Tick Tock...Time Does Not Stop!
Hopefully, the title of this blog makes you think of Mary Poppins and the tune, “Step in Time.”
If not, here is the link to the tune. https://youtu.be/QhV_thRI9hY?si=MeQCWvpxL3xc5uBw
Maybe you have never seen the musical, Mary Poppins, and instead you recognize the tune from the Disneyland sing-a-long.
If that is the case, here is a trip down memory lane. https://youtu.be/gcgrheKujOQ?si=fOaW-I48gG_vF6M3
Time is interesting.
In music, keeping time is essential. Unless a free-flowing, contemporary, and concept piece is being performed.
Metronomes are essential.
Tempo markings, meters, and composition length are used to guide the conductor and performers. Many composers place those markings on their creations so that the pieces will be performed the same way they hear the compositions in their heads.
When a piece is written with a specific tempo marking, it's the composer's desire to have the music played at that tempo. I know that I may be repeating my earlier statement; however, I believe that it is important to honor the wishes of the composer. Sometimes, if we play a tune faster than the written tempo, it changes the intent of the composition, alters the sound, and loses the original meaning of the piece.
It took me a long time to understand the importance of practicing with a metronome. Maybe it was because I had a bit of the stereotypical trumpet player's attitude deep within me that said, “I know what is best and will play it at whatever tempo that I want!”
Looking back, I realize that if I had used a metronome on a consistent basis, I would not have wasted my professor’s, teacher’s, and director’s time. I would have been fully prepared for my lessons and rehearsals.
While I am looking back, I guess the adage is true. “Time will tell.”
However, the older I get, the more I think about time.
Is it really as strict as I am stating? Yes.
Do we really have free time? No.
Is time really “On our side?” No.
Obviously, from the path my words are wandering down, I will be walking down a path that runs parallel to the musical concepts I try to stay with in my blog. This path, filled with the drivel of my mind, can be applied to music, but isn’t bound to my musical concepts.
At one point in my life, a moment in time, I met the three gentlemen I am standing with in the picture I have used to accompany this blog.
I have mentioned them many times through the years and how they have influenced my thinking about music and life. In one of my previous blogs, I introduced us as the 4 Fernandos.
Standing next to me is Fernando Frank, aka Fernando 1 or F1, the gentleman all the way to the right of the picture is Fernando Vera, aka Fernando 2 or F2, I am Fernando 3 or F3, and the gentleman who stands taller than all of us is Doctor Joshua White, aka Fernando 4 or F4.
F1 was the Band Director at DeSoto High School, F2 was the Choir Director at DeSoto High School, and F4 is the Principal at DeSoto High School.
Many times, throughout the school year, we would meet in the band or choir room and discuss music, life, and (the best type of discussions of all) nothing in particular.
For me, those times of hanging out, talking, and making plans about how to help students excel made me feel as if time stood still. We were filling dead air with hopes and dreams for the betterment of the students. Dr. White understands the importance of music in the lives of all and how it is imperative that students experience the impact of music.
But times change.
Time does not stand still.
Time never stops.
Stop time is a technique used in some music. It is a concept that time is stopped and started again by the conductor. The truth is, time never stops, just the sound.
We, as conductors, can stop the beat, sound, and the progression of the music, but…we…cannot…stop…time.
Maybe I am feeling the weight of time as I get older.
Maybe as I get older, and look back, I realize that time continued to move even though I may have tried to stop it in times of joy. Time never sped up or slowed down. It continued to move, is still moving, and will continue to move.
I am not going to transition into the concept of “Live your life to the fullest because time is short.” Or, “Live it up, time is running out!”
Instead, I am going to suggest that it is best to make educated decisions and move towards a goal. Try not to invest your precious time in idle things and in circumstances that drain and sap your lifeblood because the environment that you are in refuses to advance or excel.
Remember that time is the same for everyone and it never stops. Please do not let others spend, waste, and throw away the time that has been given to you.
It is your time.
And
Time never stops.