Tuning Slide 5.6- Stretching the Boundaries

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

The only limits in your life are those that you set yourself.
— Celestine Chua

Reflections from a Concert Band Camp
Last week I ended the post by saying “I would have never believed I could do what I am able to do today just a few years ago.” Some of that is my reaction to being at a different camp in mid-August. I decided to skip the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop and attend an adult concert band camp at the Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor, WI. My main reason was to move outside of my musical comfort zone of the past few years.

One word explained it all.
Audition.

I have a very difficult history with auditions. I freeze up and get nervous and generally blow it, just as I have done with solos over the years. When I saw that I would have to “audition” at the start of the camp I knew I had to go. The audition was simply to position the musicians and to give the directors an idea of what the band will be able to do. It was to consist of doing a two octave chromatic scale; doing two scales- concert Bb and concert F; bringing a piece along as a good example of ability; and a sight-reading. None of that scared me. My biggest enemy would be Self 1 telling me that I should be nervous and get all worried about it. It is time to exorcise that demon!

Another reason to go to this camp is summed up in the word
Language.

Different styles of music have different languages. One does not play trumpet in a concert band or orchestra the same way one plays in a big band. In fact, even within styles, one plays differently in a concert band than in a brass quintet, even playing the same type of music. The dynamics of the music, the tonguing, articulation, and tonal harmonies, as well as many small but significant details are different from genre to genre. This is language.

My first trumpet language was wind/concert band music. As with most school musicians, that repertoire is my native tongue. We learn what a march sounds like and can almost intuit what is going to come next. We discover what it is like to play waltzes and suites; we fall in love with Percy Grainger and Gustav Holst; we begin to know melodic changes and rhythm styles. We then allow it to sink into the Self 2 so even if the notes are different, the styles and rhythms are familiar.

I wanted to dig back into that native language and discover what my new skills and insights have to offer me in utilizing that language. I have played in wind/concert bands consistently for most of the last 35 years. Here was a chance to intensely work on that language in a camp setting.

Finally, one more reason- I would be
Playing with different people, people who are strangers to me.

This is an extension of the audition piece. These would be people who have never heard me play before and with whom I have no history- good or bad. I am just another trumpet player in the section. It therefore becomes an opportunity to just be who I am- who I have become over the past four years of intense practice and growth. In doing that I will see if all this stuff I've been working on is real!

Yes, that is stretching my own limits- and testing my inner confidence.
◦ Can I do this?
◦ Am I doing as well as I think I am?
◦ Will others judge me?
◦ Can I keep up with them?

The short answer is that I was amazed!

First, the audition.

◦ After four years of Clark #1, two octaves of chromatics is second nature.
◦ After four years of learning and practicing all 12 major keys, concert Bb and C are the basics.
◦ After many years of playing the 2nd trumpet part of Gabrieli’s Canzon #2, it flows from my trumpet without thinking.
◦ There was no sight reading, but I had no fear.
◦ What I did have was some nervousness- the dry mouth was the giveaway on that. But I didn’t let it get in the way.

As far as digging into the language of concert/wind band- that was exciting. One piece we played was Frank Ticheli’s Sun Dance which we had just played in the community band. Like at home I was on 1st trumpet; thanks to the intensity of the rehearsal schedule, we were able to really dig into the music, to listen to what Ticheli was trying to do, to see how the parts work together, and finding ways of listening and blending with the rest of the band- and with the other trumpets sitting next to me. The music became far more internalized than is possible with a once a week rehearsal schedule. I discovered how it is possible to move beyond the notes to feeling the music, intuiting the rhythm, letting the harmony carry it all forward.

What a great experience. We also did that with other pieces that I had never played before as well as a couple others that I have played, but never in that type of setting. What all that did was add a sense of language to what I already knew- and I learned how the improved skills of the past four years can help me learn the musical language. The skills are the same for all kinds of music, but here was the payoff for all those hours of long tones, scales, and the basic Arban’s exercises- music!

This happened partly because we were in a new and different setting. Not just the intensity of the schedule, but the chance to listen to new insights from different directors with different ways of explaining what we were doing allowed me to pick up more nuances of the language of concert band. I have been doing this with a lot of excitement over the past four years through the Shell Lake Adult Big Band Camp. Here I was doing it in my first musical language- the wind band.

When I got home, the community band had a rehearsal and concert. I found myself applying some of the new insights and language skills there. And it was an even better experience for me.

My take-away for all this applies to life as well.

◦ Let yourself be challenged.
◦ Look at what it is I may be afraid of and face it. Most things are not as frightening when I face them and apply what I already know to dealing with them.
◦ Listen to those around you and learn from them what I may not already know. It doesn’t have to be the experts, it can also be the person in the chair next to me who has had different experiences and different insights.

In short, this is what makes being part of a music-performing group so powerful.

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 4.30- Precision or ?

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

A strange art – music – the most poetic and precise of all the arts, vague as a dream and precise as algebra.
— Guy de Maupassant

I have a good friend trumpet player who has one of the most precise styles I have heard. His precision at hitting the notes with a clean attack, solid tone, and good sound is excellent. His playing has challenged me in recent months to work on my precision as part of developing my own sound. I am not a precise player. I use the reason, uh excuse(?) that it’s close enough for jazz. I say I like to play and the sound is what counts and, well, you can guess about the rest. Precision is lost.

Fortunately my friend, in his precision, is not just playing mechanically. That is the real issue with some players who insist on being precise. It is too perfect and sounds too automatic. That can happen in studio recordings. There was one brass group quite a number of years ago that had a superb sound on their recordings. It played well, sounded right on with each note, and never slipped in any way shape or form. I actually found their recordings boring. There was no life.

I was then given the opportunity to see them in person. It was like I was watching a completely different group. Some of it was the difference in acoustics, of course. An auditorium has a much different ambience than a recording in a studio being played in my living room. But it was also that, in person, the musicians were able to put themselves into the music. They were just as precise and just as accomplished in person as they were on their recordings; now they were also there in their personalities and interactions with each other and the audience.

A number of years after I saw them they switched either record labels or producers (or both, I am not sure any more.) Their newer recordings had a different sound. They were now alive, their precision still there, but it wasn’t dull, automatic, mechanical.

There are all kind of ways that we can end up playing mechanically, even when playing well. (Not including that awful software that does “auto-tuning.”) Precision isn’t the same as perfect. Precision is, in my definition for this post’s sake, being able to consistently hit the notes on the right spot with clarity and tone. Yes, precision is a mechanical action. It is also a learned action- muscle memory; a learned action- aural memory; a learned action- developing Self 2 intuition.

I have never had that kind of precision. Many players do not have that kind of “preciseness.” Listen to Miles Davis on “So What”; Chet Baker on “Summertime”; Dizzy or Freddie in their best “bop” style. They are not precise. They will slip and slide into, around, and through notes. Sometimes it’s on purpose, other times it’s not and they have to adjust. I would guess that they can play with that precision, but have learned to adapt it to their style. But I would also guess that they had to learn that precision if they were going to change it.

There go all my excuses out the window! The more I write this blog, over 4 1/2 years now, the more I find myself challenging my own formerly best thinking- or, more precisely, my own former excuses. So, while listening to a recording of our quintet and my friend’s precision, I decided that I better work on my precision. As I do so I remember that I want to keep the sound solid and musical. I also want to have my personality and life in it. I do not want to be mechanical, but fluid. That’s a lot to do, but I have a few things on my side by this time.

• First, I have an idea of what precision sounds like. I can hear it.
• Second, I have skills (and a routine) that can be built upon to further the process.
• Third, I have the time this winter to work on it.

So I came up with a plan.

Since the sound is always number one I started with long tones. I always start my playing day with long tones, expanding up and down the scale from G at the bottom of the staff. But now I am paying closer attention to the fullness of the sound and having it maintain the center of the tone. I have done this for a long time, but I am paying attention from a different angle now.

