Day 6: Happy

Last night was so much fun.
      First, I got to meet John Clemmer. He is a former Navy Musician, as am I. Though we were never stationed together, it turns out we knew so many of the same people! What a treat to take a trip down memory lane. We would have been old friends had we met back then. As it is, we will just have to settle for being new friends - I'm ok with that.

     Second - John and I got to play together on a bunch of jazz tunes. He played tenor sax, I played guitar. And he was so gracious. You see, I love jazz. I love to listen to it, and I love to play it. But I can in no way describe myself as a jazz guitar player. My primary instrument is the electric bass, and guitar is a fairly recent affliction/affection (sometimes one, sometimes the other), as I have only been working on the guitar seriously for the last 10 years or so. As I have such a rigorous teaching schedule, I can't devote all the time I would like to becoming a better jazz player.

     But this particular blog post isn't about how inferior my jazz chops might be compared to John or anyone else. You see, if you get caught up in that whole who's better gag, you miss the point of playing music. Music is not a competition between players - well, it shouldn't be, anyway. But there is a competition to win. There are several wins to be scored every time you play.
1. Did the audience like what you did?  Win.
2. Did you enjoy what you did? Win.

If the answer to either of these questions is no, then you have two choices.
1. Sulk. Pout. Take a walk to Mamby-Pamby land. I love that Geico commercial with the drill instructor . You can watch it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhlWddAXSRA
2. Figure out what went wrong and fix it. Better luck next time.

Last night with John? Win. Win. The audience loved it, John and I had a good time, epic win.
Last night I met a new friend. I got to play jazz with a gracious REAL jazzer. Today I woke up happy. Off to work!
Mr G