Tuning Slide # 5.21- Taking Stock and Making Dots

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
— Steve Jobs

It is that time again- the end of one year and the beginning of another. Like the news shows and just about everywhere else, that means it is time to do your own “Year in Review.” For me, that means looking at what Steve Jobs called “the dots” of my past year. I do that, not to get all nostalgic over what happened last year, but to take a look at what my direction has been and to see if I need to do something about it. We can only see our path of dots looking backward!

A few years ago when doing this I came up with a number of categories of “dots” that I have found to be a good starting point. They were dots of:

• Inspiration
⁃ Listen to other musicians, attend live music concerts and events, read about some of the great musicians and how they got that way.
⁃ What has inspired me in the past year and how have I grown from it?

• Humility
⁃ Humility is several things. It is
⁃ Being teachable
⁃ Being honest about one’s abilities and shortcomings
⁃ It builds on what has inspired me this year and given me some idea of the direction

• Learning and openness to growing
⁃ How did I put humility’s teachableness to work in my music?
⁃ Was I as open to learning as I like to think I am and what did I do to show it?

• Patience
⁃ Did I want to be as good as Doc in two short, easy steps or was I willing to take each step as it comes?
⁃ When I hit a plateau in my playing did I get discouraged and want to be just satisfied with where I was instead of moving on through?

• Discipline and commitment
⁃ Did I take the time to take the steps necessary to keep moving in the right direction?
⁃ How successful was I at improving my skills through regular, intentional practice?

• Volunteering and sharing
⁃ Did I keep it to myself or did I live and share what I have discovered?

• Acceptance
⁃ Acceptance is what comes from living “mindfulness.” Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as:
⁃ awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally… in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.
⁃ When I am short on acceptance (and therefore mindfulness) I find myself unhappy and get upset that the world is not doing what I want the world to do!

At the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop, the talk of dots from above led to a logical conclusion. Since we can only know from looking back at the direction our dots take us, we need to make sure that as we move ahead we are conscious of the dots we are making:

✓ Therefore make good dots

This is where we would have historically mentioned the old tradition of New Year’s Resolutions. Forget it! We never manage to follow them. Most people who are regulars at a gym or fitness facility, for example, do NOT look forward to January. The gym gets overcrowded for these few weeks with all the fitness "enthusiasts" who have made resolutions. Many of them are gone before the Super Bowl. (I would love to be proven wrong on this some year!)

Instead, look at your dots from last year and make notes to yourself about which dots were helpful and healthy and which ones didn’t get the energy they needed. Take an inventory of yourself for 2019 and see what direction you are moving as you begin 2020. Then figure out how to do it differently, more efficiently, or more intentionally. This is not a series of “resolutions” but rather action steps toward a goal. It is planning on making good dots.

For me one of those dots that always needs awareness is practice. Yes, I practice every day. Yes, I have a basic routine that keeps me mostly focused. But I can always use tools to keep on track. One thing I found recently that I will use in the new year is seeing practice as a spiral. Dr. Gabriela Mayer of the CIT Cork School of Music in Cork, Ireland describes this spiral in an article called “Reflective Practice.” According to the article:

Visualizing a spiral helps students focus on the following interlinking key areas during practice. The students need to learn to help themselves during their private practice time between lessons. The ‘practice spiral’ is an image describing an ongoing process which starts with clear intention, leading to execution, reflection, calibration and reinforcement.

In other words, practice is not a straight line. It is rather a continual cycle of a number of things that keep us improving. Some sample questions from the article associated with each key area are:

◆ Intention: What would you like to achieve? Define specific task and ways to tackle it. The clearer the intention is defined, the better the practice process will be.
◆ Execution: Practice must involve active listening. Be prepared to evaluate what you just did. What traps did you fall into and how could you be ready sooner in order to avoid them?
◆ Reflection: Following evaluation, articulate what elements you want to consolidate and what you want to change. Allow more space between repetitions. Are you clear about you new objectives and do they represent small enough goals?
◆ Varied Repetition: play again with new objectives
◆ Consolidation: Once a desired execution has been reached, focused repetition forms a vital component in retention. (Link)

Now repeat. The practice spiral provides a basic structure for an effective practice regime.

As I look to the new year it looks like this is an area I can continue to build on. I will see my growth as a spiral of planning to action to reflection to repetition to make it part of my music. One specific will be moving into more intentional areas of improvisation. I have given that a lot of work over the years building a foundation that is now ready to be built upon. Using the above steps I will see what direction I can plan on taking my dots for this year.

I hope your 2019 was a good one for you musically and that 2020 will be even better. Keep moving!

Tuning Slide 5.8-

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
— Zhuangzi

I have talked before about Tai Chi/Qigong as great practices for musicians (and anyone, for that matter!) Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese martial art now practiced for its health benefits and meditation. Many forms of Tai Chi are done in slow, even, practiced movements. I have been doing variations of Tai Chi over the past 8 or so years, though never with the ongoing discipline that it takes to become more than just a beginner. I have found it nothing short of remarkable and able to build changes and a sense of serenity. In my readings and study of Tai Chi and its cousin, Qigong, there are a number of concepts that I have found important that come into play for daily life.

◦ Energy- Chi (qi)
⁃ Gathering- Part of Tai Chi movements is to gather energy and keep it moving around the body. Sometimes it is in the action that appears to be a gathering movement, pulling the energy into oneself. Other times it is an action of sharing energy with others and the world. Both are essential to healthy living- to give and to receive flow from and into each other. Isn’t that what music is about?

◦ Breath
⁃ Oxygen, flow- In the energy above is the movement of oxygen throughout the body. Breath is an essential part of life, but to do it mindfully in connection with movement allows the flow of the oxygen to happen. It infuses the body and all we do, including our music, with breath and spirit.

◦ Stretching, Flexibility, and movement
⁃ Not rigid or tense- It is much more difficult to play when rigid; everything comes out compressed and flat, choked off. In the movements of Tai Chi, we discover the ease of movement and learn to stretch physically and musically. Rigidity causes injury as it attempts to stand tough. Flow allows for movement- like a beautifully melodic, legato passage of the soul.

◦ Inner Cleansing
⁃ Turning it over. Get rid of the mental, emotional, spiritual toxins through certain movements and flows of Tai Chi. Picture the stuff holding you back as being cleansed from your system. If you can get rid of that before you play, it won’t come out through the horn!

◦ Balance
⁃ Grace, stay away from extremes. Under everything in Tai Chi is balance, the Yin and Yang of life. To go to any extreme of action puts us into the danger of injury or narrowed vision. A trumpet player who only knows how to play loud will find they are limited in what they can play. They miss the subtle beauty that the trumpet can also produce. To play too softly all the time means no one gets to hear the range of the instrument. Balance. In all things, balance.

◦ Openness
⁃ Hope, life opportunities, possibilities- As we become flexible, we see that we do not need to be held within whatever boxes we have made for ourselves. We begin to see new possibilities and embrace them, gather them in and become more flexible in what we think and do.

◦ Contraction and relaxing
⁃ Reaching & gathering, letting go and bringing in. Some movements in Tai Chi can have a number of these benefits. Actions of openness stretching, or gathering can also be movements of relaxation. The tightening (contraction) and relaxing of muscles or movements can be a combination of letting go and then bringing in new ideas and methods. Balance can always be found if we are ready for it.

◦ Centering
⁃ Overcoming restlessness, irritability, discontent, lack of focus. The mindfulness activities of Tai Chi allow centering to bring us into the focus of our music, our lives, our values. Those long tones we can start each day’s practice with- that is one of the best trumpet centering tools. Listen and notice the movement and then hear it (feel it!) center into the full richness it can have. Do a slow chromatic up or down, but don’t move to the next note until the current one is centered. Listen. It is amazing how it works within us as well.

