The man came in and asked to look at some pianos; he was a pianist and said he need to invest in a new instrument for himself. The employee took him over to wear they hung. There were 5 of them. The man smiled and began to look.
Now the employee stepped back and looked as the man picked out a piano, now the employee was also the piano teacher in the store. He watched the man run his hands over the keys. The man turned around, "Do you mind?"
The employee replied, "No go right ahead." The man began to play. Although the man was very good the teacher couldn't help but notice that his wrists were very high up from the piano and it seemed as though his fingers were straight, it wasn't drastic but it could be fixed.
"Excuse me, sir," said the teacher,"could I offer you some advice?"
"Oh well yeah sure I guess," the man looked a little confused.
"Well I teach piano and have played for about 20 years now and I can suggest maybe moving you wrists down closer to the piano and curving your fingers a bit more," said the teacher.
"Oh, ok well thanks."
He continued to play some more and the teacher was surprised how well he caught onto his instruction. The man stopped suddenly and said, "I'd like this one please." The teacher nodded and put a "SOLD" sticker over the price tag. He took the man up front to pay. He stepped behind the counter and said, "That'll be $7,355.09." The man nodded and took out his checkbook and wrote a check for the whole amount. The teacher was impressed, he was rich but still could practice. Talent doesn't come from money, he thought.
"Thank you, sir," he said as the man handed him the check. He left quickly. Confused, the teacher looked down at the check. He was curious as to who this man was, he hadn't seen him around. He could barely make out the signature. It was signed, "Duke Ellington."
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Who wants to be popular!?
Being popular. Something that came across to me as a good quality to have, when I was in middle school. As I finished high school I realized, ya know being popular isn't how I remember it and now not as desirable. Back then, my perception of being popular was knowing everyone, getting along with them well, and hanging out occasionally.
After 6th grade I noticed that all the popular boys had girlfriends, and I thought I wanted a girlfriend too. Coming into the 7th grade I decided I was going to be popular. I tried my best, despite the fact of how shy I really was. My first breakthrough came in math class.
I had always been good at math and the teacher explained everything pretty well and gave us time in class to work. Naturally I was among the first kids done. The girl in front of me (we'll refer to her as Jane, to protect her anonymity :P) finished early as well. Now Jane was very popular and recently broken up with a boyfriend of hers. How I knew, I don't know. Those things in middle school just fall into your lap whether you wanted to know or not. Anyways she turned around.
"You're done too?"
Dumbfounded, I managed to say, "Oh...uhm...yeah I guess so."
"Wanna play tic-tac-toe?"
"Uh yeah sure."
We played for the rest of the class which was about 10 minutes and this happened repeatedly every other day for a month or so. The whole time Jane was very nice and fun to play with; however she was popular and I was not. Eventually she got another boyfriend. Life went on, and I was still unpopular, but I was close. As I entered high school it was still on my mind. I wanted to be one of the "top dogs" of my class, along with the preps and jocks, but then I got involved in 2 things called drumline and youth group.
For the first time I saw kids that weren't popular not care about it. They loved band and church and didn't care if people thought it was stupid. They enjoyed themselves and the activity. The school year began and they became my best friends. I clung onto them because I had realized being popular doesn't mean anything! We weren't popular and we didn't care! We loved to drum, love the Lord and be with each other. Why do we need to be popular?
I'm glad I never wanted to be popular after that. It seems my definitions of the term have changed from 8th grade until now. It seems being popular in high school consists of how many beers you can drink before you pass out, how many cops you can outrun while you are intoxicated, how many times you have sex on the weekend, and if they are all different people. I thank the drumline and youth group for teaming up and kicking the popularity idea out of my head as a freshman. Who knows, I could be smoking pot trying to get over my hangover now, but it'd be worth it. I'd be popular, right?
I haven't talked to Jane in 6 months, she stayed popular and I stayed unpopular and really only talked that one time 6 months ago on the phone, in high school. I got involved with my music and she got involved with other things. My youth pastor once said to us, "Being a christian isn't popular." It's very true, and every time I feel the urge to be, for some strange reason, I always remember that and what a worldly word "popular" really is.