On the days when this precision work is my focus I move on after only five minutes of single note long tones. I then go to my Getchell First Book. At a very slow speed (45 bpm) I play #1, rest, and then #2. The goal is to move from one note to the next with, yes, precision- hitting solid and clean, healthy tones. Resting I go back and play them again up a step from the key of C Major to D Major. Same speed, same focus. Finally I go back and take the same two exercises down a step from C Major to Bb Major. Finally, depending on endurance, I rest and then go back and play the first exercise slightly faster and up an octave, still listening for the precision. I end by playing both pieces at speed.

This takes between 20 and 25 minutes. The process moves from single notes and tones to settle into the sound, then moving notes at a slow speed to catch the changes, scale and chord movements, and the way the sound has to settle in. Then I hear the notes in different scales and how the relationships stay the same in the midst of the differences. Finally I want to hear the upper register tones and then end with the etudes as written at speed.

I have been doing this particular set three times per week. On other days I substitute some of the Arban’s early exercises slurred and tongued in place of the Getchell. Same theory, same precision direction.

I have been amazed at what has been happening.

• First, the sound is smoother and has a precision until I start to tire the embouchure which means I didn’t rest enough between exercises.
• Second, I notice that Self 2 is doing his job keeping me on target and turning the intellectual ideas I have described above into intuition.
• Third, because of that I am more relaxed in my style while still maintaining the precision I am looking to build.

Accuracy, clarity, on target. Add “life” to it and it becomes music. Which is why we do it in the first place.

4.27 Tuning Slide- More Time In the Zone

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

When the zone calls, you must listen. You never know how long being in the zone lasts. It is a cardinal rule - you must take advantage of every second that you are in the zone.

― John Passaro

There is a family story that my wife has enjoyed telling since, well, for a long time. It goes back to right after we were married. It was a wondrous Sunday afternoon and we were doing nothing. We were both in the living room. I was reading and she was doing something. I was aware she was talking to me. I would make a sound of assent and keep reading. Suddenly she stopped and was laughing.

“Did you hear what I just said?” she asked.

“Uh….[pause] [guiltily] No, what?”

“I said that the pink elephants are coming down the street trampling on all the flowers.”

Which I had said “Uh, huh” to without hearing.

I didn’t know about “flow” at that time. But I was in a state of flow in my reading. A few months ago I talked about flow as part of Barry Green’s music mastery pathway of “concentration.” He called it the “spirit of the zone. In that post I wrote:

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi named the concept of “flow in 1975 and been widely referred to in any different fields. It is also known as “being in the zone.” Flow

is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time. (Link)

Requirements for flow can be:
◆ Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
◆ Merging of action and awareness
◆ A loss of reflective self-consciousness
◆ A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
◆ A distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered
◆ Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding

Very clearly I was in some kind of zone, or even state of flow as I was reading. I still experience that feeling when involved in a book- I am hyper-focused, I am not all that aware of what is happening around me, time is lost, and it is intrinsically rewarding. You can begin to see why this can apply to playing or listening to music, I am sure.

Digging a little deeper in that Wikipedia article I came across Owen Schaffer’s list (he studied under Csikszentmihalyi.) In 2013 he proposed 7 conditions for flow that summarize the above list:
◆ Knowing what to do
◆ Knowing how to do it
◆ Knowing how well you are doing
◆ Knowing where to go
◆ High perceived challenges
◆ High perceived skills
◆ Freedom from distractions
(Link)

Again the connections with music are hopefully clear. One thing it means is that to get into flow is not just something that happens on its own. It is not some magical, mysterious event that occurs when Self 2 gets in charge. Even the best Self 2 cannot get in the zone playing trumpet if it doesn’t know anything about the trumpet, music, or whatever. The Inner Game doesn’t just happens, it is planned for, developed, and, of course, the result of deliberate, focused practice.

Flow can come from, as the list indicates:
◦ Knowledge from learning (being taught), experience, and time. (What to do and how to do it.)
◦ Self-awareness and trust in Self 2 as you have grown and improved. (How well you are doing and where to go next.)
◦ Moving beyond the basics and pushing yourself to new heights that you know you can achieve. (High challenge and perception of your skills.)
◦ Focus, focus, focus, or mindfulness, mindfulness, mindfulness. (Freedom from distractions.)

When these conditions occur whether in the practice room, rehearsal hall, or on stage, the possibility for flow increases. Of course you still have to pay attention. We cannot forget in a performance that we are not observers. I remember a concert a few years ago when the band was playing an incredibly wonderful piece. I had a long passage of rests, probably at least 32 if not 64 measures. I fell into a listening zone (as opposed to a performance zone)- and almost missed my entry. But, as a result of working hard at knowing the piece and some of the above conditions, I heard the music moving to where I was to come it. It was intuitive as I picked up the horn and played. (But it was close!)

The Inner Game and Flow both show that “attitude” in an important piece of moving in the right direction. Attitude and action go together. Most of the time before we get into flow it is the actions that propel us forward. The old saying is that it is easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than think your way into a new way of acting. That can be called developing a habit, or experiencing the joys of what you want, rewiring the brain, or just plain grit. Attitude must come. If you continue to think you can’t- you won’t.

I found the following list on the Website “Play in the Zone” that we can take into the practice room and rehearsal hall to get us ready for Self 2 to work us into the zone.

9 Attitude Tweaks That Hold the Secret to Playing Your Best
1) Play freely. Don’t play to “not play badly”
2) Love the challenges
3) Accept what happens rather than getting frustrated or upset
4) Don’t care too much
5) Trust in yourself
6) Hear each note clearly before you play it
7) Be decisive, and commit fully to every phrase
8) Be relaxed about nerves
9) Focus on process, not outcome
(Link)

Three of those stand out for me this week.
• Play freely Don’t play to “not play badly.”
⁃ What a way for me to undermine and sabotage my goals, my practice, and especially my sound. I can only play as good as I can today, of course, but I have to play as good as I can today. It is not healthy to say “Well, as long as I don’t suck too badly…” I can’t go there. It won’t work. I will always suck.

• Love the challenges!
⁃ Sometimes the challenge is playing the Arban’s single tonguing exercises as well as I can play them, good sound, clarity, etc. Sometimes it is playing Arban’s Characteristic study #1 better than I did last time. Both are challenges. If I don’t take the challenge of the beginning of the Arban’s Book (or Clarke, Goldman, Getchell, etc.) I will never get to the challenges later in the books.

• Focus on process, not outcome!
⁃ Process does not mean doing it mechanically. It always means playing musically with good sound. Those are assumed. But how do I improve my skills if I don’t have a plan and a direction to what I am doing. Process, the steps and stages from here to there?

Which of the above are things that are important for you? These are all the marks of being a good student of your instrument. I will look at more of that next week and do some expanding on this.

Until then- build your attitude and enjoy what you are doing.

Tuning Slide 3.45- Success

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

Another week of looking from life to music, instead of the other way around. Lessons learned in life about life are just as applicable to playing music and being a musician of any level. When I first looked at the quote from Winston Churchill I read it wrong. I expected it to say that failure is not final. But he headed down a different path. Perhaps a more important path.

Success, just as much as failure, is not final. Think about that a moment. You have been working and planning and striving for success at some thing or another. Then, there it is. You have achieved your goal. Success is yours.

What next? Where will you venture next? What new goal will you set? Or will you just stop and say, “Well, that’s my success. I think I’ll quit now”?

I don’t think so. Many of us have had that one solo or ensemble piece that we have worked hard at. It may be something that challenges you to be a little bit better than you have ever been. So you push, and work, and “woodshed” until it is what you had hoped it would be. You get to the performance and you nail it. It comes across with all the joy and energy that you put into it. You have succeeded! You take the moment to receive the congratulations of family and friends.

You then go back to the practice room and start on the next goal.

