Monday, February 23, 2009

These Are the Moments

There are moments every now and then that make me go, "Oh yeah. This is why I do this. This is why I love this job. This is why I love teaching music." I had another one of those moments today. It couldn't have come soon enough, because I was in a slump of sorts. Each day seemed so boring and lifeless, until today. And, keep in mind, when I say "moment" that's exactly what these are. It was literally about five seconds long, but that was long enough.

I'm teaching my choir an African-American spiritual called "Yonder Come Day". It allows for much artistic liberty, including the use of percussion. I decided to purchase a djembe, a large African hand drum. It came in last week and it's AWESOME. I'm no expert on percussion instruments, but it's got a great sound and it's fun to play.

Oh yeah, the moment. It was second period. We were rehearsing Yonder Come Day. We got to a section towards the end where I've asked the choir to sway (which was rough when we first started it, but it all came together today.) I was playing the drum, the kids were singing, we were all swaying; it was a real Mr. Holland's Opus moment. I know, pretty cheesy, but I loved it so back off.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds awesome! I haven't had one of those moments in a long while. Savor it! Also--put a picture of that drum on your blog--I'd love to see it.

JBFerguson said...

I think that is an awesome moment Dano! You guys sounded great today in the assembly.