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 4.34- Applying Experience

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Music is … A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy
― Ludwig van Beethoven

I keep saying that this blog is “reflections on life and music”, but then I have to admit that most of it is about the music part. Sure, I have put many connections into the posts, but I don’t often just take aim at the “life lessons” from music. I thought I would take a few weeks to talk about some of the life lessons I (and others) have gotten from being musicians. I started with a Google search, of course, and found three pages in particular that have given me the foundation for this and the next two posts.

Of course it could be argued that many of us bring these life lessons into music and not the other way around. Many of us do know that some of the things we have discovered in life are very applicable to the music side of our lives. It may be the case that people who have certain ideas, ideals, and habits more easily become musicians, but I think it more often works the other way around since most of us started music before we developed these lessons, habits, and traits. If we stayed with music after high school or college, chances are these habits grew together and became woven into the fabric of who we are.

So, with that as an introduction, let me turn to the first set of lessons. These are from a website, The Odyssey Online, where Amanda Gribbin reflected on "Eight Life Lessons Through Music."

1. Do not expect instant gratification.
2. Mistakes are okay.
3. Wholeheartedly pursue your passion.
4. Have people to look up to.
5. Keep an open mind.
6. Challenge yourself.
7. Set personal goals.
8. Working for something that you love will never feel like work.
(— Link)

Some of these are obvious, though easily forgotten (instant gratification). Some we have looked at in different ways and the application to life from music is clear to see (challenge and goals). Let me reflect on several of them. (This is something I learned from jazz, by the way. I start with an idea and then riff on it, improvise on the theme. Or is that one of the reasons I life Jazz? See how it goes both ways?)

✓ Instant gratification
I love guitar. If I want to learn any other instrument and be able to play it at least reasonably okay, it would be the guitar. Back in high school, after I was already an established trumpet player (and therefore a musician) I bought a guitar and started taking lessons. I was doing okay and, since I played trumpet in a Tijuana Brass-style group with my guitar teacher, he actually had be learn the chords for one of our TJB songs and I would play guitar when we did that song. My problem was that I was not able to be as good at guitar as I was at trumpet. At least not able to do it overnight. Instant gratification! I have since taken lessons several times and still own a guitar. There was a point when I did play more, but I never really got it. I would get frustrated and quit. In many other areas of my life I have learned to wait, be patient, do what needs to be done. I just never had the time (or took the time) to do it with guitar. I know why I am not a good guitar player today. But it never became a goal. That’s how these go together. I know there isn’t instant gratification. I also know that there are other things more important (higher priority) than being a guitar player.

✓ Mistakes are okay
We have to be careful here. Mistakes are okay if we correct them by learning from them. We must not get the attitude that if I make a mistake in a performance, eh, who cares? Expect to make mistakes since none of us is perfect. Don’t be satisfied with the mistakes and use this as an excuse not to improve. I can name many mistakes I have made as a counselor. I have forgotten important points, responded out of my personal motives, even been called on the carpet by supervisors. But I made sure I didn’t do it again- and didn’t beat myself up over it.

✓ Have people to look up to
Mentors, gurus, wise colleagues, experienced elders are all people to look up to. I still “look up to” a professor and a supervisor I had 45 years ago who set me on the path I have taken. I remember with joy a colleague who taught me more by his example how to be a person of humble spirit and soul. In all that I do, I try to incarnate the lessons they gave me. I still have people- colleagues, friends, and/or musicians- who come to mind when I need a personal reminder.

✓ An open mind
For me this is always a growing edge. In some ways it is the summation of the others. If I think I am always right, my mind is closed to opportunities and life itself. If I think I have nothing to learn from others, I am going the wrong direction. If I am satisfied with where I am today and not willing to accept challenges to grow, I might as well sell the horn. I’m done and will miss many things. Life itself is always changing. Just because it isn’t how it was when I was growing up in those “good, old days” doesn’t mean it’s wrong today. An open mind is one that is mindful of the world and able to move within it with a sense of personal acceptance and then to learn from it. Essential in our very difficult age.

