The month of March, to me, has always been transitional. It’s either the end of winter or the beginning of spring. Or neither. Sometimes it’s just in a holding pattern, even though spring officially begins on the calendar. The weather remains unpredictable. And the only holiday is St. Patrick’s Day, and sometimes Easter. At least these are both musical…
If you think of the year as a succession of holidays, it really goes by quickly. You are either anticipating one or celebrating it, or going on to the next one.
As a trombone player, beginning in high school, I really appreciated holidays. They meant work; jobs with various bands (gigs). In those days there were a lot of jobs (and bands), but they didn’t pay much. But, of course, we could also get by on less.
My sight reading of music improved rapidly from playing with many different bands. I would arrive at a job, put on a jacket, and play for 3 or 4 hours with 10 minute breaks in between. The leader would call 3 or 4 more songs by number, play those, get up more, and so on. I learned to read many styles, rhythms, etc., by repetition, and in the process, acquired discipline – not only of the moment, but in the process of preparation and practice (routine) that it takes to be ready to play whatever music is put on the music stand.
This experience turned out to be invaluable later when I played night club acts of all kinds, ice shows, circuses, and many other events. Rehearsals, for lack of time, were sometimes short or sketchy or not at all – just a talk-over. But the one thing all of these had in common was that they required the discipline of practice and preparation. Regularly, constantly, and without fail.