When putting this together I found a couple of articles online with Joe Rea Phillips, a professional musician and martial arts practitioner. One was at Mindful Musician and the other at International Musician. They both talk about some of the ways Tai Chi and music go together, according to Phillips.

Here’s a list from International Musician:

Musicians can develop internal principles common to those in tai chi and enhance their musicianship and ability. Phillips states that shared requirements of tai chi and music performance are:
• relaxation and centeredness
• discipline and constant practice
• a clear mind
• visualization
• memorization
• slow practice
• rhythmic flow
• artistic expression
• being in-tune with one’s inner self

It’s easy to see how these fit with the thoughts above. Notice three things that are important in this list.
• A clear mind
• Slow practice
• Rhythmic flow

• Have you ever noticed that when your mind is cluttered or even just slightly distracted, that your sound falls away, you get lost in a piece, or something disintegrates? Keep the mind clear- and centered and this is less likely to happen. The experience of Tai Chi practice can help that mindful activity.
• How about that bugaboo of many of us who want to just practice the passage at speed? That doesn’t allow the music to move within us or move through us. It keeps us from being conduits of the music and turns us into music production machines. Practicing slowly is the way to get faster passages to sing.
• What about going with the flow, the rhythm of the music? That is as important as the sound. Fall into synch with the music, your neighbor in the section, the band as a unit, and you will struggle a great deal less with the music.

Look for Tai Chi or Qigong in your community. Practice it as you would your music. (I am still struggling with this one!) Let your music flow. What a gift of the grace of music.

Tuning Slide 4.50

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

(I'm taking four weeks off from new posts while I do a number of things, not all related to this blog. On these four weeks I will be posting some from the very first year of The Tuning Slide. Some of it will be to refresh my thoughts, and some of it will just ground what I am doing in the purposes of the blog. This one was post #1.3 on 9/16/2015. It gives some thoughts about the instrument I love to play.)

---

Ah, the trumpet.

Now there's an instrument on which one

can truly embarrass himself!

(G. Keillor to G. Bordner)

A trumpet is a musical instrument. It has the highest register in the brass family. As a signaling device, trumpets have a very long history, dating back to at least 1500 BC; they have been used as musical instruments since the 15th century. They are played by blowing air through almost-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded oblong shape.
-Wikipedia

What is so special about the trumpet?
First- it is often the lead, giving the melody a good ride, soaring over the other instruments. Yet, it is not the only lead. Others can and do take the lead parts that give new insight and direction to the music.

Second- it is easily learned, but is deceptive in its difficulties. To maintain one’s skill at trumpet, one must be willing to work, regularly. Too much time off and you notice the problem. Again, other instruments are in the same boat, but because the trumpet stands out so easily and carries so far it can be downright embarrassing when you are not at your best.

I was sold on the trumpet with three individuals who I will no doubt talk about more over the months. I am not even sure any more who I heard first. The three settled my mind on the trumpet and no one could keep me from it. Louis Armstrong, Al Hirt, and Herb Alpert set me on this road. When the Saints Go Marching In, Java, and The Lonely Bull/Tijuana Taxi were the songs that allowed the trumpet to shine.

Many others have come along and had a great influence, but these three set the tone for me. But I also learned that the trumpet has a great part in classical music as much as it does in jazz. Sousa marches added another dimension.

Some might say that the trumpet is only interesting to those who like to stand out, be obvious, overpower others. While there may be a (very, very) small kernel of truth in that, the place of the trumpet allowed me to express myself in ways that my uncertain shyness never allowed me to. What a joy.

Of course the trumpet isn’t the only instrument in the world that can do this, in spite of what most trumpet players might have you believe. For me, with the trumpet, depending on the part you are playing, the trumpet can have all kinds of different ways to express itself- the lead in first trumpet, a nice counter-melody in third, wonderful harmony in second, sometimes doubling the passage with other instruments, sometimes being there on your own.

Sadly, in many bands, even community bands, it is often the practice to use the stronger trumpets on first and the weakest on third. This can happen because, naturally, the weaker ones cannot play the first parts. But I have found that a section of trumpets where all can play any of the parts, makes for a strong sound from the trumpets. Plus, having accomplished players playing with the weaker ones on 2nd or 3rd, helps the weaker ones grow and develop.

There are no secondary or inferior parts. We only make them that way by our attitude. As the great trumpeter and composer W. C. Handy said in the quote at the top of this post- that’s a lot like life itself. The trumpet does not play itself. One does not become proficient at anything, including trumpet, without putting work into it.

Nor does it mean that because one does not have all the incredible talents of the “stars” that one is inferior as a human being. I will never be Louis Armstrong or Maynard Ferguson, but I can be the best I can be. In my life, as an old Jewish story goes, God will not ask me why I wasn’t Moses or Abraham or any other great and talented individual. God will just ask me why I didn’t do the best I could with what I have and who I am.

Tuning Slide 4.10- Mastery of Music #2: The High Road

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts.
― Winston S. Churchill

A few weeks ago I posted the first in a series discussing the “pathways to true artistry” that Barry Green outlined in his book, The Mastery of Music, his follow-up to the groundbreaking Inner Game of Music. In each of them he looks at musicians and outlines a different pathway they embody. The first was “communication”- the silent rhythm as found in conductors and ensembles. For the second pathway he looks to the French horn and percussion for his ideas. They, he says, can teach us about

Courage: Choosing the High Road.

Music, Green tells us, has little (to no) tolerance for error. Unlike many sports where errors can win games (or lose them), music is far less flexible. Imagine if Doc Severinsen missed one of every 15 to 20 notes he played. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but we, the audience would get the feeling that it was time for him to retire. Every time we play in performance we get only one chance to get it right. We could come in early or late, loud or soft, crisp or mushy articulation, in one or out. All kinds of things can happen in the middle of the piece. Four measures before, we can’t call a time-out to make sure we are ready; we can’t ask for a do-over.

Green says it takes courage to face this performance after performance. He goes on to look at courage from the inside. Watching someone be “courageous” we may often think that they have no fear. In fact it looks like the opposite. In reality we are seeing fear that someone knows how to deal with. “Keep going,” the horn player reminds us as they play one of the trickier instruments. “Don’t stop,” says the percussionist who is almost always a soloist. This is, Green reminds us, “to go for it in spite of the fear of negative consequences should you fail.” That is “choosing the high road.”

That Green says is a “joyous choice.”

They “go for it” because of the “beauty of music and the joy of playing it.” Any musician who has played in a public performance knows that beauty and joy. Last week the director of the local community band arrived at rehearsal literally beaming. We were going to sight-read what he felt was one of the greatest wind band numbers- one that most of us have never played or even heard of. He was joyous that he could direct and we could play the piece. And no, it wasn’t a simple piece. But we played it- sight-reading the whole 15-minute piece.

Yes, it was a joy! Of course it didn’t take courage to do that in rehearsal. But it is in rehearsal that we learn the music and the beauty it has so we can play what it takes when it comes to the performance. Later in the same rehearsal we played another piece that was new to many of us. We got to the end and the three of us trumpets sitting together looked at each other. “That was hard,” one of us said with a smile. “Yes, but wow, was it fun!” another said. We all agreed.

The music goes on and the parts must be played! If we can’t deal with our fears and doubts we better decide to do something else. We will inevitably get stuck in that spot. I have told that story of my nearly 50 years of fear of a solo here before. It kept me stuck in many ways. It prevented me from taking a new leap into my musicality. I lacked the courage to fail. Again.

