So Many Dishes

I had a poster in my classroom that quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” It was a quote I referred my students to often.

As a musician, I know how easy it is to tell when a performer doesn’t have enthusiasm for what they’re doing. I think other people know, too. After all, the phrase “mailing it in” or “phoning it in” is expressing a lack of feeling or commitment for whatever the task, which is really just another way to say that the person is unenthusiastic.

One of my classes had a very personal lesson about enthusiasm. The choral director of the high school that most of my middle school students would attend brought some of his students to sing for my advanced chorus class, to try to encourage them to sign up for chorus at the high school. The teacher was a well known and highly regarded director, and when he asked if my students would sing for him, I felt flattered. We performed one of the pieces they knew well. His response to them was, “it’s too bad you don’t look as good as you sound.” Their eyes opened wide. They realized that, while their singing had been technically correct, it lacked feeling, and it showed on their faces. They didn’t forget that lesson for the rest of the year. And I used that line—too bad you don’t look as good as you sound—with probably every choir I worked with after that. So, really, I have two favorite quotes!