✓ It will never feel like work if you love it.
This is a variation on the old statement, “If you love what you do you will never work a day in your life.” While that is an extreme statement that certainly leads in the right direction, it is a lesson we have to learn. The lesson is that even on the difficult or bad days, if you love what you do, you will find ways to enjoy it. A quote from one of the instructors at the Shell Lake Trumpet Workshop that I quoted a few weeks ago says the same thing. “If you don’t like playing long tones, you don’t like playing the trumpet.” Or at least you are playing it for some wrong reasons. Every job, every part of life, has its times of boredom and drudgery. You finish washing the dishes, and more are dirty; you get the wash folded, and there’s a new pile. Most of us in music know the feeling of picking up our instrument and having life change in an instant. That is an important lesson for all of life.

Tuning Slide 3.46- Ingrain the Positive

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

We remember the past,
live in the present, and
write the future.
― Shaun David Hutchinson

• Weren’t things better back then?
• The music today is nothing like when I was a kid.
• Do you remember the good, old days?

What? You don’t agree? Oh, you’re too young to remember the really, really REALLY good old days? Well, they were something else. If only we could be there again.

Okay, go ahead, call BS on all that. The good, old days? Really? Nope! And just remember, THESE are the good, old days that many will be wishing for in thirty to forty years. In a phrase I once read in a book, that means all we have to look forward to is a glorious past.

To which I call BS.

I won’t go into what I think the “psychology” of all this is about. Suffice it to say, I don’t believe it. At least not for many of us. Yes, there are many in our world for whom these are bad days- but the past wasn’t much better and many don’t have much to look forward to. To deny that is to dwell in a fantasy world. (Kanye West fell into that trap when he talked recently about slaves, but that’s another story.) Can things get worse? Of course they can. Will be the future be any better than today? Who knows.

Which brings me to the center of that phrase- the present, today, the only day we have to live in. The past is unchangeable. For better or worse we can’t change what happens. But today we can choose to do some things differently. Today is the day we have. These twenty-four hours are our work- and play-space. What are we going to do with them? When the day is over will we look back and be satisfied with what we have done or wish we have done things differently? At the end of the day we won’t be able to change them. So we need to be intentional about what we plan and how we do it.

Those things that we call important are the things we spend our days doing. The default mode of our brains gets into a direction and keeps on moving. That is why we need to plan, to look ahead and make sure we are doing with today the things that will keep us moving into tomorrow. If you can’t do something about it today, don’t try to. Focus on what you can do.

As I was writing this I had just finished doing a first read-through of some music for an upcoming concert. We had not had a rehearsal yet. Some of the music I had never seen before; other pieces were as familiar as a comfortable shirt. I don’t know how it’s going to be to play those pieces, so I did what I could do today. I scanned them, I made mental and other notes of what to look for, I sang through some more difficult looking pieces, I played some of the sections, and then I listened to them on You Tube. Am I worried. No. Why should I be? I’m not at the rehearsal yet, but I did what I was able to do today.

Hopefully I was “writing” a story for the future playing these pieces. I was intentional about my planning.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again,
but expecting different results.
― Variously attributed to a number of people

Ah, but how slow we are to learn. If we do the same things over and over we will get the same results over and over. That’s where things like listening to the music on You Tube helps or where a friend or teacher/mentor can help us. If what we are doing isn’t working, change it up. But just as importantly, if what you are doing IS providing opportunities for growth and improvement, don’t stop. In our haste we often don’t give ourselves enough time and energy for the changes to stick.

I have talked before about those times when I have hit a wall or come to a plateau in my playing. I have a plan for when those things happen. I will go back to some good, old Getchell lessons and some of the basic Arban’s. Maybe some days I will work on a Concone etude as well. Basics that are familiar and get me back to the fundamentals. I try to listen to Self 2 who knows better than I do what is and isn’t working. I try not to keep barreling ahead making the same mistakes over and over. If I do, it will be the mistakes that get ingrained.

Ingrain the positives; make the good things the habits; rewire your brain to do the next right thing.

And the only time to do that is today. So the video for the week is from Bird- Charlie Parker- Now’s the Time.

The Tuning Slide 3.17

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

True enjoyment comes from

activity of the mind and exercise of the body;

the two are ever united.

-Wilhelm von Humboldt

We have been talking about how to become a musician this month- at least in behaviors, actions, and attitudes. At the heart of it is always that priority list:

1. The music
2. Our colleagues
3. The audience
4. Ourselves

Unfortunately, since it puts "ourselves" last, people often use that as an excuse NOT to take care of themselves. We end up pushing ourselves beyond our limits into wearing down of our energy, skills, and careers. The issue of balancing extremes that I talked about last week in relation to our actual playing is just as important when it comes to taking care of ourselves. It can be so easy to mess up our lives by not paying attention to what’s important in how we look after ourselves. We ignore warning signs of extreme fatigue, we think that we will always be able to do everything we have always done, we will not take care of our body, mind, and spirit. Many of us will actually take better care of our instrument than we will of ourselves.