After 6th grade I noticed that all the popular boys had girlfriends, and I thought I wanted a girlfriend too. Coming into the 7th grade I decided I was going to be popular. I tried my best, despite the fact of how shy I really was. My first breakthrough came in math class.
I had always been good at math and the teacher explained everything pretty well and gave us time in class to work. Naturally I was among the first kids done. The girl in front of me (we'll refer to her as Jane, to protect her anonymity :P) finished early as well. Now Jane was very popular and recently broken up with a boyfriend of hers. How I knew, I don't know. Those things in middle school just fall into your lap whether you wanted to know or not. Anyways she turned around.
"You're done too?"
Dumbfounded, I managed to say, "Oh...uhm...yeah I guess so."
"Wanna play tic-tac-toe?"
"Uh yeah sure."
We played for the rest of the class which was about 10 minutes and this happened repeatedly every other day for a month or so. The whole time Jane was very nice and fun to play with; however she was popular and I was not. Eventually she got another boyfriend. Life went on, and I was still unpopular, but I was close. As I entered high school it was still on my mind. I wanted to be one of the "top dogs" of my class, along with the preps and jocks, but then I got involved in 2 things called drumline and youth group.
For the first time I saw kids that weren't popular not care about it. They loved band and church and didn't care if people thought it was stupid. They enjoyed themselves and the activity. The school year began and they became my best friends. I clung onto them because I had realized being popular doesn't mean anything! We weren't popular and we didn't care! We loved to drum, love the Lord and be with each other. Why do we need to be popular?
I'm glad I never wanted to be popular after that. It seems my definitions of the term have changed from 8th grade until now. It seems being popular in high school consists of how many beers you can drink before you pass out, how many cops you can outrun while you are intoxicated, how many times you have sex on the weekend, and if they are all different people. I thank the drumline and youth group for teaming up and kicking the popularity idea out of my head as a freshman. Who knows, I could be smoking pot trying to get over my hangover now, but it'd be worth it. I'd be popular, right?
I haven't talked to Jane in 6 months, she stayed popular and I stayed unpopular and really only talked that one time 6 months ago on the phone, in high school. I got involved with my music and she got involved with other things. My youth pastor once said to us, "Being a christian isn't popular." It's very true, and every time I feel the urge to be, for some strange reason, I always remember that and what a worldly word "popular" really is.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Recognition and Reward
I began drumming in 5th grade. Along with me there were 9 others. At first I loved it and thought it was the coolest thing ever, as I began having to practice I began to enjoy it less, but I still planned on doing this throughout my whole life. My parents always bugged me about practicing so I could get a good grade. In 5th grade I was required to practice an hour a week which now is nothing I usually practice an hour a day. During the summer it's usually more. I think the problem was I really had no reason to practice because I was never rewarded for anything I had done. I wanted something in return for it. I wanted the recognition for my work I put into it. I remember the other kids bragging about how they just put down a number and there parents would sign it apathetically. If I did that my parents would use the guilt trip of, "did you really practice that much?" or "Are you sure about that?" I didn't have the luxury of having stupid parents.
However in the 8th grade my practicing seemed to pay off. At our last band concert our director pulled out a Dixieland piece. He was going to have a combo play up front consisting of 2 trumpets, a trombone, an alto saxophone, a tenor saxophone, a tuba, and drum set. I wanted it. Now in between 6th and 7th grade years a lot of people had quit or moved away, in fact there were only 4 of us left. Luckily for me I had been the only who had taken set lessons. However 2 of the 3 others could play, or at least said they could.
I auditioned first and did pretty decent; only 1 of the other drummers tried out. He went after me and could barely plunk it out. Our director asked him if he really wanted to do it. He replied, "No, not really." The director looked at me and said, "Keygan you'll play set." I was excited.
But the recognition didn't come until after the concert. Our combo brought the house down, well as far as 8th graders can bring it down. The parents were thrilled and I had a certain member of the high school drumline come up to me afterwards. Then and there was when I had really felt I was rewarded.
He said, "Hi, my name's Derek and I play snare on the drumline and I just wanna say great job up there on set tonight and I'm really lookin' forward to playing on the line with you next year." I smiled. "Awesome thanks." We shook hands.