Let me be clear that the courage Green and I are talking about is not the courage to face those potentially life-altering events of ultimate success or failure. If I fail in a solo or play that F natural when it should be an F# the world, mine or anyone else’s is not going to fall apart. But courage is a very broad term that can have all kinds of subtle or explosive meanings. It takes my own courage to get through my fears. Even when it is “simply” playing the solo in the 2nd movement of Holst’s Second Suite.

When we come to those moments, Green calls it a fork in the road. (No Yogi Berra jokes.) One fork leads to the music in it’s beauty and power; the other leads to doubt, hesitation, or paralysis, says Green. So how do we move into the musical fork? He gives us four ways.

1. Be prepared. Practice- and then more practice- increases the familiarity with the music and reminds you that you are ready. Courage can often just be preparation. When you doubt you have the skills or haven’t prepared, Green reminds us, we are choosing to fail- to take the low road.

2. Don’t panic- keep focused. Stay with the music. Feel it, get its sense and rhythm and flow. Go with it. Know what you can do, not what you can’t.

3. Remind yourself of what brought you to this moment. Why do we do this crazy thing called music? Why do I take the time every day, day in and day out, to practice? Why did I get started in it in the first place? Play with that passion.

4. Believe in yourself. Self 2 can do this. Let it happen. When we have practiced and know the music, we can play with conviction and that will show in the music that comes out.

Channel your fear and courage. Take the adrenaline that pumps in the fear response and use it to the positive production of your music. It is extra energy that can be focused into heightened sense and increased awareness. The mindfulness that ensues will allow your self 1 to let go and trust self 2.

This is the courage to follow dreams. As we do this, we find that our soul will be enriched and skills will be strengthened that we can use to move the music into places we never thought we could go. In the end courage is not really overcoming fear, Green says, it is knowing that you are ready to give as honest a performance as possible.

And maybe even more!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the piece that our director was excited about. It is Holst’s Moorside Suite. The third movement, The March, is incredible.

Tuning Slide 4.6- Learning from LIstening

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

If there is a behavior you are trying to change, be it large or small, listen to what you are saying to yourself as you work on it. You could be the only person/voice standing in your own way.
— Samantha Smithstein Psy.D.

Last week I talked about the importance of recording oneself for learning and improvement as a musician. I didn’t talk about two things, what I discovered and am doing about it and what does this all have to to do with every day living.

Let’s start with the trumpet stuff. I am not an expert, but have managed to pick up a great deal of insight from the great faculty at the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop. I hear their voices and suggestions whenever I seek to play better. It is always, they will say, about the sound! What do you hear? Are you listening? It’s also about the breath. How are you breathing? Is it relaxed?

Listen to yourself. Listen, listen, listen.

Well, when I listened to myself on the recording I liked what I heard in general, but was really aware of what needed work. Let’s be honest. We can be our own worst critics, hearing everything that’s wrong even when it’s only a brief slip here or there. I was needing to be my own best critic- that means I needed to be a constructive critic of my playing. I needed to listen musically as if it were someone else.

I know how to do that. I have listened to live music and heard things that I knew were needing improvement. Ever since my first experience of hearing my tired, blah sound those six or so years ago, I have been more aware of it when I hear it. It is because I know what it sounds like- and that it can be dealt with- that allowed me to take the leap of faith unto the recording a few weeks ago. I knew I could trust both my Self 1 and its “great” analytical powers and my Self 2 and its love of music to lead me in the right direction when I wanted to change and grow.

What I learned in more depth than I ever realized it was that I tend to be a sloppy player. I had at times a very sloppy sound. Not always. I noticed that the songs I knew best in the set were usually much, much better than some of the newer or more complicated pieces. There were several songs that we have been playing as a group for most of the ten years I have been with the group. Those I heard my sound clearly and with a musicality that I could appreciate. (Pat on the back, Barry. See, you can do it!)

What does a sloppy sound mean? That was my question to myself as I listened more closely. It was not enough just to say that it was sloppy. That was an immediate reaction which could be discouraging. Go deeper, I told myself. What is sloppy? I was aware of four things, listed from the most basic and obvious to those I have learned from my mentors:

1. Not hitting notes cleanly. That meant I would either slip to a higher note or stick on a lower note. It also meant that old bugaboo of mine- the dull, non-energetic tone. I also learned this past few months that this is also a sign that I am not centering the air and holding its strength as it plays through the music. This happened way too often, even on the songs I knew well. That meant another problem that I talk about later.

2. Articulation issues. Part of that was the air from above. But it was also inefficient use of valve changes and careless movement of my fingers from note to note. I was not being as precise in my fingering as I could- and the result was that at times it sounded like I was simply playing a series of notes and not a melody line. Again, the older songs, even those that were more complicated, didn’t have this as much as the newer ones.

3. Distraction. Since it is me listening to me playing, I know the musician quite intimately. One thing I know is that I can be on the edge of ADD way too often. (Squirrel!) My mind can easily move off its own center line. I know from hard experience in my practice room that when that happens I can easily get lost even when playing a simple C major scale. I could hear that in my playing. Some of those flubs were just silly moments when my mind went somewhere other than the music or its sound.

4. Finally, playing at the music, instead of through it. This is a deeper discussion of what I mentioned in the first one above. Let it flow, move the air in a steady stream and keep the tongue from getting in the way.

What then is there for me to do? Thanks to my teachers and mentors I have set up a few things to handle these.

First, I am paying attention to the basics of the long tones. (Oh, not them again!) I have been doing them every day for a year and a half, but there is always something new they have to teach me. I am discovering that they are my best friends. (If you don’t like playing long tones, you don’t really like playing trumpet I have been told.) I do a set of them in whisper (very, very soft) tones. I am listening, carefully, trying to keep the sound centered and what it feels like.

Second, I am doing it slowly. Most mistakes come from trying too fast. Slow on the long tones, slow on the exercises from the beginning of the Arban’s book, slow from Getchell- so I can listen while still moving the valves deliberately.

And third, go for a lesson! Which is scheduled for later this week and then I am planning one a month through December when it can be arranged.

For life, then, in this whole discussion about recording oneself and listening:

• Focus. Unless we learn ways to maintain focus in life, we will get sloppy. We will miss important things that are around us and in front of us. And the best teacher of focus can be-
• Mindfulness. The non-judgmental action of bringing one’s attention to the present moment without putting values on them is an invaluable skill. This gets us in touch with our feelings and reactions. We miss so much of our daily lives by losing focus and mindfulness. We ignore important things and settle for the trivial because we don’t see what’s around us. But for it to work we have to have-
• Teachability- honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness. There will be countless times each day when the opportunity to learn something new will be in front of us. Watch for the teachers, listen for the mentors. Then move forward.

The Tuning Slide: 3.36- Ask! Just Ask!

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

One describes a tale best by telling the tale. You see?
The way one describes a story, to oneself or to the world, is by telling the story.
It is a balancing act and it is a dream.
-Neil Gaiman

All of us who know Bob Baca from UW-Eau Claire and the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop know that he likes to tell stories. Actually he is as much a storyteller as he is a master trumpet player and teacher! We listen because we know the story will be interesting and have an application for us. Personally, I am a big believer in stories. I write fiction stories because they can illustrate truth in ways that real events may find difficult. Those in 12-Step recovery programs tell stories about what people “used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now.” The goal is to illustrate what works- and what doesn’t. The result will be a new understanding.

I had another one of my events in the past month that needs to be told. It is a story of learning what I thought I already knew and a reminder that we never know as much as we think we know. It will also illustrate eight more of the summary thoughts from last summer. As usual, these summary thoughts will be indicated by a check mark.

