I am shamefully bad at adding entries here on a regular basis.... If anyone is even reading this blog anymore, I apologize for my lack of consistency.

I've been thinking a lot about my students lately. Especially my seniors heading out to college next year. Now is the time when they must figure out where they are going, do any auditioning that they may need to do (especially if they are going to major in music) and get themselves ready to leave home for the first time to begin their own adventure.

As a teacher, it is sometimes difficult to know what to say when asked the question "What should I do?". We can only guide them, really. I try my best to advise only after giving great thought to the specific student's situation. Even when a student is clearly gifted with talent, I dare not state the obvious. I don't think that that's what they really want to hear. I think the REAL question is "If I graduate from a music school, what will happen to me next?". In this case, I can only pull from my own experiences. But my experiences were shaped by my individual decisions along the way...which were made based on the fact that I was an adventurer. I made just about every life decision based on what adventure awaited me - and probably still do.

What happened to me after music school happened *during* music school too. I played and played and played. Played at school, practiced in the afternoon into the night, played gigs all night (sometimes practiced in between sets) and the went to school the next day. Oh yeah, I worked on 48th streetrepairing woodwinds for the well-known Rod Baltimore/International Woodwind & Brass, where I fixed instruments...and THEN played them. :)

After all that playing, I graduated and kept doing gigs around NYC until I started getting called to tour. The touring took me places that I wanted to go back to and let me meet people that I would never forget and are precious friends of mine to this day. These places and people shaped my next decisions...and so on.

The music business is much like a fun house, really. Pick a door and a new surprise. If you like the surprise, you keep going that way. If  you don't, back up and pick another door. One thing leads to another. If you make the right decisions you can keep that going for a really long and really amazing time. When you're ready to take a breather...maybe settle down, you'll know it. It won't be too late.

I guess it's hard for me to see a reason to settle into a "track" at 18 years old. Yet that's what our society asks our young adults to do. It nearly demands it. However, I started on a track and then took a long and lovely detour. It worked out for me. That's all I can say for sure. I always though that if you're reasonably careful and stay away from what you know is bad for you, you should do pretty well. Now, do I think that this plan will work for ANYONE who chooses MUSIC as a career? Of course not. That will depend on individual talent, drive and determination. Oh yes...and a certain taste for adventure... ;-)