Groove Academy Hero – Alex Hiebert

 

Alex Hiebert started playing clarinet at age of eleven when he joined the grade 6 band at his school. Clarinet was Alex’s first instrument. When asked what he loved the most about the clarinet, he said, “It was the fact that it had most of the melody”

Here is our interview with Alex, where he will share with us how he accomplished the playing level he did and the importance of having and keeping music in his life.

 

What was your parent’s involvement like? 

They really supported me. They paid for my lessons and of course my instrument, but they never really had to motivate me to play. I just always loved playing. At the beginning they told me…”If we’re going to be paying for this, you better be practicing”. And that was it, that’s what we agreed on. 

 

They really supported me. They paid for my lessons and of course my instrument, but they never really had to motivate me to play. I just always loved playing. At the beginning they told me…”If we’re going to be paying for this, you better be practicing”. And that was it, that’s what we agreed on. 

 

 

Who were some of your first musical influences? It was definitely, I’d have to say Shannon, from Groove Academy. I was really fortunate to have her. Mr. Johnson from high school was an influence. But especially Shannon, I would say she is the biggest influence for me. 

 

 

What does it take to be a better musician?

 

What drove you to become a better musician? 

That’s the strange thing. I didn’t really have specific goals, I just loved playing clarinet. Through Shannon, she just motivated me to keep going and she knew when it was time for me to get onto the next level of music or for the next step. She just told me….”I think we should move up a level and do this song or”this”….” and it just kept going.

 

How has being involved in music shaped your life? 

Well, I still play once in a while, not as much as I’d like, due to my new career, but, (and I know this sounds cliché), but music is a universal language. There’s just some words you can’t express without music. There’s a whole different emotional level with music.

It’s just nice having music to come back to because it’s really relaxing to play, and I can shut my mind off and just play and it’s really peaceful for me. It is very therapeutic for sure. If you’re having a stressful day, you can just play, and it’s very relaxing. 

 

There’s just some words you can’t express without music. There’s a whole different emotional level with music

 

What was it like playing for the Aikins Memorial Trophy? 

Looking back on that, I just couldn’t believe I made it this far….”how did I get to this point”. I just couldn’t believe that I could achieve that big of an accomplishment. It was just one step at a time. I was even playing against university students that were there.

During the day I was actually roofing at the time, and after I was done work I would go home and practice. I couldn’t believe I got there, but I performed and it went really well, I was really happy with the performance. That night I didn’t win of course, but I was just so happy to play there. 

..it was just one step at a time

 

What mostly contributed to you getting to that point? 

Putting in the time every day, or at the very least 5 times per week. I would practice anywhere from 45min to 2 hours every time I practiced. Also, taking it step by step and having Shannon there, keeping me on track and tweaking what’s going on. Definitely staying with it and being constant with it was most important.

 

 

How important is it to have a good music teacher?

 

How important do you think it is to have a good teacher or mentor? 

I think it’s very important. Because sometimes when you’re playing you don’t hear certain things. And a good instructor can critique you and tell you “you have to crescendo “here”, do “this”, or the fingerings or rhythms are incorrect. So it’s very important to have an instructor, especially to keep you motivated and on task as well and to keep you going in the right direction. 

 

 

-Alex Hiebert is now working towards becoming a paramedic.