In reality if we don’t take care of ourselves we can easily get into deep trouble physically and emotionally. In the end the music we produce will suffer, the relationships with other musicians will deteriorate, and we might not have an audience to play for. Taking care of ourselves, I am convinced, is the same as cleaning, caring for, and tuning an instrument.

Last summer I explained to Bill Bergren at the workshop what I was hoping to get out of an individual lesson. He took my horn from me, pulled out the tuning slide and looked down the lead pipe.

“When was the last time you cleaned this?” He looked in my mouthpiece, handed the trumpet back to me and just shook his head.

I cleaned it that night- and there was way more of the ugly green gunk than I wanted to see. That green gunk is a metaphor for what happens to me when I don’t take care of me!

So I did some surfing around the Internet and found many good bits of advice as I got ready to write this week’s post. They sum up the different areas of our lives that need self-monitoring on a regular basis. That is the “mindfulness” that I talk about so often. The better we pay attention to ourselves and what is going on around us, the better we will learn to take care of ourselves.

I put the things I found into a series of categories:

✓ Balance
Avoiding extremes
✓ Breathing/Relaxation
Developing tension releasing activities
✓ Commitment
Making self-care non-negotiable. (It has to be part of the daily routine!)
✓ Exercise
Keeping the instrument of self physically tuned
✓ Gratitude
Developing an attitude of humility and grace
✓ Mindfulness
Learning to be self-aware both inwardly and outwardly

First, on the Musician’s Way website, (https://www.musiciansway.com/blog/2009/11/the-12-habits-of-healthy-musicians/) Gerald Klickstein had twelve habits of a healthy musician. Here are the ones I felt fit best with this post:

• Manage your workload (Balance)
• Heed warning signs (Mindfulness)
• Minimize tension (Breathing/Relaxation)
• Take charge of anxiety (Breathing/Relaxation)
• Keep fit and strong (Exercise)

On the website Psych Central (https://psychcentral.com/lib/how-clinicians-practice-self-care-9-tips-for-readers/) there was an article about how medical clinicians and counselors learn to take care of themselves. Here are some of the tips from there that seems most appropriate.

• Remember that self-care is non-negotiable. (Commitment)
• Put it on your calendar — in ink! (Commitment)
• Know when to say no. (Balance)
• Identify what activities help you feel your best. (Balance)
• Take care of yourself physically. (Exercise)
• Surround yourself with great people. (Mindfulness)
• Meditation (Mindfulness)
• Check in with yourself regularly (Mindfulness)

To be a healthy musician, then, let's put these together:

• Mindfulness:
  
  • Check in with yourself regularly
  • Heed warning signs
  • Meditation
• Gratitude:
  
  • Surround yourself with great people
• Balance:
  
  • Know when to say no
  • Manage your workload
  • Identify the activities for relaxation and renewal that can help you feel your best
• Commitment:
  
  • Put your self-care activities on your calendar in ink
  • Remember they need to be non-negotiable
• Breathing/Relaxation:
  
  • Minimize sources of tension
  • Take charge of anxiety
• Exercise:
  
  • Take care of yourself physically
  • Keep fit and strong

As to that last one, I have been a wannabe exerciser for years. I manage to keep at it for a while, then something changes and I get lazy or off-track. (I have been a certified group trainer, as well.) Yet I have always known and experienced that when I am taking care of myself physically through exercise and better eating, I am better overall, and I am a better musician. There are many places to find ideas about exercise for musicians. I came across one set that was really helpful. The site is Take Lessons (https://takelessons.com/blog/fitness-exercises-for-musicians) and they had a wonderful bit of information for musicians. They also had a number of links to helpful videos. Here are seven of their ten ideas, chosen more by my own experience to share:

