in my brother’s shoes

I knew from the beginning of this week that it was going to be a good one, if not a very memorable week.  Spring Break (woo woo!) starts tomorrow, so that was already a given for a good week.  But, last night also was something I was looking forward to.

Every November, Matt, my family, and I attend a very fancy auction that supports my brother’s school association.  A few years ago, my grandpa bid on conducting my brother’s band (he is a high school band/choir teacher) at one of their concerts and won.  When the same item came up for bid again at this year’s auction, I knew I wanted to follow in my grandpa’s footsteps and support my brother, so I bid.

AND I WON!

I’m not going to lie, I freaked out a little bit when I won this.  I am a PE teacher.  Sure, I can stand up in front of kids and teach them different activities.  But, conducting a band?  Yeah, I played the flute in my grade school band for 4 years, played piano for years, was in choir all through high school, and still sing in my church’s choir, so it’s not that I don’t know music. In fact, if it wasn’t for my love of fitness + nutrition, I probably would’ve gone into music.

But, conducting a band?  Now, that’s something I know nothing about.  When I got to the concert last night, my brother brought me up in front of the band and showed me how to get them started.  I looked down at the music and saw this:

 Source.  Not the actual music I conducted.

Um, I know how to read 1, maybe 2 lines of music at the same time.  But, THAT many lines.  Oh dear me.  What did I get myself into?

But, you know, what?  Once I got up there in front of the band and audience, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought.  Yes, I would’ve definitely have liked to practice ahead of time (as my high school choir teacher would say, “Perfect practice makes perfect”), but at least I knew how to read music.  It was so much fun, and I got a few reassuring smiles from a few of the girls when I actually did look up from the music.  And thank goodness the first staff line was for the piccolo, because she was sitting right in front of me, so any time I got lost, I just looked to see what she was doing and found my place again.

That’s probably the most nervous I have been for anything in a long time, but it was great to step out of my comfort zone and do something I never imagined I would be doing.

 
I am so lucky to have such a wonderful big brother!  He is so incredibly talented with music, whether it is conducting, singing, or playing an instrument.  Which I guess is part of the reason I stuck to sports instead of music – it would be hard to be in his shadow my entire life.  But, I love him to death, and now have my own conducting baton so I can be just like my big brother!  I knew I’d get there someday…