going in another direction, yes, but it is really just another new opportunity to see what I can do with my music.

What a great feeling :) Playing non-stop and doing what I love, and not having a bunch of professors and directors telling me that everything I am doing is wrong or not the way they would do it.

Really wanna hit the practice room right now, but sadly, I think it is time to rest. It has been a long morning!