Letters

Ignore the Nay Sayers

I enjoyed the My Turn article by Steve Burch in the February 2001 AST issue. I am a string teacher who taught band for a year. Theoretically, a music education degree with K–12 certification prepares you for everything. But I will tell you I felt extremely uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the wind instruments. My students learned with me and learned from my mistakes, too! Sometimes you just have to do it and not be afraid to be a fool occasionally!

In my studio teaching, being a cellist, the upper strings also intimidated me at first. Because carrying a cello from school to school was impractical, I learned the violin in a hurry. I joined as many community string groups as possible to get myself playing the violin and viola. Like Mr. Burch, I found several band and string teachers who were willing to help me in many ways. My advice: ignore the nay sayers and make music as best as you can.