The story we leave behind can be a testament to greatness.
A Legend, A Legacy, and A lot of Learning
I scrapped my first writing of my June blog because it made me sad.
The original June blog would focus on one of the closest and best friends I had ever had, George “Buddy” Haynes.
When I began writing, I outlined some of his character and personality traits. That didn’t make me sad. Instead, I laughed in remembrance of his humor, friendship, and intelligence. The best part was, he was all three of those traits combined with many other positive attributes.
I noticed I felt a tinge of sadness as I wrote about George. He passed away a few years ago and I think about him every day. Especially when I find something funny or steeped in intellectual humor. I catch myself reaching for my phone to text or call him, then realize that he isn’t going to answer.
I realize that George couldn’t care less right now about the things of this world. He is in Glory, along with my parents and many other family members and friends. The sadness isn’t just about them passing away, nor is it overwhelming or debilitating when I think about them. It is best described as poking and nudging me at times.
There are many emotions, and sadness is one of them. I am trying to learn to accept, cope with, and move past those pesky little boogers. By the way, if you feel overwhelmed and unable to cope with emotions, life, or anything you feel is beyond your control, please accept help from someone. I will admit that I am the worse person to counsel or help someone in this area, however, I will do whatever I can to find someone that could help if you reached out to me.
Pausing my thoughts about the here and now and remembering that time, for us, only goes forward, people exist beyond our memories. They really do travel beyond the constraints of time. We, as humans, have the ability to make that quantum leap while we are still alive.
This is not going to be a blog about me being a Christian. Although, if you have any questions about that, contact me, let’s talk.
It will still be a blog about music and trumpet playing. However, there are layers to everything in life. You know, like an onion! (Thanks Shrek!)
When I began playing trumpet, I played for the fun of it without realizing the important and life-changing lessons I would learn. I had a naive and elementary understanding of music before I started playing trumpet in 6th grade. I attempted to sing in the grade school choir. Even then I distracted myself with my voice. By the way, I may have mentioned this before, I don’t sing at church or other events. I distract myself with my attempt at trying to sing the right note. My vocal control is lacking and I feel and sound like I am continuously going through puberty.
(Peter Brady had it all figured out…not me)
I took my first trumpet lesson when I was in middle school. My lesson teacher, Jay Wilkerson (a great low brass player), taught me in ways that I incorporate into the way I teach lessons today.
“Is there anything new you would like to work on?” He asked at a lesson.
“Yup,” I responded, “I want to learn how to play high notes.
“You already know how to play high notes,” he replied, “You just have to learn how to make them sound good.”
At that time, I didn’t know how to play high notes. Well, I didn’t think I knew how to play them.
Jay had me open the Arban book and turn to the section, “The Art of Phrasing, 150 Classic and Popular Melodies.”
After turning to a melody we have played during a previous lesson, he told me to play it. After I finished the last note, he had me play it again only an octave higher. He had perused the piece and made sure it didn’t go into the stratosphere, but, pushed me to play above the staff.
After I played it, he gave me a few pointers.
“The “E” in the top space is played open.”
“Don’t press the trumpet into your face.”
And
“Play it again, but make it sounds as big and full as it did when you played it as it is written. Stay as relaxed as you did, but, just play the notes an octave higher.”
I did as he instructed and that was my first taste of playing in the upper register on the trumpet.
Jay worked with me and helped me with my tone, which notes would be out of tune, and tried to teach me the art of discernment. You know what I mean, discerning when it is appropriate to play in the upper register and when it is not a good idea to play a passage up an octave or two. However, I was a trumpet player with a newly founded superpower. I think my motto was, “If the notes are not too high, take it up to the sky.” Pretty cheesy, I know, but, by playing around like that with the octaves I was able to learn my limits in range and how to press them.
I carried the lessons I learned from music into my career as a firefighter. If a person is smart and self-disciplined, they can draw, create, and implement parallels in all aspects of their lives. In my opinion, it helps create a cohesion that incorporates work, hobby, and home that encourages peace and keeps a person from burnout.
There are legendary firefighters as there are legendary trumpet players. People that do remarkable or incredible feats which make others go, “Ohh and ahh”. Many times, those people are called legends.
How do they reach that legendary status you may ask?
Since I have stated earlier that I am giving my opinion, I will continue to do so. I believe they reach the legendary status because people saw or heard them do something that the observer didn’t think was possible. Sometimes it could also be something the observer couldn’t do and since they couldn’t do it, they think the person that accomplished the feat is a legend.
Many times, the person that is seen as a legend or as legendary did not seek the title. Sometimes they have no idea the title was given to them. The legendary performance or feat was something they had practiced ad nauseam or utilized prior training in similar situations to accomplish the objective. Therefore, it was something they do, and they could do it all again if they were called upon to accomplish the task another time.
A person may be a legend or legendary to another person or group of people, yet, they may have zero influence, importance, or notoriety to anyone outside of their field of expertise.
What do John Norman, Alan Brunacini, Dennis Smith, Billy Goldfeder, Francis Brannigan, Wynton Marsalis, Allen Vizzutti, Vincent DiMartino, Chuck Parrish, and Mary Elizabeth Bowden have in common?
