I had the wonderful privilege of getting to sit back last Friday for an enjoyable evening of music with the English Valleys music program. Amid the cacaphony that results from putting together a packed house with a plethora of instruments, I had one of those little "aha" moments come to me.
I've got to tell you - the music was borderline spectacular. Most people don't expect much from a small school, but the last couple of years have seen a marked improvement in both the vocal and instrumental arenas. Classic, contemporary, marches, improvs, old favorites and ones yet-to-be. I thoroughly enjoyed it all!
But in the midst of all this enjoyment it occurred to me that the most important part of the night was the very part that nobody pays any attention to...at least not in the audience. You see, for perhaps a solid two minutes before the instruments began to play, they gave focused attention to the ancient art called tuning.
To the untrained observer, it seems to be just a lot of noise. But to the musician, it is the absolutely non-negotiable preamble to the soon-to-follow orchestrated effort. Different instruments, different notes, different styles, different tempos...all focused on moving towards making one sound...or more correctly, arriving at one note.
Even if you're not much of a music person, can you imagine what would happen if every player showed up a couple minutes before the concert, pulled out their horn and just started playing? Words like horrendous, ear-piercing and confusing are some of the first adjectives that pop to mind! Quite simply, if the band doesn't take time to tune first, they will never make the music they were intended to make.
You're probably way ahead of me, but it suddenly occurred to me that this goes way beyond a band concert...it applies to life! And the simple fact is that nobody can "tune your horn" but you, because nobody plays like you! And if we refuse to take the time to "turn our horn," the entire band will suffer and frankly, nobody's going to listen to us for long!
Bottom Line? It's not about how well we play, but how well we play together. It's about how seriously we take our responsibility to "tune" our life before "playing." Listen closely to those around you: are you "in tune" - or are you so busy "playing your horn" that you have no idea what anyone else is "playing"?
Take some time to "tune" today. See how you can complement those around you...how you can get on the same page of music, aligning tempo, rhythm and sound. You'll be totally amazed at what we can "play" together when we focus on making just one sound!
