This wasn't one of my better days in jazz class. When I left home I took the wrong music notebook by mistake (is there such a thing as too much sheet music?), arrived late and couldn't locate a crucial download in my player. I didn't feel as though I made any progress on the pieces themselves, either. But I was still glad I'd come. One thing made the trip across town worthwhile: hanging around at Beacock's for awhile after class and soaking up all the happy music-making energy.
Several weeks ago there were tables set up in the band section for school kids coming in to rent instruments for the year. All the kids I happened to see looked excited as they inspected, chose and filled out forms for their clarinets, saxes and horns. The rental rush is over now but it was fun to watch while it lasted.
Something's always going on in each corner of the store. Today a group of teenage girls were browsing the pop artist vocal music books and doing their own rendition of Born This Way. Several boys were trying out the drum kits. Upstairs I could hear the garage band class for tweens warming up. I even saw a few other adults strumming guitars or examining sound equipment. They looked as though they were shopping for themselves, not one of their kids.
When I'm having an "off" day like today, just spending a few extra moments drifting around the store and aimlessly browsing gets me back on track. Hearing kids play and seeing their enthusiasm challenges me to pick myself back up and practice. Just being around music people gets me going again.
Some days, we take giant steps. On other days, especially the draggy ones, it's enough to just hang out in the right atmosphere and soak it up.
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