• Yoga- Stretching and movement with balance and intention is a great metaphor for musicians. We can learn it well through yoga. The website talked about “power” yoga. Not a necessity in my opinion. Yoga will do it without all the extras added.
• Core Exercises- The core, the abs, are the supporting foundation for all good health. They provide a way for musicians to be more focused and relaxed because they are well supported. The benefits of a strong core I don’t think can be overstated! Pilates is an excellent way to build this.
• Posture- We have all heard that having good posture does a lot- we just ignore it. Yet a good posture will support better music. It also has a lot to do with breathing. And efficient use of breath is essential to those of us who are wind musicians!
  (http://brassmusician.com/posture-and-breathing-by-mike-white/)
• Arm Strength (biceps, triceps, shoulders)- Think about holding the instrument! Need I say more?
• Cardio- A healthy heart will help get that air moving and increase endurance.
• Neck & Shoulder stretches
  (http://www.musicnotes.com/blog/2014/06/17/stretches-for-musicians/)
• Meditation- Yes, this can be an important part of exercise. Next week I will talk more about this in relation to T’ai Chi and Qigong.

I hope I am preaching to the choir in this post. I am a strong supporter of self-care. It is not being selfish. It is taking care of yourself as a way of helping others. It is in line with the instructions you hear on an airplane. If the oxygen mask drops down, put yours on FIRST before helping even a little child put their on. You can’t help if you aren’t safe yourself.

Take care of you. It’s the only you that you will have.

The Tuning Slide - Wow! or Not: A Musician's Mind

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

Music is the shorthand of emotion.

― Leo Tolstoy

Like most of us I have been “Wowed!” by a performance, event, situation. I will sit there with mouth agape wondering how in the world they did that?

In doing some surfing on the Internet I discovered that there is a whole understanding of “Wow!” as something to aim for. Two headers on a Google search said:

• Good Customer Service is Over -- WOW Your Customers
• Ways To Stop Satisfying Customers And Start Wowing Them

I even found a book for choral musicians

• The Wow Factor: How to Create It, Inspire It & Achieve It: A Comprehensive Guide for Performers by Steve Zegree

The Urban Dictionary defines the “wow factor”:

• A set of properties belonging to an object that pleasantly surprise a watcher.

And the Cambridge dictionary says:

• a quality or feature of something that makes people feel great excitement or admiration:

Pleasant surprise, excitement and admiration. Yep.

As a musician such a moment can be inspirational to me- or send me to give up on even trying. My favorite joke when listening to such a trumpet performance is simply, They didn’t put those notes into my trumpet.

Which of course isn’t true.

But being "Wowed!" by a performance may actually work against us as musicians. It can get in the way of experiencing the music on a deeper level. When we feel "Wow!" we move away from the music itself and fall into our emotional response. Not a bad thing, of course, as I will talk about in a little bit, but at that moment we end up becoming lost in our response and ignoring what is happening in the music itself that is making us feel this way.

I don't mean that we should sit in detached disinterest and listen to the music as if it were some class assignment. Nor do I mean that we should sit and analyze every moment of music that we hear to see what it is doing.

Rather I see the need to catch the "Wow!" and let it be real, not an overwhelming of our emotions by the music, but having the music flow through us in a way that we can feel and touch its meanings and movements.

The emotional response I mentioned is not something to be avoided or to fall 150% into. Rather it is a cue- a trigger- that says to me, when it happens, that there is something exciting and important happening here in this music. It is moving me; it is making my inner self sit up and pay attention; it is grabbing hold of me.

• What is happening? 
• What's going on here? 
• Why is it touching me in this way?

Another word to describe this is one I feel is an essential to daily life: Mindfulness.

When the "Wow!" happens it is calling me to mindfulness. It is calling me to pay attention to what is happening in my life at this very moment through this music.

I remember a Wynton Marsalis concert I attended 25 years or so ago. I no longer remember the piece he played, but I remember a moment when he finished off a solo in the most incredibly moving way. As it ended and I exhaled with a quiet "Huh!" I heard someone else in the audience do the same thing just before the applause started. I figured it was another trumpet player who understood the feeling of that solo.

I didn't analyze it, I let it happen and gave thanks for the moment. It was not a "Wow!" as much as it was a moment of awareness. I felt myself as real IN the moment as Wynton's notes touched me. When we get stuck in the "Wow!" we can lose that mindful awareness.

To grow as a musician I need to listen to the kind of performances that might contain the "Wow!" but I cannot be overcome by them. I have to learn to live in them and them to live in me. I can then learn to find that same mindfulness as I play my music. It's just being present. And experiencing it.

Which is what mindfulness is daily life is all about. When we are willing to be open to what is going on around us and acknowledge its power, we are not being "Wowed!" We are rather, living in the possibilities of the moment.

