1/3 Epic Forward

[crystallions]

Woohoo! Gideon's Return was forwarded for the Epic listing. I also had two returns and want to share something I was reminded of as this happened. The screener pretty much said "These pieces are good but not great". It reminded me of something that happened when I took composition lessons in college...I came to my lesson with a new piece that I was pretty happy with. It was a piece for string ensemble written in the style of Swedish folk music. I grew up in Sweden and played folk music with a group of students there for many years so I can write a piece like that in a couple of hours. I put it in front of him and asked what he thought. He chewed me out. He told me to stop wasting his time and that if all I wanted to do was play around I could stop coming to the lessons. He said that while this piece would be the best some of his other students could do in that genre he knew it was easy for me and was tired of me not trying harder - not wanting to grow. He told me to start pushing my boundaries or to find something else to do besides composing. Then he told me to leave and either come back with something better the following week or to not come at all. At first I felt upset about it. It was a good solid piece. I knew he was right though. It was not my best. I had not put a lot of effort into it. I could do better if I tried harder.This reminded me that good isn't good enough. Why stop at good? I want to go further and reach higher. If we get comfortable and stop pushing forward and outward we will never know what could have been. I had hit a point where I was pretty comfortable with what I do. This reminded me that I need to keep on learning - keep on moving. So I am getting out of my sofa and lacing my running shoes... I can do better that good! Most of you have probably heard Gideon already but if you haven't you can find it here...Gideon's Returnwww.taxi.com/lydialashton~ Lydia

[fusilierb]

Wow, did we have the same composition teacher?! At the time I didn't get it, but when I was in school and writing my butt off each week, only to have my professor rip everything I did to shreds, I didn't realize that I was actually learning the most valuable music lesson of all. Don't ever get so attached to what you've written that you can't throw everything away and start over. Music is malleable and no matter how much you've think you've just come up with the next greatest thing, you can always improve upon it. You definitely took the criticism the right way. It can always be better! And it's good to have other people you can trust, who won't settle for your (all of our sometimes) lazyness. I'm the lazyest of all. Most of the time I just settle for good enough, when I should be constantly pushing to make it better and better. So lace up those running shoes and show those f*&#$#er's that you're better than they even imagined you could be. Congrats on your forward. It's a really great piece of epic goodness.B

[allends]

Feb 4, 2009, 10:14am, crystallions wrote:Gideon's Returnwww.taxi.com/lydialashtonCongratulations, Lydia!!I have always liked this piece. I love how the basses start the song and a really like the argeggiated strings at 0:36. And the way your build starts at 01:04 is just wonderful.Your inspirational story is very important reading for anyone who needs to grow. I'd say that's just about everybody. This is only the beginning!Allen

[orest]

Congrats Lydia! Fantastic news and a fantastic song

[jwebbinspired]

Wow Lydia!! I really like this, it is very triumphant and glorious. I feel like going on a run now. Congratulations on the forward. Andy

[stevebarden]

Hi Lydia,Congrats on the forward. This is a really nice piece. I also liked your story about not trying hard enough. A valuable life lesson! The ironic thing is that when you're up against a tight deadline you have to resort to what you do best and trust your instincts. But in terms of growing as an artist you should never be satisfied with just "good enough".Steve

[georginasaint]

Hi Lydia, congrats on the very well deserved forward!I can't thank you enough for sharing your story here -- it's a reminder and very inspirational... I kind of had the opposite experience (my dad taught me, so he thought everything I did was BRILLIANT for the most part) and so it's been a much harder lesson for me to learn. So here you are, pulling up the standard of all Taxi members who come this way... Good luck - hope you hear about this one...Georgie

[crystallions]

Thank you B, Allen, orest, Andy, Steve and Georgie! B - it sure sounds like our teachers may be related... Steve - you are so right. When you have a tight deadline you do have to resort to what you do best and not start exploring new things. And I think that is where I got stuck in a rut lately. I was so busy meeting deadlines that I didn't take time to grow. To listen to advice and then implement what I learned in my work so that next time I have a tight deadline I have more tools in my belt. (hope that made sense)

[jeffgreenleaf]

Congrats! Excellent work!

[crystallions]

Thanks Jeff!