Sennett has been gifted with the talent that is Mr. Frederick. Mr. Frederick, band and general music teacher, agreed to be interviewed for our Know your Sennatter series. He was interviewed by our correspondent Eli A. This is an edited (for readability) version of their conversation.
EA: When did you first start playing instruments and what was your first instrument?
Samuel Frederick: I first started playing in a band in 1999 in 5th grade and my first instrument was the euphonium, which is like a small tuba.
EA: How old were you when you first started playing instruments?
SF: In that year [fifth grade], I would have been 10 years old, but at that point I had a couple years of piano lessons.
EA: Do you have a favorite instrument?
SF: My favorite instrument that I’ve played is actually the second instrument that I learned to play: the trombone. I was in high school when I first started learning the trombone to be in the Jazz Band, because they wouldn’t let a euphonium player be in the Jazz Band. So I spent some time with my church’s organ player who is also a professional trombone player and he taught me how to play trombone for a few months. Those were just some of the most fun lessons I’ve ever had, and when I finally got into that Jazz Band, I felt like I had really accomplished something.
EA: Are there any styles of music you enjoy?
SF: Outside the world of band music, I do like Bluegrass. My favorite bluegrass group is called Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.
EA: Are there any instruments outside of the band area that you have played?.
SF:Yes, actually I have taken classes in classical guitar. So we’re talking like a guitar that you would hear in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, not really your rock-and-roll style guitar. And as I mentioned before, I did take piano lessons. In most concert bands you don’t see a piano player but some include a piano player. I also taught myself how to play a drum set.
EA: Are there any instruments that you wish you knew how to play?
SF: I wish I knew how to play guitar better. The class I took was only for two days. And as soon as I was done with that, I kind of started losing some of those skills. I kind of wish I was a little better at the guitar because there’s a lot of students here who are really good at the guitar and I wish I could play along.
EA: Were you in the marching band in high school or college?
SF: Yes and yes. It was a requirement of my high school to be in the marching band for all four years. It was just kind of a part of the culture there, so I would always have to do the homecoming parade and we’d do a marching band show at halftime for the homecoming game. But then I kept going on actually in college. I went to the Rose Bowl three times. The Badgers went three times in a row in my Sophomore, Junior and Senior year so I got to go to California three years in a row. We did a 6-mile parade though through the California desert with a lot of other people and went right up to that Stadium where the game is.
EA: What inspired you to start teaching music?
SF: Well, my mom is a public educator. She is kind of a Speech & Language interpreter or a special ed teacher. I remember watching her do that a lot and knowing that I wanted to become a teacher. I actually didn’t want to be a music teacher at first. At first I was thinking of being a computer teacher because I like computers and programming code, though by the time I graduated high school I actually found that I had a really big interest in U.S history. I found it very fascinating, the whole idea that we learn from our history to change who we are today. That’s kind of what I initially went to college for. I spent maybe two years thinking I’d be more like a social studies teacher and I realized I would need to take a few more classes that I wasn’t too interested in. But I was, as you know, in the marching band. I was playing in a different band on Tuesday nights, so I just decided music is the thing that I wanted to do. I ended up going to college a little bit longer than I wanted to because I had to transition and take some more classes. I found myself as a senior in a lot of classes with freshmen when I switched to music which was an interesting experience and I don’t regret it.
EA: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
SF: This is going to sound very familiar to anybody who’s been in my band classes before, but understand that mistakes are only opportunities to improve. I, as somebody who used to give up on myself quite a bit, understand that feeling when you encounter something difficult or you’re going for something 3, 4, 5 times and you make a mistake 3, 4, 5 times. The instinct is to quit and give up. But the thing is, if you always quit and give up, your brain learns to quit and give up. Then that idea of just giving up on something is much easier to do.
So I just advise anybody aspiring to be any sort of musician, professional or casual, just allow yourself to make mistakes. Struggle is not a bad word in music.
