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SteveDallas · 06-03-2003, 09:25 PM

Ahh, nightmares. Fleas, rats--ick!! Next to that it sounds kinda silly to have nightmares over music lessons. But...

When you're a music student, you have to do a "jury" every semester, which means you play for a bunch of faculty and they give you a grade. Minor pressure. As a music history major, I had to pass through the "junior" level successfully. Some few days prior to this final jury, I had a dream.

I was in my teacher's studio having a lesson. Now, my teacher was the most congenial, supportive man you could imagine. He could find something positive in anybody's playing. (That's not to say he wasn't critical, but he was nice about it.) So, I was playing, and my teacher said, "You sound like shit. And you're flunking your jury tomorrow." At this point the phone rang and he picked it up and talked for a moment. After he hung up he said, "Boy, are you lucky. That was the head of the woodwind department. They didn't have enough space to schedule all the juries tomorrow, so some of them are rescheduled. You don't have to do yours till Saturday."

At this point, I woke up in a cold sweat. I wasn't really worried about this... was I?? I went back to sleep.

It is now SATURDAY, and I'm back in the studio for another lesson. And my teacher, Mr. Nice Guy, says, "Hey you know something--you still sound like shit. And you're still going to flunk that jury. And there's going to be no last-minute schedule change to save your butt this time."

I woke up again, and now I was really freaked, for two reasons. 1, these were the most realistic dreams I had ever had. Usually a dream has some surreal elements. This was absolutely completely 100% realistic in every detail, from the wallpaper in the studio, to my beaten-up clarinet case, to the pencil markings on the music I was (trying) to play. And 2, it was (and still is) the only time I had two separate dreams with the same setting and situation on the same night. It took me quite a bit longer to get back to sleep this time... and fortunately there were no more dreams.

Of course, when I related all this to Mr. NG at my next lesson, he chuckled and said, "don't worry about it, you'll do fine." And he was right.

06-03-2003, 09:25 PM	#5
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Ahh, nightmares. Fleas, rats--ick!! Next to that it sounds kinda silly to have nightmares over music lessons. But... When you're a music student, you have to do a "jury" every semester, which means you play for a bunch of faculty and they give you a grade. Minor pressure. As a music history major, I had to pass through the "junior" level successfully. Some few days prior to this final jury, I had a dream. I was in my teacher's studio having a lesson. Now, my teacher was the most congenial, supportive man you could imagine. He could find something positive in anybody's playing. (That's not to say he wasn't critical, but he was nice about it.) So, I was playing, and my teacher said, "You sound like shit. And you're flunking your jury tomorrow." At this point the phone rang and he picked it up and talked for a moment. After he hung up he said, "Boy, are you lucky. That was the head of the woodwind department. They didn't have enough space to schedule all the juries tomorrow, so some of them are rescheduled. You don't have to do yours till Saturday." At this point, I woke up in a cold sweat. I wasn't really worried about this... was I?? I went back to sleep. It is now SATURDAY, and I'm back in the studio for another lesson. And my teacher, Mr. Nice Guy, says, "Hey you know something--you still sound like shit. And you're still going to flunk that jury. And there's going to be no last-minute schedule change to save your butt this time." I woke up again, and now I was really freaked, for two reasons. 1, these were the most realistic dreams I had ever had. Usually a dream has some surreal elements. This was absolutely completely 100% realistic in every detail, from the wallpaper in the studio, to my beaten-up clarinet case, to the pencil markings on the music I was (trying) to play. And 2, it was (and still is) the only time I had two separate dreams with the same setting and situation on the same night. It took me quite a bit longer to get back to sleep this time... and fortunately there were no more dreams. Of course, when I related all this to Mr. NG at my next lesson, he chuckled and said, "don't worry about it, you'll do fine." And he was right.