Or you blow it. You get lost in the middle of the performance. You don’t shine like you had hoped to. Your family and friends still congratulate you on your efforts. But you are bummed. You failed at that attempt. At least that’s how you see it. You smile and walk away.

You then go back to the practice room and start on the next goal.

You can quit after either event, but what good would that do? You may decide this isn’t for you after the “failure”. You put the horn away- perhaps just as you were ready to make a leap forward. Or you decide that this success is as good as it will be and you stop. You miss the opportunity to do even more than you can imagine.

Neither success nor failure is an end. As the wonderful quote from the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel says:

Everything will work out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, it isn’t the end.

Which easily brings me to the second quote from one who embodies these ideals, Helen Keller.

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.
— Helen Keller

When Keller was less than two years old she lost her ability to see or hear. Through incredible training and perseverance she succeeded and became a prolific author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. She knew that to be pessimistic was what could be truly fatal to one’s ability to succeed. The movie The Miracle Worker is the story of how her teacher, Anne Sullivan pushed and inspired Keller.

There are many reasons to be pessimistic. None of them will get you where you want to go, unless you want to fail, or at best, be mediocre. One reason for pessimism is to keep from being disappointed. Too many bad things could happen that will keep me from succeeding. In order to prevent those things, I can adopt pessimism. Another reason is the fear of failure- or being held accountable for what you said you would do. Set low, pessimism-based standards, and you won’t have to explain when you don’t succeed.

I tried that the other year when, at trumpet camp, my friend, Jeff, looked at one of the parts of the “routine”, pointed to the high F or G way up there above the staff, looked at me and said, “By next year you’ll be playing up in that range.”

I laughed. “Never!” I said. I can never do that. I’m not a “screamer”. Be pessimistic. Set the bar low and you don’t have to go anywhere. It was, I will admit, a cover-up of fear. I wanted to be able to play those notes. I had never been able to play that high C on any regular basis, let alone go up another third, fourth, or fifth! That’s crazy to even think about it.

Crazy good! Because I wanted to.

The next year I had to go up to Jeff and admit that I had lied to him the year earlier. I wasn’t soaring up in those notes, but I was able to play them. I have continued to work on them. No, they are not flowing easily. Not yet. They may never for any one of a number of reasons. But I am now willing to be optimistic that things will work out in the end.

The song for this week is an old number from Frank Sinatra and the movie A Hole in the Head. Fun… and a song I’ve loved for years…. High Hopes.

Tuning Slide: 3.37- Summarizing and Moving On

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

In the past three months (December through February) I reviewed a good number of the summary statements we put together at the closing session of last summer’s Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop. Directly or indirectly here they are, alphabetically arranged, to jog your memory.

• Always have a relaxed breath. Warm, moist air
• Always play with your best sound
• Animals can’t change emotion- we can.
• Be comfortable being uncomfortable [Expect the unexpected]
• Be yourself at your full potential- Example of the rose, Inner Game of Tennis, p. 37
• Best way to go 1000 miles is to take first step
• Can’t do it alone
• Circle of influence is important
• Have to schedule the not urgent/important or it gets lost
• Hear it, study it, make it become natural
• If you panic you will die
• Just have fun! It will happen faster.
• Keep a journal/log
• Listen to your body.
• Negativity is exhausting. You will be negative about others if you are negative about your self.
• Never give up
• Never put out someone else’s light to make your light shine brighter
• Obstacles appear if we take our minds away from the goal.
• Only see our path of dots going backward
• Power of ask
• Setting goals (short, intermediate, long term) for practicing etc.
• Shoot high- don’t sell yourself short
• Taking the theoretical and making it real.
• The way we do anything is the way we do everything
• Therefore make good dots
• There’s always time to practice
• Trumpet’s a skill, but it impacts everything.
• When given opportunity to share- do it.
• Worst sin is feeling sorry for yourself- because it’s all about me
• Your best trumpet playing hasn’t happened yet
• Your best trumpet playing is only a thought away

An impressive list of ideas and thoughts that can keep us all busy for years. Take a look at it again and see where you might need some prodding- then do it.

Oh- this year’s Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop is less than five months away! I’m already registered and excited.

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This month’s series I am calling

Myths, Misconceptions and Holy Truths.

It is easy to live under many misconceptions and myths. They are often based on seeming common sense or just plain old personality quirks. Over the past three years of digging into trumpet playing in many ways that are completely new to me, I have faced a few of these. Each Wednesday this month I will start with a myth or misconception I or others around me have had, talk about it, work with it, then summarize it in what I am calling a “Holy Truth.” You’ll get the picture.

My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.
-Various sources

A few trumpet players were having a discussion. As is often the case it turned to mouthpieces, perhaps the single most common area of discussion among us. We all have had experiences and all have our opinions. Opinions are, of course based on our subjective look at what has happened to us.

The question became, “What mouthpiece do you use?” The usual answers were there: Bach 3C, Bach Megatone, Schilke 14A4a. Discussions then wandered around to “cheater” mouthpieces, that is those that give an advantage for use when high register lead playing is a necessity. Again, we shared experiences.

“I just never felt comfortable with….”
“I liked it but my lip seemed to collapse with…”
“I got better range and endurance for the first time with…”
“Did you know that so-and-so has only ever used…”

Just for the fun of it I looked up Schilke’s list of standard trumpet/cornet mouthpieces. There are 53(!) and 11 heavyweight mouthpieces! That’s just one manufacturer!

Mind boggling and probably confusing as hell to anyone trying to figure it out. But we all have our opinions and they are, of course, right. Until we change our mind because we think there must be something better out there.

Looking for the better mouthpiece may be the #1 task.

But what really got me thinking was a very simple question. One of the trumpet players wondered if getting a mouthpiece that improves your upper register would hurt your mid-register playing, up to the G at the top of the staff, for example.

Well, I guess it could if you used one of the really upper-register-type mouthpieces for all your playing, but on a more general level, I am not sure why it should. Here’s why…If we are truly working on our overall sound and musicality, the equipment we use will not be the most important thing. It will be the practice and the sound.

Which brings me around to the misconception or myth this week:

the exaggerated importance we put into equipment as the magic bullet that will turn any one of us into the next Doc or Maynard.

In our pursuit of being a better musician, however each of us defines it, we may at any given time think that a different horn, a different mouthpiece, a different lead pipe could push us that one bit closer to Doc or Miles. Yes, a better horn or mouthpiece can make a difference in our playing. An old clunker horn that has too much (or too little) back pressure or valves that are poorly made will not sound as good as a good horn. Yes, a different mouthpiece may work better for you. I am even told that a model of a horn by the same manufacturer can even be different depending on the year it was built.

It can also degrade our playing if we think that all we have to do is get a new (fill in the blank) and all will be great.

The Holy Truth for the week then is simple:

• Equipment is not the answer.

Okay, let’s amend that, equipment alone is not the answer because it can make a difference. But at the heart of it is the sound we make and the practice we put into it.

The question about a mouthpiece that improves upper register hurting middle register is a good example. A year ago I bought a new mouthpiece that has definitely increased my range and endurance. I am, as I said in last week’s post, hitting upper register notes I would never have thought possible with greater endurance. It also has a brighter and better projected sound. My wife, a non-musician, noticed that right away. I like it. AND, it has not caused any problem with my middle range because I made sure it didn’t.

• I did not concentrate on the upper register. I continued to do my routine of expanding long tones starting at G on the staff. I kept going higher while maintaining the lower end. I made sure that I did not sacrifice that middle range.
• I also concentrated on the sound I was producing in that range. I was letting the mouthpiece and the horn work together. When I am playing they have to be a single unit. Together they produce the sound.
• Finally, I also worked on pedal tones. Guess what- I am also playing pedal tones better than I ever have. I realized that unless I was truly using a “cheater” mouthpiece to get to the upper range, the whole sound has to be there. Pedal tones are one of the “secrets” of high register playing because they help with the flexibility of the embouchure. Makes sense.