The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think,
but to give you questions to think upon.
--Brandon Sanderson, fantasy and science fiction writer

I have been on a great roll with my trumpet playing. A few ups and downs with the usual plateaus and then moving forward again. Toward the end of January I following my routine and Arban’s lessons. I was at a slight plateau but I was not worried. Plateaus happen. I noted in my journal that it was beginning to improve with some solid sound in the high C - E range. I was playing them with a solid sound and confidence. For me, that is a huge step forward. A week later I noticed pain on the inside of my upper lip, almost like a pressure sore where my lip and teeth came together. That was a first to that extent. I remembered what I had been told at Shell Lake:

✓ Listen to your body

• It was telling me it hurt.
• It was telling me it didn’t have the range or endurance.
• I didn’t want to miss any days of doing my routine. I have not missed a day since the end of March last year. Yes, that was ego at work, of course. I want to go a whole year of not missing a day. I also had a concert coming up and didn’t want to lose anything of my endurance, even though that was happening any way.
• I had bragged a few weeks ago to one of my trumpet friends how I was regularly playing notes in the upper register - now I was struggling and finding even my upper mid-range register was beginning to sound mushy. It was the worst setback in my playing since I started this part of my journey almost three years ago.

An important reminder from the words of Bob Baca:

✓ If you panic you will die.

Yes, Self 1 was in panic mode. That meant, for me in this case, that I wanted answers and wanted them fast! I couldn’t afford to lose my ability. I was doing so well in so many ways and now here I was, almost floundering, seemingly overnight. I was “dying”.

I wondered whether it is possible for Self 2 also to slide toward panic? Self 2 is supposed to naturally do what is the best. All is generally cool with Self 2. But, what happens when there is something out of even Self 2’s control? Whatever the physical reason(s) behind my inner lip problem/blister/sore, it was hindering what I was doing. I was hurting. I didn’t want to make it worse and have to stop.

So I did the normal plateau things of not pushing beyond pain limits; I went to slow easy pieces in the lower and mid-register; I worked on pedal tones. Nothing was working.

Oh- even my wife had noticed something was wrong. “Your playing sounds tired, exhausted. Take it easy,” she said. “Nah, I’m fine,” I said at the time. Typical.

✓ Circle of influence is important
✓ Power of ask

More words of wisdom from the board at Shell Lake.

Ask.

So I turned to the community. I went to the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop Facebook page and posted a question, explaining what had been happening:

ME: OK, gang of trumpet gurus: I have developed a pressure sore (not a cold sore) inside my upper lip where it hits against the tooth. I have been practicing daily for almost 11 months. I had gotten to a good level of endurance and range! That is now going backward. Knowing opinions about taking a day off, etc. what might I do until sore eases so I don't make it so bad I can't play? Any thoughts?

Quentin replied first with a good practical question, but right behind him was the one who knew more about my embouchure than anyone else at camp. Bill Bergren. He worked with me on it last year-

BILL B: This can be caused by a crooked tooth, braces, or bad playing habits. Are you still playing with open lips? [He was remembering our private lesson last summer.]

ME: Thanks! More info: Bill- if you mean breathing, I have been working on it. …. Blah, blah, blah… more blah, blah, blah… Any other ideas or questions? [When you don’t get an answer, just talk more, add more information, fog it up with words. I can be good at that!]

BILL B: I reiterate; This can be caused by a crooked tooth, braces, or bad playing habits.

ME: I would agree since it …. Blah, blah, blah… It happened so suddenly, though. Oh well. I keep on playing. Thanks, Bill. [Ramble on my wayward son.]

I thought we were done. But I hadn’t heard Bill and he knew it. Bill, not one for extra words (or putting up with fools like me being dense) had one more, simple six-word reply.

BILL B: You are over analyzing. The sound..................

Mumble, grumble, huff and puff.

He was right. I was doing what I hate when other trumpet players do it- analyze the life out of everything. Ramble on and on about what’s happening looking for a quick solution. By focusing on the pain and lip and the sudden lack of range/endurance I was ignoring what Self 2 can do best- play with the right- and best- sound. Back to the board at Shell Lake:

✓ Always play with your best sound
✓ Just have fun! It will happen faster.

Self 2 knows how to make sound- good sound. It needs to convince Self 1 that it can still happen. “Be easy, man,” it was telling me through Bill’s words. “Don’t get so hung up on all that crap. Make the best sound. Always.”

I went back to the long tones and Getchell with slow and easy playing. I let the sound go from the horn. I stopped nerding-out and obsessing about what I was experiencing. "It’s a plateau, dummy. You pushed too far, you didn’t pay attention. Relax! Have fun. Make music!”

✓ Your best trumpet playing is only a thought away [therefore]
✓ Your best trumpet playing hasn’t happened yet

It’s been over a week now. I have regained the mid-range sound- simply by playing it the way I was before. I have regained the fun of playing. I am watching that I am not pushing the limits- I am paying attention to the body and what Self 2 is saying. The body does not like it when I push to playing tired. It unlearns what it has learned. It wants to feel good playing, not exhausted.

I've played two concerts in the past 6 days. The second was last night. I played well, with range and endurance! It was fun and I liked what I was doing.

Sometimes we have to listen to those around us.

As always and every time, thanks, Bill!

If you're going to have a story, 

have a big story, or none at all.
--Joseph Campbell, mythologist, writer and lecturer

3.27- The Tuning Slide- Connecting the Dots

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
-Seve Jobs

This week’s quote from last summer’s Trumpet Workshop owes its existence to a 2005 commencement address by Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs. In the first story in the address he talks about the journey of life (our theme this month) as connecting dots. But, he points out,

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

We can only see our path of dots looking backward! The resulting summary quote, then, from last summer:

✓ Therefore make good dots

I made some good dots musically this past year.

• I met Doc!
• A dot of inspiration and humility
• I attended the Big Band and Trumpet Workshops at Shell Lake for the third year.
• Dots of learning and staying open to growth.
• I have practiced every single day since March 24 (and only missed 7 days before that this year.)
• Dots of discipline and commitment.
• I am now regularly hitting an E above the staff in my daily routine and almost getting F.
• Dots of patience and improving skill
• I volunteered at the Eau Claire Jazz Festival as a “room host”
• Dots of seeing the great future of jazz music and instruction.
• I took several lessons and spent time with some amazing musicians
• Dots of accepting my need for outside input and support.
• I have learned how to relax while playing a performance.
• Dots of acceptance of Self Two doing its work.
• I published my book, The Tuning Slide, of the first two years of this blog.
• Dots of sharing what I have learned so others, too, may learn.
• I continue this weekly blog!
• Again, dots of discipline and commitment,

As a result of these and other dots, my skill level has increased, my self-confidence has improved, my tone and rhythm have gotten better, and my life continues to be filled with music and more music! These dots also add to the ongoing theme of my life that how I do anything is how I do everything. To be honest there are non-dots from last year. Or perhaps it might be better to say attempted dots that somehow didn’t get connected in this rear-view summary. They represent things for next year (and next week’s post!) But what I know is that because I have made these dots this year, I am moving in a direction that these can be applied to more and more areas of my life.

Dots of:

• Inspiration
• Humility
• Learning and openness to growing
• Patience
• Discipline and commitment
• Volunteering and sharing
• Acceptance

In short it has been a good, and growing year. As I am continually amazed, even old dogs can learn a lot of new tricks! Thanks to all of you who have helped make it the year it was!

What dots did you make last year? How do they connect? How do they lead to your future? See you next week in 2018!

Happy New Year!

3.25- The Tuning Slide- The Unexpected

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.
— J. R. R. Tolkein

This month’s theme is “The Journey” of being a trumpet player, musician, and human being. Last week we talked about that all important “first step” that gets us moving. This week we continue with two quotes from the board at the end of Trumpet Workshop this past summer:

✓ Be comfortable being uncomfortable [Expect the unexpected]
✓ Always have a relaxed breath. Warm, moist air

Don’t worry, they are not as disconnected as they seem. They are two more essential aspects of the journey you are on. As Bilbo used to say any journey is a dangerous business. When we truly set out on a new journey of any kind- outer or inner- we do not know what’s ahead or where it will take us. We plan and practice, gather resources and support. We step out the door and we meet a “black swan.”

