For One Brief Shining Moment Perfection Was Grasped

Justice, Chivalry and the noble pursuit of Perfection. A trifold approach to achieving Plato’s idealized Utopian society. Those of us familiar with English history, or perhaps musical theater, will recognize these as the hallmarks on which the Court of Camelot stood. We recall Camelot today with heartrending emotion. A sort of unattainable, Garden of Eden type, existence. What is it about these sorts of idyllic worlds that causes our souls to yearn for them? I believe that what we seek from these ideals is a more intimate relationship with God. Any society not based upon an overarching reach for perfection is ultimately going to leave humanity void and restless. As St. Augustine so famously said, “You have made us for Yourself O Lord and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee.” We pine to return to Eden because it is where our hearts can rest perfectly in God.

Utopia Comes To The Band Room

My hometown, Papillion, Nebraska, was, until recently, a rather small suburb just southwest of Omaha, Nebraska. Yet it was here that a cohort of teachers developed a trifold system of teaching that allowed a small town instrumental music program to flourish for almost three decades. The name Papillion ultimately becoming synonymous with the highest level of excellence in music education.

Just as our human hearts and souls yearn for perfection, that is to be with God, so too do lumps of clay yearn to be molded. There is potentially no lump of unmolded clay quite like a junior high aged student. Humans will work diligently if they have proper direction and attainable goals. Left to their own devices or decisions, however, they remain simply lumps of clay. When we are allowed to mold the clay, however, we can bring out the perfection that lies within, emulating the trinity through music.

Band, Lessons, Scales

In the pursuit of leading students to perfection, this cohort of teachers, John Svagera, Dick Keiser, Linda Boatright and Ken Molzer, used the foundation of Band, Lessons, and Scales to mold lumps of clay into first caliber musicians. Form and function must be one. We were made in the image and likeness of God because our function is to be like and with God. So too, a student enrolled in band cannot be a musician without being formed for their function.

God did not leave us to our own devices. He provided Himself as a refuge. He sent His Son to be a model for how we should live. The Father and the Son together give us the Holy Spirit to be wisdom, encouragement and guidance. There is no wisdom in simply giving a student a music book and hoping for the best. Band provides a community, a refuge to cling to. Lessons provide modeling to perfect musicianship and scales provide the knowledge (wisdom) to master an instrument. The Trinity emulated through music.

Saint Athanasius says that, “Nothing in the Trinity is before or after, nothing is greater or smaller; in their entirety the three persons are coeternal and coequal with each other.” So also in this music utopia, band was not greater than lessons nor lessons greater than scales. The ensemble could not be unified without each student striving for musicianship in individual lessons. Musicianship could not be attained without the knowledge of scales.

Attention to Detail

The great French composer and theorist Nadia Boulanger said that “life is denied by a lack of attention to detail.” The body cannot function without its vital organs and musical ensembles cannot function without properly formed musicians. Attention to detail. Musicianship cannot be attained without the perfection of scales. Our hearts cannot fully be like Christ without the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ then we rehearse perfection to one day stand in the presence of God. Jesus Himself said that, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” We cannot sidestep Jesus for a direct line to God. We cannot fully emulate Jesus without guidance from the Holy Spirit. The program must be followed exactly. Perfection and excellence stem directly from strict adherence to detail.

St. John Henry Newman said that, “to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” We cannot remain stagnant. Simply knowing our notes is not good enough. Mastering only the C or the G Major scale means nothing if it is a culmination. We must all strive to be in the “15 Club,¹” that is perfecting all 15 scales in every quarter of our lives. There maybe some quarters where we are only able to master 9 scales to squeak by with an A or perhaps we get an even lower grade in some of life’s lowest points. Ultimately though we must pursue the accolades of the “15 Club,” as it is in mastering and perfecting ourselves that we become saints and worthy to stand in the presence of God.

What Once Was And Could Be Again

As the initial cohort of instructors retired, new teachers with new ideas were hired to replace them. One by one each leg was removed from the stool and band, lessons and scales proved to be to much of a burden or to time consuming. Obedience to the method was gone and so was excellence. All flashy new methods and concepts do, however, is blur our vision of the final destination. There is no “easy” or “do it yourself” method of getting there. Band, lessons and scales. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No part by itself, only in unity. The Trinity and music mirror each other.

Jaco Pastorius, famous bass player, quipped, “it ain’t bragging if you can back it up.” When students are transformed into musicians through band, lessons and scales there is no limitations as to what can be achieved. 7th and 8th grade ensembles routinely performed high school level literature. High school ensembles were on par with college ensembles in performance technique and quality.

When we are in tune completely with the fullness of the trinity, we become completely free of spirit. Through learning to trust fully we meld fully with the Body of Christ. To become one in Him is our final destination. The “15 Club” is our quarter by quarter pathway to get there. By the model of the Trinity, through music, we can ultimately grasp HE who is perfection.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/swedish_meatballs/

For almost 30 years the Papillion-Lavista Band program but on an annual Smorgasbord every spring. Swedish Meatballs were a staple on the menu every year.

1. The “15 Club” was a modicum used to acknowledge students who perfectly played all 15 Major and minor scales in any given quarter. The requirements gradated each quarter so that there was continual building. 1st Quarter was all Major scales with arpeggios. 2nd Quarter was Major scales and Natural minor scales with arpeggios. 3rd Quarter was Major scales and all 3 forms of the minor scales. 4th quarter was a bit of a reprieve at the end of the year, only Major scales and arpeggios. ↩︎