I will admit that I continue to look at mouthpieces as ways of improving my sound. After all, I am a trumpet geek. But it is going to have to be significant for me to spend the money on it, after all, again, the Holy Truth is

Equipment is not the answer.

The Tuning Slide 3.35- Aim High!

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood…
Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.
– Daniel Burnham

Attitude- how you approach whatever you are doing and how you act on it. With that in mind here’s this week’s Trumpet Workshop Summary quote:

✓ Shoot high- don’t sell yourself short

Yeah, but what if I am only fooling myself when I think I can do that? What if I’m setting myself up for failure by shooting too high? Is it possible to shoot too high? In other words:

How do you know how high to aim?

I found some thoughts in a book a friend recommended to me, Making Music for the Joy of It: Enhancing Creativity, Skills and Musical Confidence by Stephanie Judy. She talks about making a self-analysis of our goals and purposes.

Begin by asking yourself hard questions like these: “What am I making music for? What part of music making gives me pleasure? What kinds of challenges do I welcome, and what kinds of challenges are pointlessly frustrating?” The purpose of such questions is to discover which musical experiences provide, for youth greatest meaning, the greatest connection, the most nourishing environment, the most direct route to your musical self. (p. 22)

Which in many ways brings us back to the question I didn’t dive too deeply into last week: Passion. How do you know what your passion is in order to go for it? In setting our goals, how high to aim and what to aim at, we go back to the questions related to passion.

Each amateur, and most of us will be advanced amateurs who are not earning a living at our music, will have different answers. Even if we plan on being “professionals” there are all kinds of different answers to them as well, jazz, classical, performance, education, etc. Actually the questions are similar in setting the goals. For example,

• What kind of music do I want to play? Classical, jazz, Americana, pop, rock?
• What kind of musical tradition do I see myself being part of? Folk, bluegrass, American jazz, Classical era?
• What kind of ensembles do I want to be part of, large or small? Concert bands or orchestras, jazz big bands, combos- jazz or classical or combinations?

With these questions we are giving ourselves a general direction. Stephanie Judy comments that what we are doing when we find these answers is finding the “welcome soil” in which we can plant our musical seeds.

So here we are, today. Each of us has gotten to today’s musical place. We are where we are, we have accomplished what we have accomplished, we have some idea of what we are able to do- today! This is where we start.

• Has the type of music I want to play changed?
• Is there something new I want to learn?
• Is there a different type of ensemble or group that I want to play in?
• Is there something I want to get better at doing?
• What are the strong points of my musicianship?
• What are the weak points of my playing?
• What are the ways I can apply the stronger points to the weaker points in order to improve?

Then aim and plan. Set the goals and do them.

We are talking about an attitude of passion AND openness in this post. The passion is what excites us and keeps us practicing even when it would appear to others to be “dull” or “boring” or when we feel that moment of boredom before picking up the instrument. (Not those long tones again!) The passion pushes us forward because it’s who we are.

The openness is the attitude that says “I don’t know if I can do that, but the only way to find out is to do it.” Stay away from “try to do it” and, to borrow a well-worn phrase- “Just do it.” Pick up the horn and play. Pick up the phone and call a teacher. Make a recording of your routine and listen for where it can be improved. Google the ideas you are thinking about and see what others have done to get there.

• I WANT to do this, it excites me, and
• I CAN do this if I am willing to work on it.

But what if I fail? What if I’m not talented enough? What if…?

Okay, what if the sky falls tomorrow or the promised warm weather goes south for the winter? See how silly that can sound. “What if?” is good, old Self One being its over-analytic and fearful self. It’s selling Self Two short. Again. Don’t let it happen.

Do it and see what happens. Not everyone can hit a double high C, no matter what some people say. But if we don’t aim at it, we won’t get up to the G a fourth below it. Not everyone can move their fingers as fast as Dizzy or Freddie, but we won’t know how fast until we do it.

And yes, “professionals” do have more specific time they spend on their work. Those of us who have other jobs spend as much time on our “professions” as “professional” musicians do. But that can still leave a great deal of time to do what we want to do with our musicianship. That does not mean we are second-class musicians. I will never be asked why I wasn’t as good as Doc or Maynard. I should be asked, “Are you as good as you can be?” The answer is, naturally, “Not yet but I’m working on it.”

One last thought on attitude. See how this might change you attitude if you are worried about that amateur-professional dichotomy. If you are an “amateur” and have no plans to become “professional” Stephanie Judy has a reminder that puts our “amateur” music-making in perspective and can change our attitude.

To be an amateur is to be, literally, a lover. An amateur pursues a thing for itself alone, not for profit, recognition, or perfection in others’ eyes, but purely as an end in itself. In many ways, there is no higher calling than that of amateur. So be proud of your amateur status. (p. 27)

The Tuning Slide 3.16- Avoiding the Extremes

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Happiness is not a matter of intensity

but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

-Thomas Merton

We’re thinking about musician etiquette this month. Really, it boils down to being a good musician. Remember the four things we are to focus on - in this order…

• The music.
• Other musicians
• The audience
• Ourselves.

"Etiquette" is being a good colleague who displays “musicianship”. That brings all four into play on a regular basis. Last week I looked at how our actions and behaviors in both rehearsals and performances can get in the way of all these things. If we do not practice good musical etiquette in general:

• The music will suffer. It won’t have the quality we want it to have.
• Our colleagues will suffer. They won’t be able to count on us to be equal members of the group.
• The audience will suffer. The performances won’t have the zip and fun that they want to hear.
• In the end we will suffer. We will get fed up with what is happening, especially if we blame it on others, and give up.

Having set that as the foundation of what we are aiming at, here are some of the things that we trumpet players do to others- and to ourselves.

Item #1- and at the top of our list of trumpet player sins.
Wanting to get to that great and wonderful Double High C.

It is the goal, the aim, the end of all being in the great trumpet room in the sky! For most of us it is summed up in one word:

Maynard! (For non-trumpet players, that would be Maynard Ferguson- the trumpet screamer to beat all trumpet screamers.)

To be a great trumpet player we all think we have to play high and loud. Like Maynard. Our hero!

Which of course means that if we can’t play the way-up-in-the-stratosphere register, there is something wrong with us as trumpet players. Many of us have fought that internal self-esteem killer most of our lives. Then we work- and overwork- our embouchure to reach those rare heights and we end up playing hurt, which only makes it worse. I have a hunch that is why, in the end for many of us, our true icon of trumpet playing is Miles Davis who personified for many years the good solid sound of a trumpet- and even played with a Harmon mute! It was almost like he was saying to the world:

I can play loud; I choose not to.

One of the great solos of his was the solo on the classic cut- “So What”. It doesn’t go anywhere near the stratosphere; it has a solid, almost reserved sound. Looking at a transcription of it you might say, “What’s so hard about that?”

Until you try to play it. Most of us could spend a lifetime practicing that and still not get it as solid as Davis does.

Herb Alpert is in the same field as Davis. Davis was once quoted as saying that all he had to hear was a couple notes and he could tell it was Alpert. Which brings me to the lesson for all of us in trumpet- and musical- etiquette. It was one of the items on the Trumpet Camp reflection list. One of our goals is to

Have the same “sound” for everything I play

Davis, Alpert, Chet Baker, Lee Morgan, and any of the greats always have the same “sound”, the same quality and tone no matter what they play. It is their sound. And they don’t have to scream to make it heard. But for my money, the greatest at doing that today - and for most of the past 60+ years - is Doc Severinsen. Here is one of his best examples of not screaming yet managing the complete range of the horn. He plays in that stratosphere as if it were just your every day middle of the staff music.

