take the plunge

happy quadrennial bonus day.  we usually celebrate daylight savings time when we fall back, grimace when we spring ahead. but here's your chance - what to do with an extra day?

me personally?  thanks for asking.  watch the morning news, chug some coffee, study spelling in the car before dropping the kids off at school, eat some cereal, hoof it to school, coach aeolian song, lead two combo rehearsals, teach woodwind methods, respond to a bajillion emails, run a jazz band rehearsal, eat indian food, change into my dress clothes, repark my car, put on a jazz combo concert, thank everyone for coming, put away the gear, go home, change into my sweatpants, do a load of laundry, start reading hunger games.

i am a big fan trying new things.  i am fascinated with how the mind works and am always down for a personal adventure. people say you should break up your routine to keep your thoughts fresh.  i really do try brushing my teeth with the other hand, slipping my jeans on starting with the right leg, threading my belt the other way, eating my captain crunch with a fork, and even driving without texting.

a gift from Alexa.  i keep candy in it so i can function.

i like to challenge myself with new ideas, new ways of thinking.  start writing a tune with the bass line first. solo with just my left hand.  play every third bar, whether i want to or not.  no roots.  practicing arbitrary concepts puts your head in a different space that you might not have been privy to before.  i have discovered that trying new things regularly helps me further confirm my musical concepts.  beware of erring to the extreme; never committing to a path and, subsequently, never learning its nooks & crannies.

calculated risks are worth taking, be it jimmy snuka going superfly or the triple lindy to win the championship.  i encourage my students to follow my lead on this stuff, reminding them that when they try something new and it fails -nobody comes up from the audience and socks you in the face for taking a chance in your solo.  not yet anyway.

i listened to this album today.  wonderful interplay and clever writing from one of the most forward thinking musicians of today.  thanks dave - i see your bet and i'll raise you.

put your hands together for LENT!!!

i always bust up when i hear people discuss how they plan to stop eating fast food, cursing, giving wedgies to their co-workers, etc, proclaiming that they will be "giving it up for lent."  i immediately imagine arsenio hall and his oversized index finger firing up the dog pound for his next guest, forty days of repentance.  michael cain, take me home!!!

we went through the whole lent thing this morning in the car ride to school.  i explained to my boys, who were bubbling with enthusiasm over yet another important talk with dad, that jesus of nazareth (long time listener, first time caller) made the ultimate sacrifice so we could all be eligible for forgiveness.  after rattling off my cliff notes version of the cornerstone of christianity, i asked the obligatory question of them:  what do you want to give up for lent?

this has received lukewarm results in the past.  kale once decided he would give up flipping out over the smallest inconvenience, and has managed to keep up with this personal crusade.  simon quipped that, for lent, he had decided to give up giving up stuff.  should i be proud or chagrined?

i know all too well that breaking a bad habit is one of the most difficult things out there, right behind being a cubs fan.  in my teaching, i encourage students to establish a new habit instead of breaking the old one.  creating a new way of doing something can put the rear naked choke on that vicious cycle of stagnancy.  b.j. penn would approve.

i can't stand an improvised phrase that ends on the root, but i couldn't quit doing it.  i began practicing ending every line on the 3rd, the 5th, (etc), and then began alternating between various scale degrees. i smothered my old way of finishing by working on a new plan.  tony horton's muscle confusion is largely built upon that concept.  growth happens when a) bad habits are eliminated, b) good habits are introduced, and c) the mind & body are constantly challenged.

what am i forfeiting for lent?  i am giving up complaining about everything.  i'm sure this will be my vietnam, but i'm up for the challenge.  not to worry - i'll still be clutching sarcasm like it is manna from heaven.