3.26- The Tuning Slide- Whenever You Can- Share

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

When we share, we open doors to a new beginning.”
― Paul Bradley Smith

I am in the midst of three months of posts from the closing summary at this past summer’s Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop. I continue this week with the theme of the month- The Journey- and a quote that guides us in what we can and need to be doing on our journeys as musicians and humans:

✓ When given the opportunity to share- do it.

This is not a post of how to be a better musician or how to expand your range to triple High C. It will not give you any new insights into how to practice “The Carnival of Venice” or learn the secrets of “rhythm changes” in jazz improvisation. That quote from trumpet workshop is one of the classics from Mr. Baca and says more than at first meets the eye. Like so many such quotes, it is not about what to appears- it is a statement of the health of ones spirit or soul or life.

Let me repeat it:

✓ When given the opportunity to share- do it.

I was surprised when I started digging into the word that there aren’t a lot of synonyms, words that mean the same. Not that it is a unique word, but it is almost always the main word to describe a number of different things:

Share: To give a portion of (something) to another or others.
Share: To allow someone to use or enjoy something that one possesses.
Share: To use or enjoy something jointly or in turns.
Share: To talk about personal experiences or feelings with others.

Some words can be used in the sense we are talking about it here:

• communicate
• disclose
• impart
• reveal
• let somebody in on

Okay, I’ll quit playing fancy wordsmith here and get right down to it. Put all these together and it boils down to

• reaching out beyond ones own life and situation and helping, supporting, guiding, or giving to others.
• It means being caring and generous with others.
• It means it is more blessed to give than receive.

“What does all this have to do with a trumpet workshop?” one might be tempted to ask. As I said above it doesn’t directly unlock anything about the mechanics or process of playing the trumpet or any instrument.

Yes, I waffled there, didn’t I? I added the word “directly” to what it doesn’t do. So let me ask a couple of questions:

What good would a musician be if they weren’t willing to “share” their music and gifts with others? They would be a lone person playing notes in an empty room. Would they get anywhere in their musicianship? What kind of person does that tell us they are?

Such music would be self-centered and most likely even lifeless. Such a person who only wanted to play their music in a lonely room would perhaps be impressed by their own ability, but isn’t music meant to share? Of course we need to be able to enjoy our music ourselves, but we need to be performers- and that means to share what we have with others. We want them to enjoy it with us, don’t we?

I know there may be those who for various physical or other reasons may not be able to take their music and share it. I am not talking about those circumstances. I have a hunch that those persons will benefit from others sharing with them!

Which brings me to the real point of all this- how we do anything is how we do everything. If we become a sharing person- reaching out to others, not hoarding or being selfish- it will have an impact on our hearts and lives. Then, without a doubt, it will have an impact on our musicianship. There will be greater life in the music because there will be greater life in you.

Be a person who shares.

• Communicate with others in a way to uplift and give them hope.
• Disclose who you are in your heart to help others.
• Impart whatever wisdom and insight you have been given so that others can learn from it.
• Reveal the hopes and dreams, secrets and gifts of your life and others will share in your blessings.
• Let others in on the joys and hopes you have discovered in music, in reading, in life.

Have a great holiday season:
Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa
May joy, hope, and peace be yours!