Item # 2: Equipment
Trumpet players always seem to be playing around with equipment, looking for the perfect piece that will make us into the next great star. Usually it starts with the mouthpiece itself. Get two trumpet players together and they will have at least six opinions on mouthpieces, the advantages and disadvantages, why they use- or don’t use this one or that one. Not that there aren’t differences and different ones allow you to do different things. Not to mention that each of us has a slightly different physiology which may mean that certain mouthpieces work differently.

But in general my research seems to show that most people start with a “beginner” mouthpiece that usually comes with the horn. Eventually most move to the good, old, reliable Bach 3C (or equivalent) and stay with that for the rest of their lives or careers, whichever comes first. Should we look at other mouthpieces? I guess. But the thought that comes to mind is “If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t.”

That doesn’t mean that a change won’t work well at times. I had that happen starting about a year and a half ago. I tried one of the new Bach Commercial mouthpieces at a workshop. It was a modified “v” cup. It seemed to allow me some freedom at the upper register and an extended endurance. The problem was all they had was a “5mv” and I was nervous about moving from the “3” size. So I didn’t get it. Earlier this year I had a chance to try the “3 MV”. I gave it quite a workout. It was as good, or better than the “5 MV” I had tried earlier. I bought it.

This new mouthpiece has allowed greater dynamic and sound range, higher register, and endurance. Was it a mouthpiece version of the “placebo” effect? I don’t think so- for two reasons. When I first played it for my wife she heard the difference in tone and dynamic immediately. Then, a few months later I accidentally pulled the “3C” out of the bag without noticing. Since the rim size was the same I didn’t feel the difference- until I realized my range and dynamic was off. At first I thought it was because I had been playing too much and was just tired. Then I realized it wasn’t the new mouthpiece. I switched and all the things that felt off went away.

But that alone isn’t what did it or allowed me to do it. What does it is another from the Trumpet Workshop list:

Learning to hear

By allowing me to hear a cleaner sound with greater dynamic and range I began to know what those notes should sound like. I like the sound of the “3MV” for me. I like hearing it and how it feels on my lip. It did not solve my “problems” and perhaps it gave me some new ones. (See next item.) But it did improve my ability to hear and that will always bring about an improvement in musicianship! The equipment we use is there to help us, it won’t do it for us.

The final item of trumpet sinful activities for this post:
Item #3: Balance.

Actually it’s the lack of balance that plagues us. It’s wanting to be a screamer the first time we pick up the horn. It’s wanting to be able to sound like Miles, or Maynard, or Doc without the years of practice. It’s wanting to be able to play loud for hours on end and getting pissed when we get tired- or worse- hurt. It’s wanting the equipment to save us or take us someplace we are still unable to go. Sure, if your valves don’t work smoothly you may never be able to play some of those amazing arpeggios. But a new horn may not be the problem- your present horn may be too dirty, your valves clogged, springs not working right.

Take the time to take care of the equipment and it will probably do what you need it to do. Sure, if you move into a new level of musicianship and career building you may need to upgrade the horn. But probably not. You are the musician that produces the sound. The horn or the valves or whatever doesn’t do it for you. Learn to balance your sound and work.

From our workshop list, this brings up:

Being efficient in playing

Efficiency is balance. If you strain and push constantly, you are not in balance and something will happen to your playing. If you want everything to happen yesterday, it won’t come tomorrow. Balance is taking care of your instrument so it doesn’t get so gunked up that its sound is compromised. Ignoring the basics of say the Arban’s first couple sections will put us out of balance with the whole range of what we want to do. Again, back to the video from Doc (above) the ability to play equally across the whole range of the horn is the result of balance.

Next week I’ll talk about personal balance and self care as it is part of our musicianship. That will get us into the greater aspects of what we can learn from being a “compleat musician”.

Until then, look for the balance, don’t only push to the extremes, but build the solid foundation and middle in order to support the greater sounds and range. Be efficient in order to be effective. Finally, nothing can do it for you.

The Tuning Slide: 3.7- Arrogant- or Confident?

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Arrogance requires advertising.
Confidence speaks for itself.
-The Good Vibe Company

I know I have talked before about the very unfair reputation trumpet players have. We are often portrayed as arrogant and self-absorbed. We are told that in spite of what we seem to think it is not all about us. Here’s a good example of the stereotype from the website The Band Advocate’s Resource: (http://insanerandomhobbit.tripod.com/thebandadvocatesresource/index.html)

Trumpets-They are the leaders of the band, the melody, to quote "Drumline", "The trumpets are the voice of the band!" This constant focus and attention has made them egocentric and fairly arrogant, but mainly to those within the section. They are in love with themselves, and they hate associating with the bottom or the top of the section, depending upon where they are. They're loud and their proud. Typical trumpet conversation with the band director; "I could have played that solo better than that." "Do you want it then." "No thanks." This laid back attitude carries throughout the section. Trumpets tend to be odd and offbeat with perverted senses of humor. They are the comic masterminds of the band. Trumpet sections are about half girls, half guys. You won't see many waltzing off to choir, and if you do, chances are they sit bottom of the section. Straight from a trumpet player to you, though, we're not really as bad as we sound (Ha ha, note our section is longer than yours. Yeah, thought so!).

It’s hard living up to that stereotype, but we’ll keep on trying!

Seriously I have met very few trumpet players that fit that image. In reality most of us are far shyer than we appear. When one plays one of the loudest and most aurally notable of instruments, it’s hard to hide, so we just go for it. If we stand out by virtue of the instrument, we better live up to that instrument’s place in the band.

Which often does look like arrogance. That and the fact that we find it hard to be serious for too long. If there is a disruption somewhere in the band, it is more often than not in the trumpet section. Then we yell at each other, put each other down, ignore the director and then have to ask “Where are we starting?” [Sidenote: This is why I admire Bob Baca’s patience with a room FULL of trumpet players at Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop! Scary, but he keeps doing it!]

Having finished with some “true confessions” let’s go back to reality and what this post is all about- the difference between arrogance and confidence. Any one of us can have either without the other. Or we can even have both. Those are the truly obnoxious one’s among us.

What then IS the difference between the two? Well, for one, if you were offended by that paragraph above, you may need to work on your sense of humor; if you believed it to be true… read on…

First, I found the following on the Womanitely website:

• Arrogance is usually the result of a defense mechanism used by subconscious mind in order to prevent further criticism. Confidence comes from positivity, optimism and mental steadiness.

• Superiority is the main quality of an arrogant person. Arrogant people are single-minded; … On the contrary, confident people are high-minded, because they can feel good without having a desire to offend others. They usually see people’s potential and can help them succeed in something.

• An arrogant person thinks they are better than others, while a confident person knows they are just as good as others. Confident people will rarely be found lecturing or preaching to others or how they are wrong. Furthermore, they usually show respect while listening to somebody. Arrogant people have difficulty listening to others.

• An arrogant person will always try to one-up everything you say. They mind only their own position and make others accept their ideas. Confident people don’t try to impose their vision of the situation on others. Their accomplishments do it for them.

Lots of good thoughts in those quotes. We can know confident people because they tend to be open to other people’s ideas and abilities without needing to put them down. They listen to others and don’t impose their vision on others, rather seeking to learn new things and new perspectives from others. You don’t get that type of vibe from arrogant people

Cody Brown at Medium.com adds the following two differences:

• Arrogance makes your world smaller and
• The difference between the two has a lot to do with empathy.

It is a small world if what you think is right is the only thing that is right. It is just as small if you think you are either so superior to others or so afraid of failing that you can’t enjoy what you are doing. And the difference really boils down to that wonderful word, empathy. Empathy simply means that in some ways you can understand or feel another person’s emotions and reactions from their perspective. It means caring about them and seeking what’s good for them and for you. It is not sympathy- feeling sorry- but being open to them and what they experience.