What? You’ve never seen a black swan? Here’s Wikipedia talking about it. Black swan

is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based on an ancient saying which presumed black swans did not exist, but the saying was rewritten after black swans were discovered in the wild.

The theory was developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb to explain:

• The disproportionate role of high-profile, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, and technology.
• The non-computability of the probability of the consequential rare events using scientific methods (owing to the very nature of small probabilities).
• The psychological biases that blind people, both individually and collectively, to uncertainty and to a rare event's massive role in historical affairs.

In other words, black swans are the next-to-impossible-to-predict events that have HUGE impacts on life. Looking back we can rationalize them, but that never helps us predict what the next “black swan” event might be in our lives. Whether it is the 9/11 attacks, the wildfires in California, or Superstorm Sandy, the BIG events that have the greatest impact on people’s lives are often unforeseen and unpredictable. They happen and change the world. We will often look back and say “we should have known that!” but in reality if we could have we would have.

We can respond to this situation in different ways in our lives. First, we can live in terror and fear of the next black swan event. That will always be an existential, unconnected, free-floating fear that can never be pinned down or done away with. By definition we can’t know what the next big event will be. To live in that constant state of uncertainty is not any way to live.

Second, we can live with a carefree, not-give-a-crap attitude, rushing headlong into whatever is ahead. Life is a gamble for all of us. You can get the most toys, but in the end we all die. This may have a lot of adrenaline-pumping action; it may move us to do some brave and courageous or dumb and dangerous things. The result may very well be a toss-up.

Third, we can combine the two with that wonderful first quote and description. If you always expect everything to go smoothly and the way you want things to go, you will be disappointed. In spite of things like the “law of attraction” and certain ways some of us pray at times, we don’t always get what we want. That will make us uncomfortable! Can I put up with discomfort? Do I see discomfort as an enemy or a sign of what needs to be done?

I have talked a number of times about the process I continually go through as a learning, growing musician. I reach a point- usually quite unexpected- when things don’t just feel right. I may have a lousy performance where even that good old 2nd line G comes out like mud. Or I find my endurance slipping for no apparent reason. Maybe there’s a new piece that doesn’t look that hard that just doesn’t want to fall under my fingers.

I become quite uncomfortable at those times. Have I reached the end of my line? Is this as good as it gets? Was I being too comfortable with where I was and not expanding the envelope? I can easily be tempted at that point to cut back, even give in. I rationalize- well, after all, I am nearly 70 years old. I can’t expect to continue to improve like I would if I were 30 or 40. Then the picture of me with Doc Severinsen pops up on my phone and I give that idea up.

Is it okay to be uncomfortable? Sure it is. Usually it means I am at a turning or growing point. I look for adjustments I can make- perhaps work on some different exercises in my daily routine or pull back on some of my intensity to do everything right away. If I am expecting the unexpected, it shouldn’t bring me to a halt. If I have learned anything in these past 3 years of expanded trumpet playing and growth in musicianship, it is that the journey is real and is never in a straight line!

Which brings me to the second quote above about relaxed breath and warm moist air. Yes, that is how we are to play our horns. Doc calls it a balance between tension on the side muscles and relaxed on the center. If every time I pick up the horn I am tense and dry, nothing good will come out. Relax. Breathe calmly. As Bill Bergren rightly describes it- “Say ‘M’ and then breathe gently like cooling a cup of coffee.” How do we learn how to do that if we are always tense.

In a recent concert we were playing the beautiful, slow piece “Ashokan Farewell.” I realized in one of the rehearsals that I was tensed up so as not to over-blow or lose any tone by playing too loudly. Self Two caught that Self One was uptight. Self Two simply said, “I can handle this. I do it all the time in the practice room.” Self Two was right, of course. I am never tense like that in my practicing. I may lose endurance, etc. but it is not usually due to tenseness. That comes when I am afraid of—(among other things) the unexpected.

Take that relaxed, warming breath. Put the trumpet to the lips- and play.

Live with awareness of the unexpected- not in fear of what might happen but in order to go with it when it happens. Live with the breath- in and out in a simple rhythm. (Remember rhythm? It’s one of the foundations of all music.) Stay warm, stay relaxed, stay quietly focused. When we learn how to do that in our practice room, we will move closer to being able to do it in performance. When we can do it in performance, we can relax some more and learn how to do that when we are doing other things.

It is one of the secrets of our life’s journey. Go with it, as Bilbo used to say, “you don’t know where you might be swept off to.”

The Tuning Slide: 3.13- Find Balance in Letting Go

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
-Ajahn Chah

Over the past two weeks I have talked about the three Inner Game Skills of

• Awareness
• Will and
• Trust

Together they form the foundation for our Self 1 and Self 2 to work together. That gets us into a balance that allows us to improve our musicianship and have more fun playing.

Unfortunately it is not as easy as just saying, “Okay. I’ll just be aware, exercise my will, and trust will follow.” Trust may be the last thing we can build and it may also be the one we must often work on. You see, at least in my experience, the rational, controlling, worried Self 1 is always on guard, ready to pounce. In order for the balance between Self 1 and Self 2 to work, Self 1 must “Let go!” But Self 1 has a history of fear and uncertainty, often placing barriers in the way in the form of thoughts of those fears and uncertainties.

Some of the most common of these barriers for me (and for most of us) are:

• Worrying about what others think of me
• Being a failure
• Feeling out of control
• Doubting my abilities.
• Performance anxiety

Fortunately these can be dealt with even though “letting go” can feel risky. Barry Green in The Inner Game of Music even says that we should see the feeling of risk as a good sign. It means we are about to let go and allow Self 2 to take over. Green says:

Self 2 deserves to be trusted because it proves how trustworthy it is over and over again….[and] the more you let Self 2 go through its paces, the clearer it become just how trustworthy and talented Self 2 really is…. But… we’re not trusting blindly- we’re trusting the most capable part of ourselves…. Self 2 is the real musician. (Green, p. 87.)

Green then says that letting go is a lot like falling asleep, especially when Self 1 is active and worrying. There are three phases of falling asleep using awareness as a technique.

• First, you notice what Self 1 is doing, for example keeping you worried, thinking, inner talking as you lie there. So you make a decision to shift your awareness somewhere else.
• Second, you focus on something else, hopefully something simple and natural. Some people count sheep, do breathing exercises, repeat a prayer or mantra. Self 1’s thought begin to fade.
• Third, you actually “let go” and Self 2 takes over. You are asleep.

Green points out that we do not remember the moment we fall asleep, or even the moments before. It just happens. We have trusted Self 2 to take us where we need to be. You can’t “make it happen”. You just do it. (Green, p. 89)

Letting go means being willing to allow life to carry you to a new place, even a deeper more true rendition of self. Holding on means trying to push life into the place of your making or be damned. (Psychology Today, March 12, 2016) To put it into our Inner Game words,

• Letting go is being willing to allow Self 2 to carry you to an even deeper, more true experience of your music and your ability to make music.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of those Self 1 barriers above and see how we might be able to learn to “let go” in spite of what Self 1 thinks. Or, in a better attitude, how can Self 2 show Self 1 that it is competent and knows what to do? (Marked (TB) from Tiny Buddha- https://tinybuddha.com/blog/40-ways-to-let-go-and-feel-less-pain/)

Barrier #1: Worrying about what others think of me
Change your perception (TB)
Look at it from a different view. If you make a mistake, people understand and usually don’t remember anyway. That also can mean look at wondering what others think can be a blessing- it makes us work more efficiently in order to do a better job.

