Sometimes we need a little reminder that we can do it!
“You can do it!”
Many people will read the preceding sentence the same way Rob Schneider excitedly exclaims it in many Adam Sandler movies. If you have never seen Mr. Schneider in an Adam Sandler movie excitedly exclaim that encouraging earful, you may have heard someone mimic his performance in real life.
My wife: “I don’t think can finish eating all of this.”
Me: “You can do it!”
or
Student: “I don’t think I can play that high note, Mr. Hauger.”
Me: “You can do it!”
I understand that some of you may not think it is funny to hear the, “You can do it”, exclaimed at times when you are having a difficult time accomplishing a task and you are not in the mood for humor. However, just like my mom would tell my dad many times, “It’s only funny in your own head”.
In my head, it is almost always funny, nearly all of the time, quite often.
How was that for redundancy?
As a trumpet player, trumpet instructor, and educator of music, I need to know when to push students at times to play their instruments beyond what they think are their highest abilities. Many times, we as educators, see the potential and talent a student has before they are aware of what they are doing musically.
However…
There are times we need to step back and think, “Can they really do or play that certain piece of music or style?” We have to be musically, emotionally, and professionally capable of saying, “They can’t do that.”
Better yet, we have to make sure we are musically, emotionally, and professionally capable of admitting, “I can’t do that.”
Let me tell you about the cool guy whose picture graces this blog. his name is Diego. I met Diego in the Fall semester of 2022. I had accepted a position at Desoto High School to teach Guitar, Ukulele, and General Music.
Diego had signed up to be in the Ukulele class.
Mr. Frank (aka. Fernando 1 or Fernando Band) had mentioned Diego to me during the marching season. He told me that one of the students is a good bass player and will be playing in the jazz class. He had talked about how Diego is talented and how he is excited to see his growth as a musician.
As the semester progressed, I could see that Diego was a talented string player, as well as intelligent in music. Don’t get me wrong, he is intelligent, period, but, he has that bit of, “Something-something” when it comes to music. The final project for the Ukulele students was an original composition. The students had learned how to read a chord sheet, notes, and tab. The compositions could include a single-line melody, multiple lines including a melody with harmony, chords, and/or a combination of all. They were allowed to include other students in their composition.
The students had to perform their composition after providing me with a copy of the piece they had written. This kept the students that had decided, “Music is stupid and I am going to make something up when I get up there,” the chance to, well, make it up and not write a composition. I did teach a section on improvisation and allowed them to include improv in their compositions, but, they had to have it written into the composition.
One student, not Diego, wrote a melody and then included a section of the music that he had written the words, “make up stuff then play the song like the begging again for the end.” I took the opportunity to show him how what he wrote in long hand would look written musically, but, I accepted his music, the way he wrote it for full credit. He did a good job.
When Diego presented his composition, he played the piece along with another student in the class. His composition included polyrhythms as well as tapped harmonics and other advanced techniques. It was an impressive performance and I am proud to say that I have absolutely no claim in teaching him in his playing, composing, and performing ability. I educated him on musical aspects, but I educated the rest of the class in the same way. No other student accepted the project of writing a composition in the same way as Diego. The majority of students saw the project as a grade and I believe Diego saw it as a way to express and have fun.
By the end of the marching season last year, Diego had expressed interest in playing the Bari Sax. The saxophone students at Desoto High School are a tight group of musicians who take pride in their instruments. They have weekly after-school rehearsals that are student-led. Diego was taught how to play a few band cheers in the stands and I realized that the magical, musical, melody-making monster was awakened and he was going to learn to play bari sax like a boss.
Although Diego has become a very good bari sax player, he is a bass player first.
Personally, I have always loved bass guitar. I still have the desire to learn to play bass and will eventually take the time to learn how to do some thumb-thumping funky beats. For now, I will keep working on my trumpet and be happy with trilling trumpet top treble notes.
