We all started somewhere! Why is it that young musicians are afraid to ask for help? Why is it that a large percentage of younger musicians have the “I know” mentality? I don’t know the answer. I wonder, many times, WHY younger (and sometimes older) musicians don’t just take advice or constructive criticism. Maybe it’s because I was taught to “shut up and listen”. I played, for many years, with an older gentleman who taught me so many things, even if I had to pry it out of him. I watched him like a hawk and asked him questions to the point of annoying him sometimes, but he always answered them. When he told me, “do this…and don’t do that” I LISTENED! And when he told me once, I made sure that I remembered it for next time. I don’t think I ever answered him with an “I know”. When I got the “ponte las pilas” from him I knew I hadn’t reached his expectations. Even if I DID know something that he was trying to teach me, I always thought to myself, “well, maybe there’s some special way about it that he’s about to show me.” And that was usually the case. So, the point is, even though I SWORE that I already knew what he was going to tell me…I KNEW that arrangement front to back and had listened to 3 different arrangements of it…he ALWAYS had something in his ‘trick bag’ that blew my mind. So, to all you young players starting out, or even those that may have a few years under your belt, it is perfectly okay to NOT know something. Ask questions. Be open to learning. You’ll be surprised where that road takes you.