Remember why you are a musician (Green)
One of the reasons many of us are musicians (paid/unpaid/whatever) is because we like what happens when music is played- and heard. Relax. People like music. The more relaxed you are, the more relaxed the music will be, the more will like it. If you have done your practicing and preparing, know that Self 2 wants you to be the best musician you can be.

Barrier #2: Fear of being a failure
Allow yourself to be imperfect
A performance musician once told me that they never get through a show without some mistake. I never heard one in any of the times I heard them perform. (That’s back to #1 above). They also told me that they cannot be perfect. It is a highly unlikely place to go. Give yourself permission to be real and imperfect- but work to be the best you can be. Chances are you are better than you think.

Make a list of your accomplishments—even the small ones. (TB)
Let’s get real with ourselves. Let’s be honest about what we can do, what we have accomplished. Humility does not mean ignoring what you have been able to succeed at. Humility is an honest perception of who you are and what you are able to do. Somedays it is a very big success to practice for a whole hour without throwing the horn out the window. Keep a notebook/journal of what you have been able to do. You will be amazed when you look back at it.

Barrier #3: Feeling out of control
Channel your discontent into an immediate positive action (TB)
Go back and play the basics; notice how you play them now. Do you remember when you couldn’t do that Arban’s exercise at half the speed? Or pick something that you need to work on- and work on it. It can be that simple. Channel your energy into getting better. And really, it is Self 1 that wants to be in control, not you. We really want Self 2 to be in control.

Become part of the music (Green)
This is not unlike what an actor does when doing a movie or state role. They must become the character they are portraying so that we, the audience believe who they are and what they are doing. We are the channel for the music. We are taking the character of the music, interpreting it through our (and the conductor’s) understanding of the music and presenting it for the audience or at times just for ourselves. Practice this by listening to the music, singing it, feeling its pulse and life. We all do that when playing. Make it a study of the music so it is no longer you who are performing, but the music moving through you.

Barrier #4: Doubting my abilities.
Make a list of your accomplishments—even the small ones. (TB)
Just a repeat of above. This can be a surefire way to quiet Self 1. Use it whenever you can!

Sharpen your skills by using what you know you can do.
What we tend to forget is that as we continue to improve, that means our skills improve and that we can use the skills we have learned to improve some more. It is cumulative. It is not linear. There are times and places when we make great leaps and other times it moves very slowly. That’s okay. Move at the pace you are moving at. To rush it gets in the way. That’s Self 1 being impatient. Let Self 2 enjoy what’s happening.

Barrier #5: Performance anxiety
Visualization meditation
More to come on this one in a future post, but for now, if we work on the first four, this one will become less a barrier and more a reminder of what we are doing and why. In other words, awareness.

This Inner Game work can actually be a lot of fun. It allows us to get in touch with the playful part of ourselves and tells the judge and critic in Self 1 to keep cool and balanced. Self 2 often will naturally trust Self 1 when something needs to be analyzed and worked on. Self 2 knows that Self 1 is hyper about all these things. The more Self 1 can trust Self 2’s abilities and insights, the better balanced we will be. Self 1 is there all the time. We pay attention when we need to. But, believe it or not, Self 2 is in charge more often that we realize. And that is an insight we have only recently begun to understand through advances in brain studies and neurosciences. More on that next week.

Until then- give Self 2 a chance, let go and let the music play.

The Tuning Slide: 3.11- Inner Game- Self One and Self Two

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

First, a welcome to any new readers of this, especially those of you who were introduced to The Tuning Slide at this year’s Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop. This is the third year of this blog. The first two years are available in a book, The Tuning Slide: Reflections on Life and Music. This year I will continue to develop the ideas and reflections that formed the foundation for the first two years while going deeper and broader on the ideas.

Where did the title come from? Well, as both a musician and a counselor/therapist my interest has always been in unifying life and keeping from compartmentalizing things. As I have said a number of times- and will say many time because it is essential- how we do anything is how we do everything. Here is how I describe the tuning slide idea:

On a trumpet, the tuning slide is the curved “C”-shaped tube at the opposite end of the lead pipe from the mouthpiece. (To the right in the trumpet above.) The slide is to be used to bring the trumpet into tune with the other instruments.
When your instrument is in tune:
• The music flows much more smoothly.
• You tend to get into sync with the other musicians.
• You don’t get as tired while playing since you are not constantly trying to “lip” the notes into tune.

When your life is in tune:
• Your days flow much more smoothly.
• You tend to get into sync with others and the world around you.
• You don’t get as tired as you can go with the flow and not be constantly fighting or reacting.

In short, the tuning slide keeps us moving more smoothly in the right direction. That is what I hope comes from this website, the blog posts and my other writings- ways that even non-trumpet players and non-musicians can discover how to keep life more “in tune.”

Life is not logic. Life is not philosophy.
Life is a dance, a song, a celebration.
It is more like love and less like logic.
-Osho Rajneesh

One thing I am going to try this year is to do a month of posts on a topic, looking at different aspects of it. I will be using the ideas from Trumpet Workshop to do that. This month, then, I want to talk about one of the fundamentals of what I have been learning and experiencing over the past two years. It is “easy” to get caught in the “technical” trap of techniques, methods, and “how-to” ideas. I have spent (okay- I still spend) hours and hours surfing the Internet for the latest techniques that will improve my playing and style. A quick Google search of “How do I…..?” will yield thousands of potential web pages and You Tube videos. Each one can give you the impression that they have THE answer you have been looking for.

This is my “Self One” hard at work. Self one works hard. Sometimes too hard. Self one wants to learn the tricks that will make my playing perfect. It is terrified of failure. It has often been the inner critic of my writings, the stubborn listener to my lectures, the unsatisfied musical connoisseur of my playing. It is always sitting on the edge of its seat to jump on something wrong. It is always tense and restless.

Then there’s “Self Two” sitting on the sidelines telling Self one, “Cool your jets, man. We know what we’re doing- if only you’d shut up once in a while and let us do it!” (Self one insists that I add a disclaimer- what I have just written in these two paragraphs is a gross oversimplification and exaggeration. For more in-depth stuff, go to the right sidebar and click the “Inner Game” category to get all the posts from the past two years on the topic. There, I hope I have taken care of him for the rest of this post.)

One of the goals of learning about this is to get the two “selfs” to work together in harmony and acceptance. There are three basic Inner Game skills that must come into balance.

• Awareness- simple awareness, without judgement, that fosters natural learning.
• Will- it can be described as the direction and intensity of our intentions. It sets the goals, keeps us on course, works through trial and error to keep us on course.
• Trust- Trust allows the simple awareness to take place without self-criticism, it lets you go through trial and error without giving up, and it lets you be open to tapping your inner resources to perform your best.

These three then help us achieve what Barry Green and Timothy Gallwey call the “master skill”- relaxed concentration. (Inner Game of Music, p. 28-29)

What does this mean in practice? How can we turn this into reality? Here are some ideas related to the skill of “awareness” that can help us on a regular basis.

Awareness: In order to know what’s happening or not, we need to be able to focus. Awareness is the ability to discover those things and then plan on them. Sometimes, the Inner Game tells us, just being aware is enough. Instead of focusing, say, on the fact that “I just can’t get that right!” focus on when and how you get caught by it. Pay attention to what you are doing, non-judgmenally, and that will begin to shift your attention to solutions instead of problems. Green says that helps something different to happen. “[W]e listen more closely, and this gives our body clues which allow it to adjust at a level below our conscious awareness, without physical or mental interference.” (Green, p. 46)

The other part of this is that awareness moves us from “trying” to playing. Green notes, “When we are trying, our awareness is taken away from the music and focused on our ‘running commentary.’ It turns out that it’s very difficult to focus on both at the same time.”

