In recent years, when people have asked me about what I might do with my time when I retire, one of the answers I usually give is, ‘Play music.’<\/p>\n
For those who don’t know, I was consumed by music as a teenager. I learned to play guitar and played in a band in high school. My local JC, DeAnza College, had a very good jazz program and, rather by accident, I ended up there for three years. My last year was primarily to take advantage of the opportunity I had to play bass with the #1 band. It was a hot band and I was stretched to the max. Many of the musicians in that band went on to careers in music but I decided to work in the theatre and have the freedom to ‘play’ music when and where I wanted.<\/p>\n
As it worked out, I played very little music for the ensuing 25 years. Work and family took precedence.<\/p>\n
About a dozen years ago I started to come out again, mostly playing rock and roll with Tom Kent and his bands. When I got back to the Bay Area, I enrolled in the jazz band at the local JC, Skyline College. I played bass for two years then guitar the third year.<\/p>\n
Then . . . then I had jobs keep coming up on Monday nights so I quit. But last fall I started again. On guitar, on the theory that a missing guitar player in a big band is no loss whereas a missing bass player is more serious.<\/p>\n
I needn’t have worried. They had three bass players and another guitar player; they hardly noticed when I’m there.<\/p>\n
Actually, everyone was very nice and welcomed me back. Many of the current band members were there for my first go ’round but my contributions this time were minimal.<\/p>\n
But what I noticed was that I wasn’t practicing the material. I looked at it and worked at it long enough to get through it, but I didn’t work it to get any better. In fact, the second half of last semester I don’t think I picked up the guitar at all except on Monday night for rehearsal.<\/p>\n
I decided to write about this when today, with no need to go to work, I got up and did my laundry and the dishes, then wrote a nice blog post, then\u00a0 . . . farted around the house: read some, tried to take a nap, ate lunch, read some more, did a crossword, had a cup of tea.<\/p>\n
Now I’m writing this. Why don’t I play the guitar? Or the bass? They’re all here, hanging on the wall, begging to be played. I don’t know.I’ve got tons of resources: books, music, backing tracks. It’s making me reassess my stated retirement plans. And wonder about all my motivations.<\/p>\n
Well, I signed up for another semester of band so I’ll keep trying. It starts in a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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