"Let's get a little bit more right." -Taylor Barnett, Assistant Director, VCU Greater Richmond High School Jazz Band. In working through a sight-reading of a particularly difficult unison chart, Taylor insisted that it was critical to begin each phrase with absolute accuracy, and to honor each rest and concluding quarter- or eighth-note with the same precision. What happens in the middle can get a little can get messy - that's okay.
How often do we dance around a difficult place and not dive at when called upon to do so? Or after messing something up in the middle, ease our way out the back with a wimper and an apology? Taylor has it right. So what if things get mushy in the middle? It's likely that those items can get cleaned up the next time through. Rather, it's the confidence that we gain with the first attack that will carry the day! Thanks, Taylor.
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