Today's lesson: don't be discouraged.

For a short hour I went back to work on the song "Make a Move" with the Three Blind Mice from Motown, eventually adding Donkey into the mix for the first time.  Music rehearsals are getting shorter and shorter and we are in a time crunch to learn as much music as we can.  The last time I worked with the Mice, we established what the song should sound like and how their parts stack up in the tight harmonies; I also gave them several intervals to listen for that would help them find their parts more easily.  Today we encountered some similar problems from the last rehearsal; note transitions from phrase to phrase, singing confidently, etc.  Even with repetition for an hour, it was still hard for them to wrap their brains around certain parts of the song.

We ran the song with the rehearsal track a few times to at least get entrances and rhythms into their bodies.  They sounded terrific, yet at the end of our short time together their faces carried looks of panic and frustration and disappointment.  The very last words I said to them before we went home were: "Don't be discouraged.  Don't give up.  We had these chords once and we'll get them again!"  I told them if one of them ever wants to practice a part during a break in rehearsal, to find me and I will  help them in any way I can.

We have all experienced self-doubt and frustration, whether in music or school or work...or life in general.  The motto I always remember is one from one of my mom's favorite movies: "Never give up.  Never surrender!"  The more you fight back, the more resilient you will become, and you'll learn something along the way, too.  There is always a way to make it work.