I have had the opportunity to rock out with Diego in a few small combo jam sessions. It was a blast and I realized very quickly that I will probably get a call in the future to play a gig and when I show up, Diego will be holding down the rhythm section with his mad bass skills. Seriously, I could see him playing professionally and it will truly be an honor to play gigs with him and be filled with pride for him when I think about how I knew him when…
At this point, you may be thinking, “What’s the deal, Hauger? You are dedicating your December blog to a high school bass player? There are a lot of excellent high school bass players. Plus, what about the other kids in the band? Are the other kids not worthy enough to write a blog about them?”
True, there are a lot of excellent high school bass players, but, there is more to Diego than being an excellent high school bass player. Not only is he a great guy, but he is a fantastic musician, and even more an incredible performer.
As far as writing a blog for each of the kids, I would if there was time. Every one of the kids deserves recognition and accolades. I am proud of them and I have complimented all of them and have expressed how much they impress me. However, Diego had a specific situation happen to him that I witnessed.
The marching band show this past year with the Desoto High School Blazing Blue Band was called, Big Top Be Bop.
Fernando Frank (Fernando 1 or Fernando Band), arranged all of the music, wrote the drill, and created all of the choreography. The show was jam-packed with quotes and sections of circus music and jazz with a be bop flare. One of the coolest transitions was when the show went from the ballad, Send in the Clowns, to Pagliacci, the Maynard Ferguson arrangement.
He even transcribed the flute solo and had a flute soloist perform it flawlessly. By the way, the flute soloist was not Diego. It was Bryant. Just in case you were wondering.
Anyway, the music featured the sax section throughout and that required Diego to switch from Bari Sax to bass guitar a couple of times.
The band was at a competition and they were selling the show. It was exciting to watch them step up their game and leave it all on the field. Like I said earlier, Diego switched from Bari Sax to bass guitar throughout the show.
As the show is winding down and Diego is thumping the bass line to Dizzy Gillespie’s, A Night In Tunisia, Fernando and I noticed Diego playing his bass while standing on one leg. He had his other leg crossed over in front of him and had the body of his ax resting on his thigh. We suddenly realized that his guitar strap had become unfastened.
With perfect balance, he was able to play without missing a beat. Unfortunately, we were not able to assist him by reattaching the strap. If we would have intervened, the band would have received a penalty.
We watched as Diego moved and manipulated his body and bass so that the strap would be in a position close to the spot it connects to his guitar. He didn’t have any rests and time was running out if he was to make a move to reattach the strap. The next and final tune of the show was Cherokee and he had double-time bass licks that led the band to the final quote of A Night In Tunisia.
Approximately two bars before his fingers flapped in a fiery fury on the fretboard, he had a half note. He slapped his finger down on the note, held the bass in his left while reaching back and connecting the strap to the body, and commenced creating a scene that will forever be remembered by those of us who witnessed the act of greatness.
We congratulated him after the show and told him how he never ceases to amaze us. Being the cool and humble dude he is, he simply shrugged it off and said he practices playing while standing on one leg a lot anyway.
It wasn’t that we didn’t believe him, but, before we could ask him why he practices while standing on one leg or is he just kidding with us, another student overheard and said, “Yeah, he does. He stands on one leg and plays his bass.”
Needless to say, we didn’t ask any other questions.
Diego is truly a, “You can do it!” type of person. He pushes himself to become better and he encourages others to push themselves. Fernando Band told me that during jazz class, another student didn’t want to try an improv solo and Diego replied, “Come on, you can do it, all you have to do is play the right scale. It’s all about knowing your scales.”
I can’t wait to see how far Diego travels on the music highway. Actually, I can’t wait to see how many roads he paves, creating his own paths and roads in the world of music.
Thank you Diego for being you and for being an example of what my former band director, Ken Strieby, would say. “Isn’t this fun!”
Yup, Ken, it is fun and I thank you and Diego for reminding me how much fun playing and performing music is and how much it is personally needed in my life.
If you are interested in watching Diego experiment with different aspects of the bass, you can follow him on his YouTube channel, “Dieggerd”