Another great post on New Music Box. Nate Wooley, on his late teacher Laurie Frink.
I put a lot of pressure on myself to be good at playing the trumpet—to be great—always. I’m aware of how delusional that is, but I think anyone who has put an appreciable amount of time and energy into learning an instrument has a similar eccentricity at one point or another. While in this state, I was complaining about the lack of consistency in my playing to Laurie. I was frustrated with my shortcomings and was bearing down, practicing too much, and emotionally (and physically) exhausting myself. She stopped me in the middle of my tiny nervous breakdown and had me take a deep breath.
“Nate,” she said, “I’m going to tell you something very important that everyone should know about playing trumpet.”
A pause.
“Sometimes you just sound like shit.”
Goes for pretty much doing anything creative. She sounds like a great teacher.