President's Message

Pat Stegall
President, Alabama Music Educators' Association

SOS - Standards, Opportunities, Service 

In December of 2007, Lloyd Jones from the University of North Alabama asked me to speak at the “Pride of Dixie” band banquet. It was a great honor and a wonderful experience to be able to share some of my thoughts on what membership in the “POD” and becoming a music educator has meant to me.   

Standards  

My focus for the speech was on three letters; SOS. It was not by design that I chose these three letters, but three words that came to mind when I started thinking about what the POD had done for me: SOS- Standards, Opportunities, and Service.  I learned from Dr. Edd Jones, Art Thomas, and Dr. Jimmy Simpson about setting high musical standards.  Art Thomas was the Theory and Brass Instructor back then and I just about grew up in his home.  His son, John was one of my best friends and I spent a lot of time during junior high and high school, listening as Mr. Thomas taught private lessons in his living room.  Mr. Thomas was very slow and very methodical.  I remember taking class brass with him and we free buzzed for several weeks before ever playing on the horn.  He believed that you must get the fundamental tone production right before moving on to other more complex things.  Even though it took forever to get there, he taught us to make quality our number one responsibility as players and as teachers.   

Dr. Simpson was totally different in his teaching style.  He was the band director my freshman and sophomore years and was my clarinet teacher.  He was the one who set my standards for playing.  I tried hard to emulate his sound and envied his ability to tongue faster than any human being I had ever heard on clarinet.  His technical ability was phenomenal.  He was my mentor as a clarinetist and later when I became a band director.  Doc always looked at the big picture.  He was demanding, funny, and always asked probing questions to make us stretch our thinking.  He guided us to set high standards for ourselves.   

Dr. Jones was definitely the most influential person for me when it comes to musical standards.  He set the bar at perfection.  There was nothing else that was acceptable.  I remember his first rehearsal.  We had never heard of “broad staccato” so he spent two hours explaining the concept.  By the end of the rehearsal, we could play one scale in that style.  I think that was all we did during that rehearsal, except for looking at the cement blocks on the bandroom wall a hundred times while he tried to make the connection for us.  I think people are always impressed by how cleanly the POD plays and it goes all the way back to that two hour rehearsal on broad staccato.  We knew then that his high standards were going to take us places.   

Opportunities 

The Pride of Dixie taught me that life offered many opportunities.  I think back and many opportunities come to mind…the opportunity to build friendships, perform, teach, develop a career, travel, make non-fatal mistakes, achieve goals, personal growth, open discussions…etc. 

I had the opportunity to make so many friends through the Pride of Dixie.  Even before I was old enough to be a member the POD was influencing my life.  My best friends have come to me through the band.  I was friends with Mike Theil when we were in junior high school band, who was the son of Art Theil, the UNA band director.  I was also best friends with John Thomas, whose father, Art Thomas, was assistant director and brass and theory professor.  Jamey Irby was another best friend.  His father, Elwyn Irby, was the band director at Central High School and was best friends with Dr. Frank McArthur, another UNA director. I grew up in these peoples homes and they had a tremendous impact on my life.   

My friendship circle grew once I became a member of the POD.  Through traveling together, playing in musicals, dating, senior recital parties, collegiate singers, and internships, I came to know a great group of people who influenced my life and career to this very day.  I even met my wife, Mary Ann, who was a majorette for the POD. 

I was in the band with some wonderful people. There was Regina King from Phil Campbell HS who always had a passion for discussing how superior the cornet was to the trumpet… and Dexter Greenhaw, from Athens HS who was multi-talented on bass guitar and trumpet and had the most positive outlook on life of anyone in the group…Sadly, Regina and Dexter both passed away in 2007.  They are both sorely missed by their friends, families and the band world.  Wes Maddox was another person who gave me the opportunity to teach my first band camp at Hollypond H.S. and to learn about working as a team to teach a show.  Ken Simpson, from Atlanta was the first drummer I ever got along with and who helped me to appreciate and enjoy jazz. 

The POD provided me with opportunities to perform in recitals, ballgames, studio lab band, musicals, concerts and SOAR. I was able to play in many different situations.   

The POD provided me with opportunities to travel to New Orleans and Gatlinburg.  On the Gatlinburg trip I learned about the kindness of strangers.  I lost my wallet someone found it and mailed it to me with all of the contents intact except for the $3 postage.  It contained thirty dollars which was all the money I had to my name, and my drivers license!  I have since had the opportunity to repay that good deed several times.  

Non-fatal mistakes are always personal growth opportunities.  There was the time after our freshman year, my friends and I commandeered practice room number 119 as our hideout.  We didn’t practice very much, but we wrote lots of crazy songs.  Dr. Simpson eventually banned us from using that room as our hideout! 

Service

Through the POD I learned about service.  One of the things I took with me from UNA was that leadership is about service.  Leading is not about telling some what to do, but it is about serving others.  I had some great examples to follow.             

Some of classmates during that time have been tremendous leaders for our state music associations.  I have classmates that served as Outstanding Band Directors, Principals, School Superintendents, District Chairmen, AMEA Presidents, state coordinators for Tri-M Music organization, many committee members for ABA, and Phi Beta Mu International bandmaster fraternity members.  Collectively, my classmates have produced thousands of incredibly talented music students. 

Because of our background through the POD we learned the value of service to our school, our community, our state and to ourselves. 

So, what does my experience with the POD have to do with Music Education?  Just as I started this article, I believe that the three letters, SOS, state what that influence has been.  First…Standards…as music educators, we must set the standards high so that the activity will continue to stretch and grow.  Second…Opportunities…music educators must seek and provide opportunities for personal growth so that we may become better teachers, musicians and citizens. Third…Service…being a music educator teaches you to be a servant to others and to teach others that leadership is about service.   

I challenge you to continue to set the standards higher and higher, and increase the opportunities for more and more students, and to encourage your students to take on leadership roles as servants for the cause of Music Education.  I personally look forward to serving you as AMEA President.