Summey 1

Kelsey Summey
Ms. Ingram
UWRIT 1101
21 September 2014
He Never Gave Up
Throughout my musical career, Ive never had any problems learning how to read music,
play music, or at least feel the music, but my first bass was having problems with all of this. His
name was Andrew Patella. He was a rising freshman, who happened to be extremely short. He
had brown, flowy hair and large brown eyes. Andrew wasnt a bass player, as he was more of a
Marimba or Xylophone player. He decided to give this position a shot, but he was struggling big
time. Andrews main problem was that he was insecure and unconfident in his drumming.
Being his captain, I took it upon myself to help him increase his confidence and get him ready
for the season.
One early summer morning, Andrew called me panicking. As I remember, it was about
6:00AM when I got the call. The sun was shining bright in my eyes, and birds were right outside
my window. This call surprised me because band camp started at 8:00AM, and I usually got up
around 7:15AM. He asked if I could meet him over at the school at 7:00AM so I could help him
with the music. I couldnt say no, so I agreed. Before hanging up, I told him, Ill pick you up
on the way to school. Grab your drum, your music, and a bunch of highlighters. Ill bring the
metronome, but be ready because weve got work to do. Around 6:45AM, I arrived at his house
to pick him up. His mother met me outside as she said, Good morning Kelsey! I smiled at

Summey 2

her, replied, and then continued to help Andrew load his drum into my car. We were ready!
While in the car, I asked him what was going on. He replied, Im not sure! I know how to read
the music, but its just not working. I look at you, Sam, and Daniel, and you guys get everything
so quickly. It feels as if Im holding the whole drum line back, and I dont mean to do it! This
saddened me because I knew that Andrew was doing everything he could to fix this problem. I
said back to Andrew, Youre not holding anyone back at all. Youre the only freshman on the
line, so we have more experience than you. It took us all a lot of time to get used to playing
together. Youll get there, and well help you get there without a doubt!
By the time we arrived at the school, it was about 6:55AM. Marc Schaub, our band
director, was there to unlock the large cobalt blue band doors. Schaub is a 62 chubby man with
a heavy beard on his face. He has a small bald spot on his head, although he covers it with a lazy
comb over with his brown hair. On this day, Schaub was wearing a navy polo shirt with MT, for
Mount Tabor, on the right side of the shirt.

We walked in, and I began to look around. I saw

that the large, tiled room was emptier than usual. There were no music stands left on the floor,
and there were no instruments hanging around the room. I looked up and to the left to see the
perfectly situated drum cases on top of the lockers. The last thing I noticed was the many
trophies we had on the other side of the room from previous years before. Schaub asked, Why
are you daydreaming? I replied, explaining that I was really sleepy but weve got to get to work.
Andrew was beside me taking out his drum, and I began setting up bass stands. He brought
everything I asked him to, and I was sure to put him straight to work. I made Andrew go through
and highlight his individual parts, so he wouldnt be playing any of the other basses parts. I
looked at the clock, and it was approximately 7:10AM. I said, Lets make these 50 minutes
count! I started the metronome, and he started playing. After a few tries, he got frustrated. I

Summey 3

calmed him down and convinced him to keep trying. He couldnt get it! I tried everything.
First, I tried making him play the rhythms over and over again; it didnt work. Secondly, I tried
making him sing his part; it didnt work. Lastly, I made him piece together his part, but that
didnt work either. Some part of me wanted to give up, but I knew that I would never forgive
myself if I did give up. Andrew looked helpless, so I hugged him and said, Were going to get
through this. If we have to meet every morning at 7AM until you get it, we will. Because youre
not giving up, Im not giving up.
It was around 7:50AM, and members of the band were starting to flood the band room. I
told Andrew, Zone them out and focus on what were doing. This is more important than
them. I knew that we had to get this done before 8AM, so I had to do some quick thinking. For
me, Ive never had to think about counting the notes on the page because it wasnt necessary, but
for Andrew, it might be a different story. I told him, I have one more method up my sleeve.
This is the only other teaching style I can think of, and I hope it works. If not, well do this again
tomorrow, and Ill bring some new ideas! He had a scared look on his face, but I continued to
say, Im going to slow down the metronome, and youre going to count out the rhythms. When
you have the counting down pact, I want you to play it while counting. After you master that,
I want you to play the rhythms without counting. Andrew agreed, and I started the metronome.
It was around 7:57AM at this time, and the rest of the drum line was standing around watching
us. They were cheering him on, motivating him through the process. He immediately got the
counting down, and a small load was lifted off my chest. I told him to start playing and counting
simultaneously. He messed up the first time, and a frown came across his face. Andrew kept
trying, and he got it! I told him, Youre doing great! Keep going! Try this two more times
then move on to playing the drum alone! He played the phrase perfectly the next two times,

Summey 4

and then continued to play the phrase perfectly without counting. Andrew was so happy and
relieved, and his happiness was an outcome of him not giving up. He hugged me, and I said, I
told you that we would get there!
My literacies in music and leadership didnt make sense until I witnessed Andrew play
through the phrase perfectly. The feelings that were going through me cannot be explained.
They were a combination of pride, success, nervousness, happiness and satisfaction. It was the
weirdest feeling Ive ever felt. The moment when Andrew played perfectly was the product of
four years of hard work and dedication. Ive studied to become a confident and effective leader,
and I also worked hard to perfect my musical literacies. Without Andrew in my life, I would
never have the same amount of confidence that I have today. By assisting him in improving his
confidence, it improved mine. It can be established that my current literacies will never leave
me, and I plan on developing more as I continue college. These literacies will, one day, be used
to define me as a person and be a reflection of my life.