In spite of all those things we trumpet players may have been accused of, I have met far more empathetic musicians than arrogant ones. Sure, some may come across as arrogant. They have such great confidence in their skills that they don’t seem to need or want comments or advice. That is often more a product of the gap between their skill and mine. If Trumpet John Smith picks up the horn and just blows away- that can seem arrogant because I want so badly to be able to do that. But when he leans over to the me and gives me a helpful hint, we can begin to see the empathy.

So how can we combat the image of being arrogant musicians? Here are some suggestions I found helpful.

Seek humility. That does not mean striving for it so we can boast of how humble we are, but learning to live it. One way to describe humility is to be teachable. Always look to learn from whoever you are with. There is wisdom abounding in our world. We often miss it because we think we already know it.

Listen with an open mind. That goes along with the being teachable. None of us knows it all. None of us can ever know it all. Someone else’s experiences may give a whole new perspective to how we see ourselves and our world. Keep that inquisitiveness fresh and open.

Be rigorously honest with yourself. One way of describing this is to not thing either to highly OR too lowly of yourself. Know you strengths and your weaknesses and be willing to admit the weaknesses to yourself. That’s how we know where we are still needing to work and learn. Confidence comes from doing what you do well and working to improve what isn’t there yet. All os who have attended the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop have heard story after story of the way some of the great trumpet players keep working on the early pages of Arban’s. They know they have to keep working on the basics and practice every day just to maintain where they are. That’s rigorous honesty with oneself.

Pay attention to Self Two. This comes from the Inner Game ideas which we will delve into again more deeply later this fall. But for now, just remember that Self One is logical and wants perfection. When Self One wants to criticize you let Self Two pick up the slack and give Self One what it wants, a plan to get better. Then do it.

Believe in yourself! That’s part of that honesty. Believe you can do what you can do and are willing and able to learn how to do what you are not yet able to do. This also means don’t put yourself down in negative language or negative attitudes. Admit where you need to grow, but don’t make it seem like it is a personal flaw. You just haven’t gotten there yet.

Look like you believe in yourself. How you dress, how you stand, how you smile (or don’t smile), goes a long way in how others perceive you.

Find a group of musicians to play with who are better than you. If you are the best player in your band, get yourself a group to be with where you aren’t a star and listen to them. Get into a group that is more advanced than you are and work with them. Find a teacher who will push you. Take new ideas as ways to grow and not as criticism.

Keep a Beginner's Mind! Don't lose your inquisitiveness or joy at discovering new things about your world or your instrument. That is a surefire way to keep from becoming arrogant. The more you learn while keeping a beginner's mind, the more you will realize how little you truly know.

In the end your music will tell your story. You don’t have to do it. If you are confident, it will show. If you aren’t, no amount of arrogant behavior will make a difference.

The Tuning Slide: 2.30

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

We don’t move smoothly from one level of ability to next. Reading about quantum physics I realized that most of what happens in the world is not on a continuum. It may look like it, but it isn’t. That’s because we can’t see the little things happening, down on the quantum level. The electrons, for example, move one energy level orbit to another in jumps. Discrete jumps. In-between they are nowhere. It is referred to as “discontinuous.” In other words, a “leap” from one place to the next. Or maybe in a whole cloud of possibilities of all the things that could happen which in physics is known as a sum over paths.

I realized that this also explains some of what I have often noticed in my practicing and improvement as a musician. In summer band I used to notice somewhere around week 4 of rehearsals that my improvement slowed down and even regressed. This would happen just before I made a significant jump in my playing and skill. The first time it happened I almost quit the community band thinking that I was getting too old for that. (I was all of 38, and this was 30 years ago). Then, in a couple of weeks, in time for the second half of the summer band season, things would improve. When it happened again the next year, I figured it must be normal.

Recently I noticed, for example, that my upper register had begun to fall into place in ways I have never, repeat NEVER played before. I know I am approaching another jump in my skill. The next day I wasn’t playing up there. Then I was. Or in my second set of practicing on a given day I was not able to do it as I had the day before. There is a discontinuity happening.

I am in that never-never land between skill levels. I’m not where I was, but I am not quite where I am going. I am in the cloud of possibilities. On any given day I might be approaching that new level and on the next, well, I’m barely where I was. When that happens, I get excited- it means things are changing. Here’s what is happening as a way of illustrating:

It wasn’t that long ago, within the past year, that the “F” or “G” at the top of the staff was my comfortable limit. Yes, I could sort of hit the “A” and “B”, sometimes okay, usually not as well. Basically my skill level was the “F” or “G”. Early this year I noticed I had become more comfortable all the way to “C” on the ledger line above the staff. Still not perfect, but changing. “A” was now the top.

Then three weeks ago, for the first time ever, I purposely went all the way to “E” above the staff. I could do it without too much problem. Sometimes. “C” now felt comfortable. It was at that point that I noticed the seeming regression in skill. For a few days I was barely getting to the “C” again. I got excited. The leap is beginning. In my old way of thinking I would have believed that I had reached the end of my skill. I even remember saying to one of the other big band and trumpet students (Jeff!) that I will never be getting up to the “E” let alone any higher. I don’t believe that anymore. I heard the “E” come out of my horn and I know it will happen again.

Which brings me back to the listening part of music- having a “great ear.” That doesn’t just mean hearing when a note is right or wrong. It also means hearing the note before you play it. I used to take a quick break going up the scale as I went from “G” to “A”. I had to set myself to play it. I couldn’t naturally hear it. In one book I saw online the general feeling of why many trumpet players can’t play in the high register is that they aren’t able to hear the notes up there. Once we can, we move toward playing it. Then, one day, the leap is made.

I do notice that the “leap” is not as fast as it used to be. I don’t think it’s because of anything I’m doing differently. I believe it has to do with the act that I am up in the upper range of the instrument. Some will argue, quite persuasively that the range of the trumpet does go that high, but the fewer number of harmonics makes it a little more sensitive to smaller changes than lower on the instrument. As we move higher in the range, and build our own skills, embouchure, and endurance, the “center” of the trumpet scale moves upward to “C” or “E” on the staff instead of the second line “G”. When you go to higher levels or greater extremes in any activity the progress doesn’t change as quickly. But it still happens.

As we come to the end of this second year of the Tuning Slide, I am aware of many of those leaps in my own playing. I am doing things I never thought possible- and know I am working toward more of them. These past two years have been a remarkable time for me as a person and as a musician. I have consistently called this blog reflections on music and life. They go together. When my life is in better balance and focus, so is my music. As my music focuses more, so does my life. What I learn in one, applies to the other. If there is one sentence that summarizes this second year it is:

How you do anything is how you do everything.

Keep at it. It’s worth it.

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

Between now and the end of June here on the blog I am going to focus specifically on jazz here on the blog. I will be writing a few new posts as well as re-posting my series on jazz from last year. This will give me time to edit and format the two years of the Tuning Slide into a new book. I hope to make it available to the students at Shall Lake Trumpet Workshop in August, as well as on Amazon. I will also be attending the Eau Claire Jazz Fest (to see and hear Doc!) and the adult Big Band Workshop at Shell Lake. As always I will be taking notes, looking for the many more ways that music and life enrich each other.

Any ideas? Let me know. Looking forward to more over the next year.

The Tuning Slide: 2.28

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Last week I talked about anxiety, specifically performance anxiety and some ways to deal with it. My last point in that post was:

• Have fun practicing!
  I do this because I enjoy it. I need to enjoy the music I make in practice as well. That is where self one learns to trust self two. Maybe I need to stop the tweaking of my plan to get over performance anxiety- and just learn to do it. No, not learn to do it- just do it. And that takes the ability to focus.

I realized as I was summing up things last week that performance anxiety is enhanced, if not caused, by distraction or lack of focus. When I am “working on" “dealing with” my anxiety I am NOT focused on the music. Distraction causes me to lose my ability to stay on task- even a task that is simple and deeply ingrained. I found that happen several times last week when I was practicing scales sitting on the balcony. It has been my favorite place to practice this winter- the Gulf of Mexico, the birds, the wonder of the sky and beach all add a sense of peace.

