{"id":519,"date":"2015-03-21T11:05:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-21T18:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=519"},"modified":"2015-03-21T11:05:22","modified_gmt":"2015-03-21T18:05:22","slug":"music-performing-balancing-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=519","title":{"rendered":"Music, Performing, Balancing Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you about a performance I’ll be a part of today. \u00a0River City Swing<\/a> will be performing at American River Brewing Company<\/a> today, from 4PM to 6PM. \u00a0The address is:<\/p>\n

11151 Trade Center Drive
\nSuite 104
\nRancho Cordova, CA, 95670<\/p>\n

Having said that, it brings me to the topic of this post: my music dreams are stepping on the toes of my writing dreams.<\/p>\n

I’m a busy guy.<\/p>\n

I’m busy at work, of course, and that’s generally a good thing. \u00a0I’m supporting my family through my job, and I’m working for a company that is making green energy more viable, especially in California. \u00a0Even when I complain about occasional long hours, I still like my job, and derive a great deal of satisfaction from it. \u00a0Whatever time work doesn’t consume is what I have to spend on my other dreams.<\/p>\n

Let’s revisit my dreams for a moment. \u00a0When I was younger and first figuring out what I realistically wanted to do with my life, I narrowed it down to three things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Become a music teacher, or some kind of performer<\/li>\n
  2. Become a writer<\/li>\n
  3. “Something with computers”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Looking at the\u00a0scoreboard, I can see that “something with computers” pulled way out in front, and has become my bread and butter. \u00a0I’ve been doing something with computers for a really long time now, and it’s pretty great.<\/p>\n

    The music and writing dreams have\u00a0not been fully realized. \u00a0If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I’ve put a lot of effort into writing for the last several years. \u00a0I don’t have a ton to show for it, but I’ve been improving. \u00a0I have an unfinished second draft to a decent novel. \u00a0I have a couple of short stories which are, according to my writing groups, competent, but not particularly special. \u00a0I have a scheduled, dedicating time to writing every week. \u00a0And I have this blog, where I share the details of my life along this writer’s journey.<\/p>\n

    What about music? \u00a0Obviously, I’m not going to be a music teacher, though I did get a small taste of what it might have been like a couple of years ago. \u00a0I don’t have the patience for it. \u00a0Also, I don’t have the education for it. \u00a0I’m not qualified to teach children music, and I don’t have the time or inclination to become qualified.<\/p>\n

    Performing is another matter. \u00a0When I joined River City Concert Band<\/a> a couple of years ago, it was mostly because my daughter was playing with the band. \u00a0I wasn’t particularly passionate about it, and my involvement at the time didn’t satisfy me as a performer. \u00a0In fact, I felt superfluous. \u00a0I felt like I didn’t need to put much more than a B effort into the music. \u00a0When my daughter stopped, I nearly stopped as well. \u00a0For about a month, I felt like I was wasting my time.<\/p>\n

    Then something kind of strange happened. \u00a0One of the tenors paid me a compliment, about how I was picking up a difficult section of music very quickly, and I suddenly felt special again. \u00a0I started putting in a little more effort, and I started to feel like a musician again.<\/p>\n

    When I was asked to fill in for River City Swing, I was reluctant. \u00a0My confidence wasn’t particularly high, and I wasn’t sure if I had the time. \u00a0Then I played with them, and suddenly, I was feeling things I hadn’t felt since high school and college.<\/p>\n

    So now here we are, several months later, and I’m playing in two bands. \u00a0Mondays are completely full, Tuesdays are completely full, and we have performances every couple of weeks. \u00a0My family has invested money in my music, giving me a new alto and a new soprano. \u00a0I’m practicing more at home. \u00a0I am a performer.<\/p>\n

    Last night, as I was falling asleep, I was thinking about music. \u00a0I thought of a trick for transposing from E\u266d to B\u266d, which I’m sure lots of musicians already know, but it only just occurred to me recently. \u00a0When you want to go from E\u266d to B\u266d, you add a flat. \u00a0Or going the other way, you add a sharp. \u00a0For example, a concert B\u266d is a G on the alto, and it’s a C on the soprano. \u00a0A G scale has one sharp. \u00a0A C scale has no sharps or flats. \u00a0If I’m playing a G on the alto, it’s going to be a C on the soprano. \u00a0Another example… a concert F is a D on the alto. \u00a0A D has two sharps. \u00a0Add a flat, you wind up with one sharp, which is a G. \u00a0So a D on the alto is a G on the soprano. \u00a0As long as you know your scales, it’s super easy to transpose between the E\u266d and B\u266d instruments.<\/p>\n

    If your eyes glazed over during that last paragraph, it’s okay. \u00a0Like I said, this is the stuff I was thinking\u00a0while going to sleep<\/em>. \u00a0So the next time you’re having trouble sleeping, just transpose some music in your head. \u00a0You can thank me later.<\/p>\n

    Music has become a bigger part of my life. \u00a0What does that mean? \u00a0Am I giving up on writing? \u00a0Is this blog just going to be more boring posts about transposing?<\/p>\n

    No. \u00a0I need to write. \u00a0When I’m not writing, I’m unhappy. \u00a0I have a novel that needs to be finished. \u00a0I will not be completely happy until I’m holding a printed copy in my hand, with my name on the cover.<\/p>\n

    Spending more time on music\u00a0means it’s just harder to find time to write, but not impossible. \u00a0I read a recent post by Hugh Howey<\/a>, which looks like it’s about KDP and self publishing, but it’s really about persevering as a writer. \u00a0I needed to read this. \u00a0It’s encouraging in the ways I needed encouragement. \u00a0If I turn off Scrivener to do something else 99 times, it just means I need to open it 100.<\/p>\n

    Last week, I skipped out on my Wednesday night writing because I stayed up all night working. \u00a0This week, I skipped out on my Wednesday night writing because I was feeling a little sick, and I wound up going to bed at 8PM. \u00a0I’ve missed a couple of weeks, but it’s not the end of the world. \u00a0It doesn’t mean that the journey is over. \u00a0It means I’m taking a detour. \u00a0I will get there. \u00a0It might take a little longer than I intended, but I will get there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you about a performance I’ll be a part of today. \u00a0River City Swing will be performing at American River Brewing Company today, from 4PM to 6PM. \u00a0The address is: 11151 Trade Center Drive Suite 104 Rancho Cordova, CA, 95670 Having said that, it brings me to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":520,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}