Yaya's solo

It's easy to forget she's in 7th grade. As you can see from the picture, she's full adult sized now and has been for quite some time. She also plays better than all but the best High School students. This isn't just proud papa talking; she's been placed into every honors ensemble that she's eligible for.

Anyway, she played an adjudicated solo today and, frankly, it wasn't the best she's ever played it. In fact, it was a pretty average practice run. That's not to say it was bad by any means; she practices pretty hard. But, it wasn't turned up a notch like most of her actual performances are.

She obviously perceived this as well and seemed a bit despondent as we left the room. I told her that there will always be times when you don't perform as well as you know you can, but if you've really done your work, even less than your best can carry the day. The important thing is to not give up while there's still life in the game. To her credit, she definitely did not give up. She fought to the end of the piece and the last bit was probably the best part.

That last paragraph is somewhat fictionalized because I actually only got about halfway through the above statement when her accompanist ran up and told her she had gotten the highest score. Apparently, the judges are better at remembering that she's a Middle School kid than I am. By Middle School standards, she crushed it.

I thought back to my first Middle School solo competition, also as a 7th grader. The piece wasn't nearly as hard as the one Yaya played today. As beginner trombone pieces tend to be, it was a bit raucous and not only allowed, but encouraged some sloppiness. I got full marks, but I don't kid myself for a minute that I actually played it perfectly. Yaya's piece was a legit performance piece where any flaw was immediately exposed.

What impressed me most was that she spent several hours later in the day practicing. Most kids (and adults) would take a max score in a County-wide competition as permission to goof off for at least the rest of the day.

I've always wondered how things would have gone if I had chosen music instead of cycling. I'm pretty sure I know now. I had technique and I understood music, but I never had the passionate drive that Yaya shares with people who really get good. I would have been toast. What lies ahead for her is anybody's guess but only a fool would bet against her.