I have been working on a difficult passage in one of our big band numbers. Too many accidentals, too fast a tempo, unusually difficult fingering changes. (So says Self One.) I have done all the usual tricks- metronome, slow practice, breaking it into bites. Nothing has worked over the past couple years. Self one is way too involved. So I listened to a recording of our group playing it and discovered which part seems to be the one that is throwing me off. I then played it with some attention and awareness. Much to my surprise it was not the section with the accidentals and fingering that tripped up the sound. It was what happens right after that. That has given me a different focus and direction. I’m still not Self Two comfortable with it, but I am not as bummed by it.

Non-judgmental awareness moves us into a place where we aren’t fighting what’s happening, analyzing it, trying to “fix” it. We are simply letting it be, which in the end gives us helpful and positive feedback. Acceptance is part of what awareness can lead us into. “It is what it is” can be difficult mantra or a movement into aware acceptance. After becoming aware we then just allow it to be. There are many other things that can better utilize your focus- how the music sounds, for example, or the rhythm. If the problem is the one you are trying to fix, don’t focus on it. Focus on other things to help make the music more musical.

Next week I will look at the other two basic skills of the Inner Game- will and trust. For this week be aware and accepting. Don’t try so hard- just let the music be itself. The result can be a more relaxed attitude which will then allow Self Two to do its thing.

Oh- and try this with things other than music. Be aware of what is happening around you. Notice what is working and how it helps on a daily basis. It does not mean ignore problems, but interestingly enough the more you focus on them, the bigger they become and the less likely we are to find a solution. Shift your focus, discover what is right, and chances are that somewhere in what is going right is part of the answer you have been looking for.

The Tuning Slide: 2.21- Growing Mindfulness

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

As you begin to realize that every different type of music, everybody's individual music, has its own rhythm, life, language and heritage, you realize how life changes, and you learn how to be more open and adaptive to what is around us.
-Yo-Yo Ma

Becoming open and adaptive the what is around us is a goal for every musician. A good word for it is mindfulness. In the ongoing spirit of this blog where tuning ourselves helps us be in tune with our music- and vice versa, I am going to step away from music for most of this post and talk about being mindful. Don’t forget- how you do anything is how you do everything. Therefore if you do anything with mindfulness, you will learn to do everything with mindfulness. The result will be that you are a better musician and a better person.

Let’s start with a reminder of what mindfulness is. The person who has introduced mindfulness to millions is Jon Kabat-Zinn. His classic definition is simple and to the point.

Mindfulness is awareness that arises through
⁃ Paying attention,
⁃ On purpose,
⁃ In the present moment,
⁃ Non-judgementally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.

How can we learn this? I found a web site called Zen Habits that lists some possible “rituals” that can help develop mindfulness. Here are a few of them that can be important for our developing musician mindfulness.

It’s good to start the day being mindful. Zen Habits suggests two mindful actions. (Original comments in italics; mine within brackets.):

Sit in the morning. When you wake up, in the quiet of the morning, perhaps as your coffee is brewing, get a small cushion and sit on the floor. I will often use this opportunity to stretch, as I am very inflexible. I feel every muscle in my body, and it is like I am slowly awakening to the day. I’ll also just sit, and focus on my breathing going in and out. [I’ll have more on breathing and mindfulness meditation again in a future post.]

Brush your teeth. I assume we all brush our teeth, but often we do it while thinking of other things. Try fully concentrating on the action of brushing, on each stroke of each tooth, going from one side of the mouth to the other. You end up doing a better job, and it helps you realize how much we do on autopilot. [Here is a good example of how we do anything can impact everything. Just being mindful of brushing can train us to focus the mind.]

As you go through your day, take time for these:

Walk slowly. I like to take breaks from work, and go outside for a little walk. Walk slowly, each step a practice in awareness. Pay attention to your breathing, to everything around you, to the sounds and light and texture of objects. [Slow walking is great for feeling the body in motion. It can help us begin to “feel” what our body “feels” like. That is an important part of playing music- knowing what how our body is feeling and responding.]

Read in silence. Find a quiet time (mornings or evenings are great for me), and a quiet spot, and read a good novel. Have no television or computers on nearby, and just immerse yourself in the world of the novel. It might seem contradictory to let your mind move from the present into the time of the novel, but it’s a great practice in focus. [Just an “Amen!” to that! Note, though, that this isn’t studying or reading to learn- it is for enjoyment.]

As you think about your day, Zen Habits suggests practicing your ability to focus. This one might be helpful if you have a significant concert or performance coming and you need to get the feel of it.

Work with focus. Start your workday by choosing one task that will make a big difference in your work, and clearing everything else away. Just do that one task, and don’t switch to other tasks. [Then apply this to your music practice. Simple, yes, but it takes practice.]

Dr. Amit Sood, one of my mentors from Mayo Clinic suggests that we should have a specific “theme” for each day of the week and stay focused on that through the day. His weekly list is

Monday: Gratitude
Tuesday: Compassion
Wednesday: Acceptance
Thursday: Higher Meaning
Friday: Forgiveness
Saturday: Celebration
Sunday: Reflection

If you start each day aware of the theme and learn to work on that for the day, in a few weeks all of the themes will be woven into the fabric of each day. It’s just like highlighting one part for each day. Then, with another few weeks practice you will know which of these is needed on any given day or even part of the day.

The goal of all this is that non-judgmental awareness- mindfulness.

As you develop these skills they will have a positive impact on your musicianship. Your musicality will be more even and not as dependent on “getting in the right mood” since you will have more awareness of how to focus on what is in front of you. It won’t be pulled down by other people as acceptance and compassion will be there. You will find yourself more balanced as you discover the greater meaning in your day and your music, celebrating with gratitude what you are given the chance to do. Reflection on your life and music will help you be more forgiving of others- and most importantly of yourself.

There is a comfort, peace and joy in deepening the ability to mindful. It gives each moment the possibility of new discoveries. It keeps us focused on what is in front of us, and it allows us to build today what will be good for us tomorrow. No judgement. Just start with what is and move from there.

The Tuning Slide: 2.8- Listen to Grow

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

The past two weeks I looked at the first two parts of this statement from Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop

Three characteristics of a great trumpet player:
1. Every time you play you have a great- not a good- sound.
2. You have great- not good- rhythm.
3. You have great- not good- ears to hear the sound.

How does ”great ears” add to this trio of greatness? What the heck does that even mean?

My first thought went to “ears” as the ability to be in a group and hear what others are doing. That would be the skill of blending your sound with the sound of the whole group. Not as easy a task as we might think. I am still amazed when one of my colleagues in the concert band knows when I have hit an F instead of an F#. (One of my most common errors.) Even when I wasn’t playing loudly and they were sitting two chairs away from me. They have a good ear, perhaps even a great one. They know when my note isn’t fitting into theirs. I can do that sometimes with others in the section, but it hasn’t come easy.

Most of the time I am way too involved in myself to hear what the rest of the band is doing. I want to make sure that my “ears” hear “me.” Fortunately this has gotten better over the years. One of the best ways to work on it is to play in a smaller ensemble like the brass quintet I play with. After the first run through of a piece when we do end up concentrating on our own parts, then it is time to let the ears do more work. How do I fit in with the group? Am I hearing the chords and my place in them? Am I overpowering the other parts, throwing things out of balance? When there are only five of you and obviously only one on a part, these are not incidental questions. Thus one of the important pieces of having “great ears” is to know how to play well with others.