They are all legends and legendary in their field. There is a great chance that the first five people listed have no idea who the last five people are. The same goes for the last five people not knowing the first five. A person that is a legend or is legendary may only exist as a legend in one person’s mind or they could be seen as a legend in many minds. But, a lot of times their status does not translate to other realms of life.
The first five people on the list are firefighters that are not only known for their work on the fire ground but for their work in educating and passing along the knowledge they learned, the techniques they practiced, and the mistakes they have made. They are legendary in the fire service and their ability to pass their knowledge to others created a legacy.
The second group of five people on the list are trumpet players that are known for their work in the world of music and the work they do and have done in passing along the knowledge they learned, the techniques they practiced, and the mistakes they have made. They too are legends and have created a legacy.
At this point in the blog, I need to mention another type of legend. A person that is legendary and leaves a legacy. A person that people will talk about for years to come.
That person is the “Legend in their own mind”, type.
The legend in their own mind firefighter is the type that has no problem telling the new recruits about their heroic adventures on the fire ground. The recruits look at them with amazement and awe as they hear about the rescues, flashovers, and saves they accomplished over their long and glorious 5 years serving in the fire service. (I hope you caught the sarcasm in that paragraph)
The legend in their own mind trumpet player will have other trumpet players look at them in amazement and gawk in awe at their ability to pick up their horns without warming up and play a 3-octave concert Bb scale up and back down. They may also be able to lip trill from a low F-sharp all of the way up to the stratosphere. They will pull the horn away from their lips with the best-heard kiss-off ever heard before they begin to tell others about their playing prowess.
Legend in their own minds. Both groups…in my opinion.
The firefighters that will typically have all of the heroic stories about themselves are the same ones that will use every excuse possible in order to get out of training. When they arrive on the fire ground they will take an extremely long time to pack up and get to work. The fire will be out and the hard work completed before they make it inside the structure so they can tell everyone what they should have done and how they would have done it.
The trumpet players will typically say, “I could do it at home (or in the practice room)” They may have accomplished the feat they said they could do, but, they never practiced the technique in order to replicate the goal. Instead of practicing, they give excuses, such as, something is wrong with the horn, It is the wrong horn set up, I had a long gig the night before and my lips are swollen, and this is too easy.
Do you remember Michael McDonald’s character Stuart from MadTV? If not, you may want to look it up and watch a couple of sketches in order to understand this next part of the paragraph. The legend in their own mind firefighters and trumpet players remind me of Stuart. They have no problem saying, “Look what I can do,” and then doing something that accomplishes absolutely nothing.
In both cases, their, “Legend in their own mind look what I can do” expressions can hurt others. If rookies in the fire service try to replicate some of the things told in the stories, they could get hurt, killed, or cause bad things to happen to others. In the trumpet world, the trumpet player will enjoy their “Listen to what I can do,” effects on others but will smugly tell others how they can do it too while giving them bad advice. Their “advice” encourages excessive force on the lips, bad posture, and poor air control.
A lot of times in the past I have said, “I couldn’t care less what people think about me”. To some, that may sound like a strong statement of someone that is confident. To others, it may sound like a “Look what I can do” type of statement.
Here is how that declaration applies to me.
When it comes to people’s opinions about how they feel about me, I couldn’t care less. See, here is where that emotion thing I talked about at the beginning of the blog kicks in. But, here is another kicker, I do care about what people think about me. I don’t have the desire to be a legend, but I do want to leave a legacy. I have learned a lot about firefighting and trumpet playing.
I have tried to pass along my triumphs, struggles, lessons, and techniques to others. There have been times that I thought I wasn’t heard while trying to encourage, educate, and instruct others. Those legends in their own mind people can be extremely loud. But, there are no excuses for those of us with integrity and purpose. I may have been heard, but my encouragement, teaching, and instructing were claimed by someone else.
When someone else claims the things you do as their own or you do not get the acknowledgment or accolades you deserve, it can and does hurt deep inside. But, that is where we should be glad to know we still helped and the help we wanted to pass on was passed on. Our actions, reactions, or refusal to react can leave a positive legacy for a long time.
I hope that the things I teach, how I act, react, or refuse to react, and how I share my knowledge, techniques, and lessons learned through problems will encourage others to become better musicians and people in general.
If others were to think of me as a legend or leave a legacy, it is my wish that those that decide to think of me in those ways claim the things I did, said, or claim my actions as their own. Their desire should be to help others be the best they can be at whatever they choose to do in life.
Care about what people think, that will help you leave a legacy of helping others. Don’t care about how people feel unless you are intentionally making them feel bad. In that case, stop being narcissistic and learn to be a good human. People are responsible for their own feelings and how they react, it is not up to us to try and control someone else’s feelings. When I play music and people are dancing or singing along, that may be an indication that they have chosen to feel good, happy, and festive. When I hear music and I sit, furrow my brow, and think of how the music is being played, that is my way of feeling good, being happy, and festive.
I chose to be in music, play trumpet, help others learn the trumpet and music, encourage people, and learn as much about everything as I can. That may be a start to leaving a legacy. My friend George was able to leave a positive legacy that has impacted my life in such a great way. I learned from him by observing who and how he was in all situations. I didn’t want to and still don’t want to be sad when I think about him and all of the other people I have lost in my life. Instead, I will strive to think of their legacies and slot them as positive legends in my mind.
A legend may be a legend, but they are still human. Show grace and discernment when you are learning from others.