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.

The Tuning Slide- The Mind of a Child

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

The greatest invention in the world is

the mind of a child.

-Thomas Edison

Watch a child discover something new. They will explore every bit of it. They will turn it over, touch it, play with it, even put it in their mouth if we let them. Watch a child watching and you will see wonder expressed. Watch a child thinking and you will see wheels turning that we have long forgotten in our rush to adulthood. Life is always challenging, wonderful, strange, new, scary, hopeful, eternal.

Watch a musician learning a new song, attacking a difficult passage, playing a solo and nailing it. You will often see that same wonder being expressed. That sound, that passage, that solo has never been played like that before- and the musician knows it. To come to the music- and life in that way allows for the possibilities and surprises that result in awe and joy.

Just like kids.

I posed the question of having the mind of a child to the group from the Trumpet Workshop. (I hope to keep this going as a way of adding broader insights to the posts.)

Brandyn described it to me:

Kids don't think they just do. When I play and sound my best I'm not thinking about anything except the music. I literally just sing it in my head at times and it’s amazing. Just gotta keep the mind of a child and go for the music!

Cody said:

that when "Having the Mind of a Child" you don't let your ego interfere with the learning process. For example, in "The Inner Game of Tennis", Timothy Gallwey uses the example of the when a child learns to walk. When they fall, they don't get down on themselves.

It's a shame that we lose the mind of a child when we grow up. Not that we should continue to be immature or illogical, but that we should be ready and willing to let the creative juices of childhood flow. We should be ready and willing to kick back and let the moment happen.

Sometimes the best answer is the simplest that doesn't take a lot of complex interpretations. Sometimes it is just letting our lives become the lives they already are and not worry about what that might look like. It is in the trying that we achieve our first successes and not judging the goodness or badness of what we have done. Like Cody said- keep the ego out of it.

It works when learning to play music. It works when learning to live life.

If it works, why stop?

The Tuning Slide Blog- Introduction

Weekly Reflections on Life and Music

“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - 

it's really a stupid thing to want to do.” 

― Elvis Costello 

So why do this? I’ll start back in June when I first went to a Shell Lake Arts Center Workshop on Big Bands. I was inspired and motivated. I have been a trumpet player since 1961 to greater and lesser degrees, but always still playing. As part of the workshop we had a Master Class for the trumpets. Bob Baca, the leader, did one small thing on playing trumpet. I was blown away. My playing changed almost immediately.

That’s part one.

Part two was the first week of August when I went back to Shell Lake for the Trumpet Camp Workshop. Unlike the Big Band weekend, this was for all ages, although most were high school and first year college students. This was even more exciting and motivating, led also by Bob Baca and a faculty of diverse trumpet players. They were a class act that saw trumpet playing as more than just the techniques, but included the motivational, psychological, and social insights about success.

Again, I was challenged and blown away. This time my embouchure (lip) was in good shape and I was able to play longer and in better tone than in June. I also discovered again the real joy of being in a place where music ruled. One of the other “adult” students commented that it was great to be around a large group of “trumpet nerds.”

The faculty gave us lessons, challenges, and opportunities to play. The showed us how to practice and shared their many stories and experiences with us. On the last morning we all sat in the rehearsal hall and were asked to share what we remembered from the week. Since most of us only remember things for about three days without reinforcement, this was an important part of the “taking it home” process. Most of what was remembered were the ideas and thoughts that motivated us.

As I took notes I thought, “This would make a great blog series!” Next I decided that it needed more than just my usual Wanderings of a PostModern Pilgrim blog. It needed a blog of its own, even if I cross-post on both. Since much of what we learned and experienced is more than applicable to the ways we live each day I knew that it would also be a reflection on how music and our experiences at the workshop made a difference in the rest of the year. So why not do a weekly post that keeps the ideas and motivation going for the 48 weeks left until the next camp?

Which brings me to the title: The Tuning Slide. On a trumpet, that’s 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 you are 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. 

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

Each Wednesday I will post on an idea from the camp, share some thoughts about it, apply it to life, all inspired with some quotes about music and life from both musicians and non-musicians.

I may post other ideas, videos,resources and the like on other days of the week, but the main post will be on Wednesday.

So join with me and the faculty and students from the trumpet camp of August 2015. There are some neat things to share and hopefully you will find yourself staying in tune to yourself and others around you.