5 Gifts Musicians Can Expect to Receive This Year
We’re nearing the end of the strangest year most of us have lived through, and the holiday season is going to look as different as anything else has. We’ll all have a little less Leroy Anderson in our lives (I know I’ll miss trying to squeeze in those bass spins during “Sleigh Ride”) and a few too many cookies as we fill our quarantine time with holiday baking but have no gatherings to take them to.
No doubt, gift giving will also look a little different this year. Here are five gifts you can expect to receive this year, or might want to consider giving to the musicians in your life!
1. Soundproofing Foam
From your quarantine crew
No matter how much they love you and how many cookies you bake them, they’re getting pretty tired of hearing your Zoom lessons and whatever practicing you’re finding the motivation to do. They wanted a subtle way to say it, but everyone wants a little peace in 2021, and your roommates and/or significant other are no exception.
2. One of these CD’s
From the extended family member trying to connect with “the musician in the family”
The only thing about this well-meaning gift that’s unique to this year is that it will be mailed and unwrapped during a Zoom call instead of at a big family gathering. Bonus points if you have the ability to play a CD and aren’t lying when you say you can’t wait to listen to it. At least some things never change?
3. A Snuggie
From the friend who really gets you
Working from home has changed the definition of business casual, but classical performance attire has barely changed over the last 200 years. 
2020, however, is an unprecedented year! The friend who knows you best gets that you want to stay cozy while you work on your chops and your presence as an ever-evolving “21st Century Musician.” A snuggie is basically a blanket designed to wear while holding an instrument, and what every work-from-home musician needs going into the winter!
If you have a virtual performance dress-code, you may have to search a little to find one in concert black, but you’ll be among the first of the trend of musicians dressed in performance wear that looks accessible to all types of audience members.
4. A bottle of Trader Joe’s finest
From the friend who is on as tight a budget as you are
Because 2020.
5. One of those wavy inflatable arm guys
From you to you
Because you’re worried that you’ve forgotten how to follow a conductor during this year of virtual performances, and you know a gift to yourself will help jumpstart your practicing in 2021.
They do actually make desktop versions of these. Treat Yo’self!
Stay safe and well this holiday season! Put on your most embarrassing albums while you bake, then eat too many cookies and enjoy every one. Spend some afternoons reading or catching up on Netflix, and forgive yourself the lost practice time (but really though). It’s been quite a year and we could all use a moment to step back and unwind.
Double Bassist Andrea Beyer is an avid performer, teacher and advocate for using music as a tool for social growth. As an orchestral musician, Andrea has performed in concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as national halls in Central and South America and Asia. A fellow at the New World Symphony from 2017-2020, she gained a passion for creative concert design when she conceived of and presented concerts geared towards new audiences, including “Face-off: Battle of the Instruments” and “Music from Beyond the Wall.”
Outside of the orchestral world, Andrea is a passionate teacher and is on the faculty of Bass Works, a summer double bass program in Baltimore, Maryland. She is also the Public Relations Director and a Workshop Coordinator for the MusAid Organization, which supports music programs in under-resourced countries with volunteer music teaching workshops. Andrea holds a Bachelors Degree from Oberlin Conservatory where she studied with Thomas Sperl and a Masters Degree from Yale University where she studied with Don Palma.
Currently based in Austin, Texas, you can connect with Andrea at andreabeyerbass.com or find her on Instagram @wandering_bassline.
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