My reward and recognition I had wanted finally came, but it took 3 long years. Now I'm not so concerned with all that stuff. Just playing is good enough for me. Instead of not wanting to practice, I look forward to my practice time now, and it has paid off let me tell you.
In January I auditioned for the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps snare line. I was murdered but I still was the first from our drumline to try out for a corps. Also I had been emailing the UNK centerstick about music and stuff for next year. I was trying to pry some useful information out of him about what exactly I had to do if I wanted to be on snare. He told me not to worry, I asked why and this is what he said.
"Keygan, everyone is excited you're coming out here next year, Schnoor (UNK's band director) especially. He told us that he regards you as having some of the best hands in the state. I don't think you'll have to worry about what drum you want to play. If you want snare, you'll get it."
That made me jump. Not even because it was a great compliment from someone high up, but because the last time Schnoor saw me play was the summer before my senior year, and since then I've gotten so much better. For example (I'm about to go into drumspeak I'm sorry), my diddles were fine but all of my flammed rudiments were terrible then. I have improved upon those immensely, now I find myself combining rudiments together. I'd expand upon that more but unless you play drums I will lose you. If you really want to know, email me.
Senior year is a time for recogntion and reward as I found out. However I have learned not to dwell among them because if that is allowed to happen you don't improve upon your ablities, and I for one want to be known for my ability but more importantly my hard work put into practice time. That makes everything worth it in the end.
However in the 8th grade my practicing seemed to pay off. At our last band concert our director pulled out a Dixieland piece. He was going to have a combo play up front consisting of 2 trumpets, a trombone, an alto saxophone, a tenor saxophone, a tuba, and drum set. I wanted it. Now in between 6th and 7th grade years a lot of people had quit or moved away, in fact there were only 4 of us left. Luckily for me I had been the only who had taken set lessons. However 2 of the 3 others could play, or at least said they could.
I auditioned first and did pretty decent; only 1 of the other drummers tried out. He went after me and could barely plunk it out. Our director asked him if he really wanted to do it. He replied, "No, not really." The director looked at me and said, "Keygan you'll play set." I was excited.
But the recognition didn't come until after the concert. Our combo brought the house down, well as far as 8th graders can bring it down. The parents were thrilled and I had a certain member of the high school drumline come up to me afterwards. Then and there was when I had really felt I was rewarded.
He said, "Hi, my name's Derek and I play snare on the drumline and I just wanna say great job up there on set tonight and I'm really lookin' forward to playing on the line with you next year." I smiled. "Awesome thanks." We shook hands.
My reward and recognition I had wanted finally came, but it took 3 long years. Now I'm not so concerned with all that stuff. Just playing is good enough for me. Instead of not wanting to practice, I look forward to my practice time now, and it has paid off let me tell you.
In January I auditioned for the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps snare line. I was murdered but I still was the first from our drumline to try out for a corps. Also I had been emailing the UNK centerstick about music and stuff for next year. I was trying to pry some useful information out of him about what exactly I had to do if I wanted to be on snare. He told me not to worry, I asked why and this is what he said.
"Keygan, everyone is excited you're coming out here next year, Schnoor (UNK's band director) especially. He told us that he regards you as having some of the best hands in the state. I don't think you'll have to worry about what drum you want to play. If you want snare, you'll get it."
That made me jump. Not even because it was a great compliment from someone high up, but because the last time Schnoor saw me play was the summer before my senior year, and since then I've gotten so much better. For example (I'm about to go into drumspeak I'm sorry), my diddles were fine but all of my flammed rudiments were terrible then. I have improved upon those immensely, now I find myself combining rudiments together. I'd expand upon that more but unless you play drums I will lose you. If you really want to know, email me.
Senior year is a time for recogntion and reward as I found out. However I have learned not to dwell among them because if that is allowed to happen you don't improve upon your ablities, and I for one want to be known for my ability but more importantly my hard work put into practice time. That makes everything worth it in the end.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Introduction
For those of you that do not know me, my name is Keygan. A little unconventional name and spelling I know, but I love it. It's unique. I still have yet to meet someone with the same spelling. I'm 18 years old and graduated from Beatrice High School in May.
