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.