We're on the same page. To be a successful musician (or message-board-operator -- you listening, Matt?) one must possess a very strong sense of self-assuredness that comes from within. Others call it ego. I call it really trusting and believing in yourself. My warning to Darth is to not place too much emphasis on what others think, whether good or bad, and let her own feelings about music and her rate of progression be her guide.
By most standards, I'm a very accomplished musician. And used to perform quite a bit. But I don't anymore. It's for my pleasure and mine alone. I encourage Darth's musicality and indulge it something fierce, but also focus on it being for her; not for those who would hear her. So when she tells me that she feels badly because she doesn't feel like practicing her trumpet today, I stress that when she doesn't really feel like it is the worst time to force herself to do it. If it doesn't give her pleasure, it's self-destructive. Music should never be "enjoyed" grudgingly. Especially at her age. There will be plenty of time later for forcing herself to do the grunt work of practicing scales because they're necessary to achieve some important goal.
She's completely left to her own devices when it comes to music, and still probably practices an average of 2 hours per day plus band class plus performances.
Did she mention she bought herself a bass about a week ago? I'm glad because she'd taken over my favorite bass and now I've got it back again.
We're both amazed that of all the basses we have (looks like 7 between us), the cheap Jay Turser bass is by far our favorite. I've got basses that cost 4 times as much that neither of us like as much as the Turser.
Oh, and if I may brag on her some more (though I worry about feeding her music ego too much but my pride in her musicianship goes beyond father/daughter), any trumpet player out there might get a kick out of this: She's only in 8th grade so is one of the youngest people in high school band, but is 1st chair, 1st trumpet, and is already hitting the high E-flat (concert D-flat) that was near the top of my range when I was a senior. I think she's probably the band teacher's pet because she's an excellent site-reader, has great technique, and a very respectable range for a high-schooler, let alone an 8th-grader. And jumps back and forth between bass and trumpet all the time in the school's stage band.
Fun to watch her play bass with the band because most of them just stand there like zombies, but Darth's in her own little world, getting her groove on.
We're shopping around for a trumpet teacher right now because she's about as good as I am on trumpet and has pretty much exhausted what I can teach her. In a few months her range will be beyond mine. Need to get her a much better teacher for trumpet though I've still got a lot I can teach her on bass, music theory, and laying down a groove for the band.
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