The World Does NOT Revolve Around You

Listen, you spoiled little cretins, the world does not revolve around you, I patiently explained.

Youre kidding right? hooted my students derisively.

Pick up your instruments, start together on the downbeat and count carefully.

How many music teachers have had the first part of that conversation? Almost none, at least not out loud. The second installment is an every day plea for many.

Our youth-obsessed culture seems to make a liar out of me, but lest you think your work is in vain, let me present you with a few ideas.

One of the things adults commonly complain about in their later years looking back on school, aside from a lousy prom, was that they felt alone and like an outsider. The band and orchestra students that I have canvassed dont often feel that way. Isnt that interesting? Im lobbying to have my son do a graduate research project on this issue. Id love to see the results, wouldnt you?

Common sense, that harbinger of things everybody knows insists that if you learn to be part of a group that needs you in order to get something done, you will feel valuable and worthwhile. Anecdotal evidence supports this concept. ...