You are a star.
Here in Texas, high school flute students have already started summer band (they started in July!) and are busy learning the All-State Etudes that were recently announced. I’ve been in a very reflective mood lately, much of which has to do with some of the new laws in Texas and how these laws impact even Texas All-State.
I grew up in Texas in the ’80s, and yes, I made Texas All-State. But it was due to a miracle of circumstances since I basically lived in a cotton field. There was no internet…anywhere. There were no audio recordings of the etudes with masterclasses (which I later created in my flute professor life at TTU). YouTube did not exist. Instagram and TikTok mini-tutorials weren’t around. Definitely, no Zoom classes to join. If you lived in a metropolitan area, you relied on your private lesson teacher to infuse you with All-State note-ability. If you lived in rural Texas, hopefully, you had a band director who knew a thing or two about how to play your instrument. Luckily, I had access to my band director’s wife, my first flute teacher, Jamie Shipp. And she saw my potential and was incredibly generous with her time. She also connected me with the other great West Texas flute teachers of the day, Martha Davis and Helen Blackburn. I got lucky. I got connected to teachers - amazing and generous teachers - who knew not only how to play the flute but also understood “the system.” I had grandparents willing to dedicate a significant portion of their income (earned on dusty oil rigs) to my fluting. Today, I ask, what about those students who don’t get lucky? Or who can’t afford the fees for lessons? Or who can’t travel 75 miles (which I had to do many times) to have a lesson?
I consider how the lack of resources, coupled with NOT making All-State (when making it gets so much hype), deepens a message that so many already feel: “You are not good enough.” Making All-State often has more to do with accessibility than ability. I believe that TMEA (the organizational driver of our All-State program here in Texas) has made great strides in creating more equity. I mean, in the ’80s, there was no ATSSB (Small School) or separate tracks for 4A, 5A, and 6A - it was one giant and messy audition pool. So, yes, that’s progress. But there is still a perception that ATSSB is “easier” than the TMEA 5A or 6A, and therefore the players aren’t “as good as.” How does this messaging layer on top of hyper-curated success stories on social media? Not well. What if our public school programs weren’t so focused on making All-State but centered completely on making music - on supporting the creative growth of the individual? 🤔 I know a lot of us are making music too, but come on, can we admit the ways we play into the spread of “All-State Syndrome?” And does the bigger “system” even give us a choice?
Last spring, I had an opportunity to take a 3-day digital story-telling workshop. We had to share a story about our own lives that could be impactful for our current students. I chose to develop a story around growing up in rural West Texas and navigating the Texas All-State and academic terrain. I’m choosing to share the product of that workshop with you today in hopes that maybe you’ll share it with a student who needs to hear it - or, heck, maybe even you need to hear it. It’s not a highly polished product (I had limited time to gather assets and work with the software) - and I haven’t touched it since the workshop - but the timing seems right to share. It feels a little vulnerable because, yeah, Texas All-State taught me to be a perfectionist, and this product is far from perfect - the balance on the audio is off, some of the images are grainy, and come on, it was the ‘80s! There are some awkward images in there!
Maybe being perfect isn’t what it’s about.
https://www.fluteand.com/learn/flute (click to view)
Shine on!
Lisa