When I was younger, June was freedom. School was out. No homework. An unfettered schedule. Summer doldrums coming up soon. And, finally, free time to practice my trombone. Several times a day. And, of course, besides this, there were meals to look forward to every day. Life was much simpler then. But there are always trade-offs. Chores. Overseeing younger kids. Mowing the lawn – with a “push” mower. (powered by armstrong)… The difficult part is finding a direction, a motivation. It’s very easy to lose track of time. It slips by very quickly, and all of a sudden the summer is gone, and school is about to begin again. So it is necessary to manufacture things that say “Wait! Slow down!”
One of these things was playing in the all-city “park band.” Rehearse during the week, and concert in the park on Saturday or Sunday. A definite motivation to practice. And there was exposure to new music from broadway shows, popular songs, and old-style band music. All of this was beneficial to me by widening my knowledge of musical styles, and honing my reading skills. This mind-set came in handy when I started playing professionally. You have to be ready and able to play almost anything at any time. Any style, key and meter. Anyway, the summer band was my training ground when I was young. Those days were important to me. I’m just glad that I had the common sense to realize it at the time. It’s easy to miss the importance of something that’s handed to you when its summer and you’re free with no schedule.
Entertainment for me was outside. Very little listening to radio or records or watching T.V. inside during the summer. Except for my practicing, all the rest of the time was outside. We always had a large backyard, and many games and sports were possible. We played them all. Basketball, football, baseball, horseshoes, badminton, croquet, archery (I always had a bow with target arrows), bicycles, kites, and other, smaller games played with hoses and water balloons. My uniform was “cut-offs,” and I used to get plenty of vitamin D, and a deep tan that lasted well into the school year. And, as the summer heat took over, swimming became a daily pastime. One of my favorites.
When I was in college, summer was a time for finding a job to help finance the next year. I usually lucked-out with painting – houses, buildings, our whole high school (both inside and out) one year, anything that had a paycheck attached. Since painting is boring, I would spend my time working out arrangements for bands all day, then write them down when I got home. This was also a good habit to develop. Everything I did seemed to involve music. And for that, I am very grateful.