Did You Know You're in a Jazz Band?
Navigating Life When the Sheet Music No Longer Works
My college jazz band was groovin’ a fresh take on Earth, Wind & Fire’s September during an afternoon rehearsal, a space in the music opened for me to improv for the first time in my musical journey, and my brain froze.
My breath stopped.
No notes whatsoever went through my trumpet.
Instead, I spent the next eternal moments staring at my jazz band director in wide-eyed anxiety.
Who stared back, waiting for me to try a note. Any note.
(Earth, Wind & Fire)
Playing the Sheet Music
The truth is, I was raised with a deep conviction that you play the sheet music exactly as it appears. And only the sheet music.
In band - and also in life.
Follow the recipe as it is written.
Stick to the rules as stated.
Get good grades so you can go to a good school and get a good job and have a good family and settle down in this good kind of community and…
And, truly, I appreciate having a clear, reliable plan where playing all the right notes guarantees good music - and a good life.
Except…
At some point in all our lives, a space begins opening in the song we’re playing.
Very gradually or sometimes very suddenly the terrain ahead feels far less obvious, clear, or scripted than it had been.
It may be because of a…
tragedy
opportunity
break
loss
move
layoff
illness
recovery
shift
experience
pandemic.
And as much as part of us really does want…
a script of precise notes we can follow or…
a ready-made life recipe or…
a guaranteed ‘five steps to the better you’ plan…
…deep within we know that sheet music won’t work. Honestly, it hasn’t been working for a while now.
The Soul Speaks
We’re at what some might call an inflection point.
Or…
A crossroads.
A crisis.
A conflictedness.
A calling?
However we perceive it, we recognize that navigating this new space of life is, yes, about using the familiar notes we know - which is to say using the gifts we’ve honed and the experiences we have - but now offering all of that…
With less script, more soul.
Less formula, more improv.
Less the ‘right way’ and more of our unique, contextualized riff.
As jazz trumpeter Miles Davis remarked, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.”
(Miles Davis)
A jazzy sentiment if ever there was one.
And also…
Terrifying!
What if we play the wrong note!?
What if the note squeaks or squeals or ends up entirely out of tune!?
What if we fail, badly!?
But, alas…
You know the wide-eyed terror that you feel? That resistance to even try? Deep within that, precisely within that, your soul is speaking.
And the word is this: You are on the precipice of your finest jazz.
And by the way… the world will thank you for giving your breath to that music.
Courage
My jazz band director did not put it quite that way. But he did say, “It’s okay, Bobby. Try again.”
He was okay with my failure. And that gave me the courage to try again (and again). And eventually offer a brief piece of improv at a real, live concert.
Are you ok with failure?
Are the directors, coaches, friends, and family around you ok with it?
I hope so.
Because, honestly, for all of us trying to make a positive difference in our lives, families, workplace, and world, the singular thing we need most right now is not…
more music lessons (i.e. more books, podcasts, or ‘how to’ courses to ensure we ‘get it right’)
or a better trumpet ( i.e. better gadgets, equipment, or resources to ensure excellence in all that we offer).
Quite simply, what we need is courage.
Courage to risk failure, courage to risk stumbling, courage to show up at the real, live event called Life and offer breath to animate our unique gifts in this world.
Another Breath at Work in Our Work
At which point a strange and wondrous thing that happens.
When we start giving breath to improv notes, we discover we’re not alone.
There is…
Another Breath already doing far more through us than we could ever ask for or imagine.
Another Breath already taking the music to places deeper, higher, and truer than we can even hear right now.
Another Breath already making music through those around us and pulling together a veritable jazz band right here, right now.
Some call it mystical.
Some call it spiritual.
Some call it grace.
And all give thanks.
Because that is some fine jazz in service to a world that deserves the best music we can offer.
Tell me you’ve seen Pixar’s Soul? Maybe we should all be “jazzing” though life. Really enjoyed this piece.
As usual your story strikes a chord. For me and for my clients. if they lack courage to play outside the music they will not innovate and if they cannot play well with their band (team) it can be disruptive. but then Jazz was supposed to be disruptive. An interesting conundrum. Thank you.