But only if I don’t focus on them.

So I was running through one of the basic, level one scales, you know, Bb and Eb concert. Most of us can probably do them in our sleep. But not as well if you get sidetracked by something around you-

Hey, look at that pelican..
What a beautiful sky it is today..

Or, well you get the picture. As soon as even the simplest thought entered consciousness, I would miss notes or my fingers would get flubbed up or I would forget where I was in the scale.

That is a major problem of mine. I have never been diagnosed as ADD, but I sure can be easily…

Squirrel!

…distracted,.

I have improved in my performance distractibility. For one I have a pair of reading glasses that focus best at about the distance of the music stand. I can’t see the movements in the audience as easily. (Chalk up one good thing for age!) I have also learned how to stay more focused on the director from peripheral vision alignment. That way I can stay focused on the music in front of me and not get lost when moving from looking at the music, then to the director and back again.

The next step in this process is to deal with focus in practice. That brings me back to

• planning,
• goal setting,
• being intentional in my schedule,
• keeping a journal,
• recording myself, and
• using a metronome.

Here is where I still struggle. I have improved in the first three, but need work in the next three. I have a hunch that if I learn to increase my overall focus in practice, I will begin to find more of it in performance.

I can do it- any of us can. The best example of that may be that as Mr. Baca and others at the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop have said:

If you have six-weeks to learn something- it will take you six months. If you have six days, you will be ready in six-days.

In the end that may be the best description of focus. Which is why goals, with timelines, are good ideas. They are self-imposed deadlines, yet not so demanding that you resent yourself for imposing them. All in all it is the working on those inner voices that can get us stuck- or soaring to new levels of ability. Focus is being able to sort out the helpful from the unhelpful, the reality from the fear, and learning how to be more in the present. John Raymond, trumpeter and Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop instructor wrote on this in a recent Facebook post.

About 15 years ago I came to New York for the first time. My dad managed to hook up a lesson with the great Vincent Penzarella and, while I didn't remember this until my dad reminded me a couple weeks ago, he dropped some HEAVY wisdom on me back then. It went something like this:

VP: "John, why are you here?"

JR: "I came out to NYC to check out some music schools and I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn from the best."

VP: "Great! Well, who's been your best teacher?"

JR: (most likely some immature response, although my first response was much better than I would've given myself credit for back then).

VP: "The best teacher you'll ever have is your own brain. You know when you are playing and are really in the zone, and then you miss a note. Your brain says "I messed up, oh no." The critical side of your brain can talk very loudly. But you can't be creative when your brain is critical."

"Your brain allows you to be critical or to be creative, but you can't do both at the same time. The critical side of your brain, especially for a perfectionist in music, can speak very loudly John. You need to learn how to manage that critical side. You are going to have to learn how to talk yourself out of that and let the creative side surface."

"Your number 2 best teacher is the music. Listen to the music, learn the music, respect the music, love the music, just as it is. It has been around for a lot of years for a reason."

I only wish I had the maturity back then to internalize all this. Nevertheless, 15 years later and I can confidently say that these words are 100% ON POINT.
- John Raymond

Well, it is never too late to internalize it. That’s what these posts and the whole Tuning Slide blog is about. It is moving forward, taking risks, pushing the envelope. It is finding new ways to be a better musician, a better person, and going to new places in our own experience.

The Tuning Slide: 2.25- Goals!!

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

I forget where I recently saw this, so I can’t give attribution, although a Google search turns up lots of others who use it. But this was quite a wake-up when I saw it:

I don’t know about you, but I don’t wake up in the morning with aspirations for mediocrity.

Maybe some mornings I wake up and don’t want to do what is needed to avoid mediocrity, and other days I'm just fine with being average as days go. Yet when it comes to a lot of different aspects of life, mediocrity is not what most of us want to settle for. So why do we?

Some of it goes back to what I said about grit a few weeks ago.

• We lose interest,
• don’t have the energy, or
• believe we can’t be anything but mediocre.
  
  • Since I can’t be as great as Miles or Maynard why bother at all?

I will end up being satisfied to be as mediocre as… well, as mediocre as me.

I return to something Bill Bergren emailed me a few months ago that I didn’t use at the time:

Tiger Woods tells us we should never have to use more than 80% of our capacity when striking the golf ball. The same goes for playing the trumpet. This means your ability must be at a very high level to allow for that 20% buffer.

When I read that I realized why I had been stuck for so many years at what I am today calling “mediocre.” My capacity, let’s call it overall ability wasn’t that great. I never practiced regularly. That began to change when I started playing in three different groups and was playing more often. I was still mediocre, but less so. I was on the right track. I had no buffer like Tiger talks about because all I ever did was play when I needed to. My ability and endurance both ran out before the end of the rehearsal or gig.

Which fits what Bill said in the paragraph following the one above.

Tiger also tells us that the number of hours at the practice range or playing practice rounds far exceeds the time actually playing golf. This is true of any sport...........and music.

Makes sense, of course. If I can’t play more than 25 or 30 minutes, I’m not going to make it through a sixty- or ninety-minute gig. Fitting in just enough time to sort of work on the tougher passages won’t help a great deal. I remember the years in the summertime municipal band. At the start of the season I was lucky to get through the rehearsal. With a few days a week of working on those tough passages I could soon move up to at least getting through rehearsal. (The breaks when the director worked with the woodwinds helped.) By the end of the summer I could play through the whole concert, but I didn’t have a lot left over. There was improvement (in endurance) but I didn’t know that it was still just mediocre. In order to get that 20% buffer I needed to practice far more than playing the gig.

How much time is needed? Perhaps 20% more? But I have no answer to that. I did notice something in the book on Zen and the Art of Archery that I mentioned last week. Eugen Herrigal reports simply being told by the archery Master,

“Don’t ask- practice.”

There are aspects of practice that are important like singing the piece, playing it slow enough to know what the notes feel and sound like, recording yourself, listening to other recordings. All of these are not a prescription to zen and music, they are simply part of the practice. A classic zen idea is to realize that you will know it’s happening when it is time. Until then wait with patience- and keep practicing.

Again, last fall I adapted some of what Bill Bergren wrote to me with the deliberate practice ideas from from the book, Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool.

• Deliberate practice is focused. Students must give it their full attention.
• Deliberate practice involves feedback. Immediate, specific feedback on where students are falling short is vital.
• Deliberate practice requires a teacher
• Deliberate practice requires leaving one’s comfort zone. If students aren’t pushing themselves beyond what is comfortable and familiar, they will not advance.
• Deliberate practice requires specific goals aimed at target performances
• Deliberate practice builds on mental representations.

I have paid little attention to #5 on the list:
Deliberate practice requires specific goals aimed at target performances.

Last year in the first year of the Tuning Slide I took a shot at this idea. I have never been good at that type of planning in my practice regimen. Since reading the ideas in Peak and its explanation of deliberate practice I have spent some time thinking more about the idea of goals and plans. I’m still growing in that area, but I have learned some things. Well, one thing is for sure:

Figure out what you want to do (the target performance) and then plan ways to do it (specific goals).

What I have discovered over the past two years of this head-long leap into becoming a trumpet player that isn’t mediocre is to have a routine. Do it regularly. Daily is the goal. That’s where we have to start. When I made that a goal, it actually happened. Doh!

But then we have to be deliberate about it. We don’t just pick up the horn and start playing anything we feel like playing. A routine of long-tones, scales, Clarke studies, etc. Those remain the basics. Doing them daily is a key goal. I didn't even know I needed to do them or that if I did I would improve as much as I have.

Ask questions of your teachers and/or mentors about what you need to be doing. Then do what they suggest. Get a mentor or teacher and pay attention. That is the goal. That's where the goal begins to get specific, about you and what you need.