But I also realize that a lot of this has to do with what we do before we get into the rehearsal. As always it is found first in the practice rooms. Wondering how others understood this I asked Matt Stock, one of the faculty from Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop, to reflect on what “great ears” meant. He responded:

I’m realizing more and more that “ears” is misleading. Generally we think of that as just pitch or passing an aural skills test in school. The better definition would be the ability to conceive every detail of a performance (pitch, tone, time, expressive details, etc.) from a written score. I suppose good ears would be the ability to do that with the music you normally encounter and great ears would be the ability to do that at sight with the unexpected/unfamiliar and for a classical player transpose at sight. For a jazz player I suppose that would be the ability to react to unexpected chord substitutions, transcribe, etc.

I didn’t expect that answer (which is why I ask questions!) Matt is saying that “ears” is the ability to go beyond just sight-reading when you see a new score. It is the ability to “hear” that score even before you play it. It doesn't necessarily mean to look at a full score and hear all the parts. That takes years and probably more time than most of us have if we are not becoming conductors or music majors. But it does mean to look at my part and see where it goes, what it does, and how it does it. It means audio visualization like we have talked about before.

In many ways this took me back to the ongoing fundamental analogy that music is a language we learn to speak. When we develop an “ear” for a language we are on the way to learning the language. It means that when we read the language on the printed page, we can “hear” it and know what it means. Then it moves to being able to hear the language when spoken and be able to know what is being said. That starts with mentally translating as you listen. To do that is very slow and means we miss a great deal of what the other person is saying. Then it moves to where certain words and phrases are understood without translating. You then start to use those phrases appropriately without needing to translate into or from our native language. Eventually if we are to really learn the language we have to do more than read and listen- we have to internalize it and then speak what we hear. To do that with our music takes us back into the practice room and playing it.

If we have the opportunity, we need to hear it being played, of course. We have talked about listening to recordings of performances, then singing it, before playing a piece. That’s hard to do in the middle of a rehearsal, though, when a new piece is handed out or in the middle of improvising when an odd chord comes up. So we develop our ears to know what it sounds like before we play it- or to know what’s happening when we hear it.

Back to playing in ensembles, that, too, is more than just hearing the others play. It is about the ability to hear when I am wrong. It is “ears” to know that my style isn’t matching the style of the lead trumpet, or that when I have a part that is a duet with the horn or trombone, we have to be able to blend our sounds together. When we do that we change- and enliven- the color of the music. Playing in the quintet has been the single best way for me to develop my “ears.” It still takes the practice room where I learn the language of my part. It takes the practice room to begin to put those sounds in the right place.

Back to Matt’s thoughts:

What helped me be more demanding with my ear training has been to record myself singing. With the Tonal Energy app you can record yourself and use the tuner when you play it back. (http://tonalenergy.com/) In the ear training classes I took you passed if you ended up somewhere near the right note no matter how sloppy everything was along the way. This forces you to be much more honest. It’s humbling at first but pays off if you stick with it a few weeks. John Hagstrom recommended that in a masterclass at NBS a few years ago. He also talks about it in one of the interviews with Brass Herald that he has posted at: https://www.trumpetmultimedia.com/ (top right corner).

In the practice room, the “great ears” come from working on them. It can be ear training, long tones (them again!), learning the sound of arpeggios in each key, or recording yourself. You won’t develop great ears if you don’t use them. Intentionally. (By the way, I looked up the two resources Matt mentioned. The Tonal Energy app looks like a really good overall resource- a tuner that does more than tell you that you are out of tune. Trumpet Multimedia has some excellent information. Thanks, Matt!)

Beyond just hearing the sound and playing it appropriately, this is about mindfulness in all that we do. As I have gotten older and more aware of the importance of paying attention, the whole concept of mindfulness has grown in value. Being mindful is about being in the moment, knowing where and who you are and how you fit in with what’s happening around you. One definition I found (Google):

a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations…

Even more to the point is the definition from Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the key developers of the ideas of mindfulness:

Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.

• Paying attention
Concentrate on what’s happening and going on within you and around you.
Take time to more than smell the roses- see them and appreciate them.
• On purpose
Not as an after thought, but being committed to your growth and development.
Make it part of your daily plan to be aware and mindful.
Allow the world to amaze you at what is happening that you may have missed before.
• In the present moment
The past is history, the future a mystery, stay in the now.
Our fretting over the past or worrying about tomorrow is one of the biggest obstacles to growth.
Notice the world in all its infinite wonder.
• Non-judgmentally
Don’t be hard on yourself, judging, and over critical.
You are where you are. You may not be where you want to be.
But only when you accept the here and now can you begin to move beyond it.

When we practice this in our music, we will discover it in the world around us.

When we practice this in our daily lives, we will find the wonderful sound of our music.

“Ears.”

It is more than just hearing.

The Tuning Slide- A Bit About Trumpets

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

"Ah, the trumpet.

Now there's an instrument on which one

can truly embarrass himself!"

(G. Keillor to G. Bordner)

A trumpet is a musical instrument. It has the highest register in the brass family. As a signaling device, trumpets have a very long history, dating back to at least 1500 BC; they have been used as musical instruments since the 15th century. They are played by blowing air through almost-closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded oblong shape.
-Wikipedia

What is so special about the trumpet?
First- it is often the lead, giving the melody a good ride, soaring over the other instruments. Yet, it is not the only lead. Others can and do take the lead parts that give new insight and direction to the music.

Second- it is easily learned, but is deceptive in its difficulties. To maintain one’s skill at trumpet, one must be willing to work, regularly. Too much time off and you notice the problem. Again, other instruments are in the same boat, but because the trumpet stands out so easily and carries so far it can be downright embarrassing when you are not at your best.

I was sold on the trumpet with three individuals who I will no doubt talk about more over the months. I am not even sure any more who I heard first. The three settled my mind on the trumpet and no one could keep me from it. Louis Armstrong, Al Hirt, and Herb Alpert set me on this road. When the Saints Go Marching In, Java, and The Lonely Bull/Tijuana Taxi were the songs that allowed the trumpet to shine.

Many others have come along and had a great influence, but these three set the tone for me. But I also learned that the trumpet has a great part in classical music as much as it does in jazz. Sousa marches added another dimension.

Some might say that the trumpet is only interesting to those who like to stand out, be obvious, overpower others. While there may be a (very, very) small kernel of truth in that, the place of the trumpet allowed me to express myself in ways that my uncertain shyness never allowed me to. What a joy.

Of course the trumpet isn’t the only instrument in the world that can do this, in spite of what most trumpet players might have you believe. For me, with the trumpet, depending on the part you are playing, the trumpet can have all kinds of different ways to express itself- the lead in first trumpet, a nice counter-melody in third, wonderful harmony in second, sometimes doubling the passage with other instruments, sometimes being there on your own.

Sadly, in many bands, even community bands, it is often the practice to use the stronger trumpets on first and the weakest on third. This can happen because, naturally, the weaker ones cannot play the first parts. But I have found that a section of trumpets where all can play any of the parts, makes for a strong sound from the trumpets. Plus, having accomplished players playing with the weaker ones on 2nd or 3rd, helps the weaker ones grow and develop.

There are no secondary or inferior parts. We only make them that way by our attitude. As the great trumpeter and composer W. C. Handy said in the quote at the top of this post- that’s a lot like life itself. The trumpet does not play itself. One does not become proficient at anything, including trumpet, without putting work into it.

Nor does it mean that because one does not have all the incredible talents of the “stars” that one is inferior as a human being. I will never be Louis Armstrong or Maynard Ferguson, but I can be the best I can be. In my life, as an old Jewish story goes, God will not ask me why I wasn’t Moses or Abraham or any other great and talented individual. God will just ask me why I didn’t do the best I could with what I have and who I am.