I'm big into music. I was centerstick of our drumline the last 2 years. In my 4 years on the line our winter group has managed to win 4 state championships. I have received a superior rating in District Music Contest 2 times. Once for a marimba piece my dad arranged and another for a marching snare piece arranged by yours truly. I was also a member for 3 years in the show choir "Limited Edition." Along with these 2 groups I was involved in concert band and concert choir.
My senior year was great. I was captain of the drumline and we won our 4th title in 4 years, and our show choir had its highest finish ever at GI show choir invitational. Coincedinately enough we were 4th runner up. At Distric Music Contest I received an excellent on my voice solo and a superior on my snare solo entitled IV.
Next fall I am attending University of Nebraska-Kearney. I will be majoring in music education and am very very excited for it. I like the professors and they seem to like me, so it's all good. I will be most definitely rockin' out on the drumline, hopefully on snare. Also next fall I plan to try out for the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps snare line. That's one thing I forgot to mention. I am a huge fan of DCI, my favorite corps is Santa Clara Vanguard. I would LOVE to play on the drumline there someday, but right now it's not lookin' like it will necessarily happen. I am going to continue praying about it.
As a transition into this next paragraph the last sentence does indeed mean I am a christian. I invited Christ into my life at the young age of 3 years. My dad is the creative arts pastor at a local church at here in town. He's very talented at what he does and does it well and for the Lord. My mom blogs pretty insanely and has somewhat inspired me to start my own. She also is very active in bible studies and hosts one at our house every Wednesday. Like my dad she enjoys what she does and is fairly good at it.
Denomination? No, not for me. I am christian, period. I do my best to obey the Bible, that's it. I was never confirmed, was not baptized as a baby, and never participated in lent. None of those things are in the Bible, therefore are not required to enter Heaven. Wouldn't it make sense that if they were they'd be in the Bible?
Basically I've decided to start this because I always have too many thoughts flying around in my head. They stress me out and with college coming up...I feel this will help relieve some of the stress. So tune back in to read about my accomplishments, frustrations, happenings, and anxiety as I push on through life.
I'm big into music. I was centerstick of our drumline the last 2 years. In my 4 years on the line our winter group has managed to win 4 state championships. I have received a superior rating in District Music Contest 2 times. Once for a marimba piece my dad arranged and another for a marching snare piece arranged by yours truly. I was also a member for 3 years in the show choir "Limited Edition." Along with these 2 groups I was involved in concert band and concert choir.
My senior year was great. I was captain of the drumline and we won our 4th title in 4 years, and our show choir had its highest finish ever at GI show choir invitational. Coincedinately enough we were 4th runner up. At Distric Music Contest I received an excellent on my voice solo and a superior on my snare solo entitled IV.
Next fall I am attending University of Nebraska-Kearney. I will be majoring in music education and am very very excited for it. I like the professors and they seem to like me, so it's all good. I will be most definitely rockin' out on the drumline, hopefully on snare. Also next fall I plan to try out for the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps snare line. That's one thing I forgot to mention. I am a huge fan of DCI, my favorite corps is Santa Clara Vanguard. I would LOVE to play on the drumline there someday, but right now it's not lookin' like it will necessarily happen. I am going to continue praying about it.
As a transition into this next paragraph the last sentence does indeed mean I am a christian. I invited Christ into my life at the young age of 3 years. My dad is the creative arts pastor at a local church at here in town. He's very talented at what he does and does it well and for the Lord. My mom blogs pretty insanely and has somewhat inspired me to start my own. She also is very active in bible studies and hosts one at our house every Wednesday. Like my dad she enjoys what she does and is fairly good at it.
Denomination? No, not for me. I am christian, period. I do my best to obey the Bible, that's it. I was never confirmed, was not baptized as a baby, and never participated in lent. None of those things are in the Bible, therefore are not required to enter Heaven. Wouldn't it make sense that if they were they'd be in the Bible?
Basically I've decided to start this because I always have too many thoughts flying around in my head. They stress me out and with college coming up...I feel this will help relieve some of the stress. So tune back in to read about my accomplishments, frustrations, happenings, and anxiety as I push on through life.
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