Read, research, and listen. In so doing you can find out what you want to improve. That's the goal. Then put it into practice. That's the goal. For example, I have always (!) wanted to be better at jazz improvising. I bought several of the Aebersold books, messed around with them for a very short period and then set them aside. "I guess that won't happen," was my response. What I didn't realize was that before I in particular would be able to do that I needed the basics. After the first goals above became reality I started reading more, researching more, listening more. I achieved a decent basic mastery of the 12 major keys. Now I had learned more of the language I needed. Goal!

Recently I came across a simple exercise on basic licks that can help get the feel of jazz under my fingers. Simple goal Practice one of these a day for six-days, in all 12 major keys. (Right there I would have set it aside if I hadn't had the other goals earlier.) Then on the seventh day- don’t rest- but play through all of them. Doing that is a goal. Today is the seventh day and I am looking forward to seeing how well this fits together. (See Learn Jazz Standards.) And- I am doing all this without written music, which was another goal in this past six-months- to work on my listening- and translating what I hear into music.

I am amazed some days at how long it has taken me (55 years?) to learn this about my trumpet playing. Fortunately I knew some of this from my vocation outside of music. I would have starved to death a long time ago if I hadn't. Applying it to my music has been the extra added value!

Again, this isn’t rocket science:
Set goals- figure out what you want to do and then plan ways to do it.

Of course,
then do it!

The Tuning Slide: 2.22- You Gotta Have Grit

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

“Grit is about working on something you care about so much that you’re willing to stay loyal to it.”
“It’s doing what you love. I get that.”
“Right, it’s doing what you love, but not just falling in love—staying in love.”
(Grit, p. 53)

Back in November I did some posts on “deliberate practice” as one of the most significant keys to developing skills. It isn’t 10,000 hours, it's how you spend those 10,000 hours. That was taken from the book, Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool. They clearly believe- and can show- that there is not such a thing as “natural talent. It takes work- and lots of it.

Another book from last year takes this to a different level. Angela Duckworth, in her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance asks the excellent next question. “How do you stay motivated to practice all those hours?” Ericsson and Pool raised the same issue when they noted that this “deliberate practice” is not always fun or easy. You have to keep working at it. Duckworth digs deeply into what she calls “grit.”

Like Ericsson and Pool she demythologizes “natural talent.

Nietzsche said. “For if we think of genius as something magical, we are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking. . . . To call someone ‘divine’ means: ‘here there is no need to compete.’  In other words, mythologizing natural talent lets us all off the hook." (Grit, pp. 43-44)

Great quote, and right on target. I can never be as good as [fill in the blank] because they have natural talent. Even trumpet players, known for our supposedly over-sized egos, may try to imitate Doc, Miles, or Maynard, “but you know- those guys had natural talent. I can never do what they do.”

Malarkey Nietzsche says. As do Ericsson and Duckworth and many others. There may be other reasons why we may not end up at the level of the greats, but natural talent isn’t one of them.

After showing her reasons why she doesn’t accept “natural talent, Duckworth went on to study “grit”, stick-to-itiveness, motivation in many different areas. When she got to music she affirmed Ericsson’s ideas. She then lists four barriers, “buzz-killers” she calls them, that keep us from sticking to the long haul.

“I’m bored.”
“The effort isn’t worth it.”
“This isn’t important to me.”
“I can’t do this, so I might as well give up.” (Grit, p. 80)

I don’t know about you, but any one of those can- and does- crop up on a much too regular basis. These are the questions raised by the inner voice that tells us we aren’t good enough or that fears failing. In the book The Inner Game of Music, Barry Green calls this voice Self 1. It is the voice of interference. On the other hand there is Self 2, the voice of our talents, abilities, desires, grace. The trick is giving Self 2 the go-ahead and bringing Self 1 along. Duckworth then writes (with my comments in between):

…the research reveals the psychological assets that mature paragons of grit have in common. There are four. They counter each of the buzz-killers listed above, and they tend to develop, over the years, in a particular order.

First comes interest. Passion begins with intrinsically enjoying what you do. Every gritty person I’ve studied can point to aspects of their work they enjoy less than others, and most have to put up with at least one or two chores they don’t enjoy at all. Nevertheless, they’re captivated by the endeavor as a whole. With enduring fascination and childlike curiosity, they practically shout out, “I love what I do!”

I love the phrase enduring fascination and childlike curiosity. Remember last week and the discussion on mindfulness? This fascination and curiosity is part of what we are building when we practice mindfulness. (By the way, how are you doing at developing that? Just thought I’d ask.) Not everything we do is exciting and adrenaline producing (think- long tones.) There are aspects of every job that are mundane and, yes, boring. But there is that initial interest. Don’t lose it. Stay mindful

Next comes the capacity to practice. One form of perseverance is the daily discipline of trying to do things better than we did yesterday. So, after you’ve discovered and developed interest in a particular area, you must devote yourself to the sort of focused, full-hearted, challenge-exceeding-skill practice that leads to mastery. You must zero in on your weaknesses, and you must do so over and over again, for hours a day, week after month after year. To be gritty is to resist complacency. ““Whatever it takes, I want to improve!” is a refrain of all paragons of grit, no matter their particular interest, and no matter how excellent they already are.

For some of us the capacity to practice may be greater than for others. If you have a 40-hour a week job, you won’t be able to put in four hours of practice every day. But there has to be a discipline of doing it- and seeking to do it better than the day before. This goes on month after month. There are days when we don’t want to pick up that horn and go through the routine. But I have never met anyone who was sorry they did when they finished.

Third is purpose. What ripens passion is the conviction that your work matters. For most people, interest without purpose is nearly impossible to sustain for a lifetime. It is therefore imperative that you identify your work as both personally interesting and, at the same time, integrally connected to the well-being of others. For a few, a sense of purpose dawns early, but for many, the motivation to serve others heightens after the development of interest and years of disciplined practice. Regardless, fully mature exemplars of grit invariably tell me, “My work is important—both to me and to others.”

Why am I doing this? I am sixty-eight years old. I will never be at the level of my trumpet heroes. Why is it important for me to get out that horn and practice every day? If I was just doing it for my ego reward of sitting in my practice room and hitting a high C on a regular basis, I would soon lose interest. Even (finally) being able to play Al Hirt’s Java never kept me going. But ever since I have been playing in groups- concert bands, big bands, a quintet- I have begun to (re)discover the joy of playing for others, of watching an audience respond, and yes, the ego reward of playing more challenging music. I may never play the Charlier etude in public, but it gives me the skill to play Copland or Gabrieli.

And, finally, hope. Hope is a rising-to-the-occasion kind of perseverance. In this book, I discuss it after interest, practice, and purpose—but hope does not define the last stage of grit. It defines every stage. From the very beginning to the very end, it is inestimably important to learn to keep going even when things are difficult, even when we have doubts. “At various points, in big ways and small, we get knocked down. If we stay down, grit loses. If we get up, grit prevails.” (Grit, pp. 80-82)

Again, a great phrase- hope “defines every stage” of grit. Yes, I have blown solos with the band, or missed entrances with the quintet. Yes, some days my embouchure just doesn’t want to cooperate. Does any of that mean I have reached the end of my skill development? I HOPE not. When I have gone as far as I think I am able to go, grit will lose. I have always wanted to be a skilled musician. Other passions, such as my career vocation, were more important. Now, with time and practice, I have the hope that this dream will continue to be fulfilled.

Could I have done this earlier? Sure, but I wasn’t ready I guess. The old saying- when the student is ready the teacher(s) will appear- is true. I didn’t know it was possible. Now I do. I have lived this way in my vocations, however. Those four things of interest, practice, purpose, and hope led me through over 40 years in my careers of choice. No matter what you or I do for a living, we can apply them there- and in whatever else may be important to us.

Just don’t quit.