Tuning Slide 5.10- Beyond Playing Music Together

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.
— Casey Stengel

DIY Musician is a website that posts resources and ideas for independent musicians. I came across a post there about one of the potentially most difficult aspects of musicians working together- it is musicians working together. While we trumpet players have a reputation for being difficult to work with due to supposedly large egos, the truth is that most musicians can have the same difficulty. All of us have strong understandings of who we are and what we can do. All of us want music to be seen as important to us. The better we get we also find we can be both more self-centered and more humble.

The self-centeredness comes from an awareness that we know what we are doing and are capable of doing it. It is actually an extension of self-confidence. We have to believe that we can do our music and do it well or we wouldn’t try. Then, when we work with other musicians as either paid or volunteer musicians, we expect the same level of openness and ethic with our colleagues. We don’t want to waste our time with those who may not have the level of commitment. We fear it could hurt our skills and decrease our ability to make the music we want to make. Hence, the ego shows up. I was once talking with a friend who is also a musician. We were discussing the reputation that church musicians are at times difficult to get along with. He looked at me and commented- “Practice more and get better, and you will understand! I practiced more, I got better, and I understand.

But the humility- ah, the humility. If we are honest with ourselves and others we will know both that we are better than we used to be- and most likely now even more aware of how far we still have to go. It takes time and effort to get there. And, if we are truly open to new ideas, it also means teamwork! Chris Robley on the DIY Musician site has tips about musical teamwork- the pillars of effective collaboration. He uses an example from his own story to illustrate how teamwork can and will build all levels of musicianship. He starts with the fact that when you are working on a project:

Time is your greatest resource.
Robley points out, “Athletes don’t just show up for the first game of the season. There’s months of practice (and sometimes pre-season games) beforehand.” In other words, know what you want and prepare for it before you even begin any teamwork. Finding people who have the talent and have been working toward this point is where to begin. But he also points out that talent and preparation have to:

Work with reliable people.
Yes, I have some pet peeves in this area, but I will be nice. Unfortunately, we may not always know who is more reliable until we are in the middle of a project. One aspect of reliability is that each person on a team needs to be willing to go beyond their comfort zone. This can be difficult in early team-building but it has to include expectations of the team members. What are the guiding principles and directions of the members? How do they fit together? How will you resolve concerns or differences? Reliability has to include all these things. Sometimes it is more structured than others, but a team needs to work through these.

A team, though, is more than talent and reliability. Robley calls it:

Get over yourself and take chances.
If we and our team always play it safe, we will never grow. Teams need to be growing. A musical team is no different.

Delegate- share tasks and responsibilities.
Let people use what they are good at beyond their musical talent. Groups need other things, find out what each team member can do- and let them do it. This means that there will be a leader or leaders who do their thing, but teamwork means sharing the work. Robley also points out that “it’s easier to make suggestions and collaborate when it’s clear who’s in charge of what, and who gets the final word.”

Celebrate your successes and debrief your concerns.
None of this is as easy as any set of guidelines can make it seem. Any group, but perhaps especially a musical team, has a lot of ups and downs. On any given day any one of the team could have one of those days we don’t like to think about. I arrived one Sunday morning where our quintet was playing and began to realize I was getting sick. Aches, pains, a cough, and a sore throat built rather quickly through our warm-up/rehearsal. I was far from where I wanted to be in my playing that morning. Sure, it worked, but it could have been a great deal better. I knew that I had the support of my group which helped me. That can happen to any group.

Fortunately, if all these are worked on and built upon, the celebrations will be far more common than the concerns. Make sure you celebrate in some way, even if it’s just sharing the warm glow of a project, job, or performance well done. The joy and wonder of working together with others will often keep us going through the downtimes or until we get a chance to do it again!

For me, the working team or musical group reinforces what I started with above, namely the growing self-confidence and the humble joy of people working together to make music!

How could you have a soccer team if all were goalkeepers? How would it be an orchestra if all were French horns?
— Desmond Tutu