Searching for Explosives

The alarm clock goes off at six A.M. but you are already half awake because today is audition day! Must get to the airport 5 hours early. There's no time to warm up or practice because you've got a very important date and you can't be late! Unfortunately your sky high confidence is fast evaporating as all this traveling is not the way to prepare to play your best. All that careful rehearsing and mock auditioning now seems of no avail, but you are hoping that something will happen to make it pay off when it counts.

Endless lines of travelers are doing a good job of soaking up all that extra time you allowed. It will be a close call getting to the gate. Nobody is in a hurry but you, while everything else is in slow motion.

At last it is your turn to advance past security. But wait, you are summoned to step out of line to receive a special puffing from that explosives detector, or whatever it is. Oh well, heroes can take it, as you sing John Williams' solo to yourself.

"Please stand still, sir." And then a gigantic puff of high powered air shoots at you as your shirt blouses out, your pants fill up with the gusts of air, and your hair shoots straight up. "Wait, we need to do it one more time, sir." Another enormous puff happens as though you have now been officially zapped and energized with special powers and abilities. They wave you through as no explosives were found. Or where there?

Many hours later you arrive at the hall with case, bulging gig bags, a half dozen mutes, pouches of mouthpieces, and your heaviest suitcase. Your arm aches, your head aches, and your lip is stiff because you haven't warmed up. Then you run into all the people you hoped would never be there. Why did you even come? Everyone else plays better than you. And besides, they were all runners-up in the Cleveland audition. What a waste. Why bother! Go back to Kansas!

Nevertheless, you unpack, have a brief but very surprisingly good warm up, and soon find that you are next. You pray that you won't hear that word again. Walking on stage and springing open your quad case, you proceed to play the audition of your life! Every excerpt is like brushed gold, just like the recordings. Your tone is awesome, attacks secure, and your softs and louds are all there. It's nail-it city with nary a crack, air note, or blip!

Then you hear a stirring from behind the curtain. "Yes! Bravo!" followed by vigorous applause from the whole audition committee! "Harry, we are finished for the day. Please bring this contestant down to meet the maestro. Sir, that was some wonderful playing. That's just what we are looking for. When can you be available? How much money will . . . . "

As you try to conceal your excitement and open your empty date book, you suddenly hear your jangling alarm clock jolting you back to reality. What? Oh no! It's six A.M. and time to get up and get to the airport. Today is your audition day. Hope you get searched for explosives!

Mettle Detectors

You know those metal detectors at airport security? That checkpoint where potentially dangerous items must be detected and then disallowed before you can proceed? Occasionally you may even be one of the fortunate few to stand there in that silly door frame while you are suddenly air-blasted by that machine that checks you for explosives! It matters not that you feel violated and humiliated as all can see that hole in your sock to boot! You must be absolutely up to snuff with no bad stuff. Security staff's mission is to search out and eliminate any items hazardous to your safety and to those around you.

Having survived that ordeal and after still further review of your credentials, you are then allowed to reclaim your shoes, belt, laptop, phone, spare change, and mouthpiece. You are finally pronounced good enough to go. You may now approach the moving sidewalk. (Watch your step as you approach the moving sidewalk.) By now you are fatigued and irritated, and you're still not even on the plane. Is this not very similar to a day at the auditions?

Getting yourself to the audition is almost as bad as playing it. In auditions only the best survive the grueling process, and you can be fairly sure they have no suitcases full of bad notes. The scanning process is thorough. Mettle is detected, but here it is desirable. You have passed scrutiny and have been found sound.

Thought for this snowy non-day: prepare to be completely evaluated and sifted. The committee wants to find a clean, strong candidate with no hidden or undesirable baggage. Our task as students is to anticipate this testing and to begin to eliminate all items that won't fly.

Incidentally, you've got more time to think about it. Your flight has just been delayed!

Notes to Go

"The reason people go to concerts is to hear great trumpet-playing." That simple statement by William Vacchiano in a lesson years ago seemed to me either the dumbest or the most egotistical comment I'd ever heard. But as I thought about it, I realized that I got way more than my money's worth from him that day.

That quote has served to invigorate and motivate many a self-doubting trumpet student facing performance pressures. Our purpose is simple. We are on a mission to give the audience something memorable. Or how about unforgettable? They paid. We can't disappoint. They are expecting all the notes and then some. It's the "and then some" that can be the key that frees us from our nerves and fear of making mistakes. We're there to give, not to be critiqued. When we serve up the notes with accuracy and an appropriate dose of style and flair, the job is well done.

A test of how successful we are is how memorable the performance is. What will the crowd take home? With that goal of audience satisfaction in mind, we are armed with all we need to deliver great notes to go!

The Air Force

Today's trumpet studio class was a very nice demonstration of the force of air, as two grads prepare to go off into the wild blue yonder to audition for two openings in the U.S. Air Force Band. They survived three rounds in preparation for the real thing in another week and a half. Pretty much unscathed by nerves and a discerning audience, they played with spirit and confidence. They also graciously received some tough constructive comments. Receiving criticism is never easy, but such is the military. Criticism is the making of a man, and honor is preceded by humility. So far, very good.

We had a lesson on the importance of crystal-clear attacks, velvety smooth lyric lines, and the need for accuracy and control. Both students have prepared well and have gotten stronger. Any professional brass position requires accuracy, mature musicianship, and stamina. All of that we heard today. Nice work! But tomorrow they must be able to do it all over again - let it all hang out, but gather it in for another day.

Trumpet vacancies! Job description: ACCURACY, STYLE, and ENDURANCE.

Smiling, Puffing, and Chewing

Trumpet-playing and smiling are not good bedfellows. They just don't get along. They get too tired of each other. Definitely, your playing can be light-hearted and jovial, and bring a smile to the audience, but not to your embouchure. Your corners can't be getting all happy. For the lips, playing is serious business. Firm corners, relaxed center. Don't be thinking about the Joker. Picture the Hulk!

As long as we're on the mushy embouchure, cheek-puffing is also a no-no. The air can't be shooting in several different directions inside your mouth. You'll lose endurance, flexibility, and control of intonation. Air must be aimed directly into the mouthpiece. Cheeks are just as important as the rest of the body, in fact more so as they are the last to focus the streaming air to its destination!

And then there is the chewer, nibbling and adjusting the embouchure with every rise and fall of the line. He looks like a squirrel with his nut. Save the chewing for meal times. How about freezing that embouchure into place. Set it, and keep it there. Remember: iron-clad firmness at the corners, but relaxed and flexible in the middle! Also, others must marvel at how calm and relaxed you appear as you play. But on the inside - fire and amazing efficiency!

Setting Your Pace

Here's a non-brilliant concept for improving endurance. Take that upcoming recital, or one of those strenuous brass concerts in which survival is the issue. Good practice involves just as much the right mental preparation as physical. The right kind of approach and mindset will produce the best results. It's not a matter of energy, but how it is used.

Look at that crazy guy speeding down the highway in the snow and ice! Just up ahead we'll likely find him stuck in the ditch. Having lost control, he is quickly sidelined. Look at that marathon runner way out in front of everybody immediately after the starting gun! We'll soon watch him huffing and puffing himself into premature exhaustion as everyone passes him by. Now listen to that audition contestant blasting his solo and all of his excerpts in the warm up room non stop! We'll soon see him trudging sadly back to where he came from. Each of these did not finish because of energy failure - not the lack of it, but the misuse of it.

Playing is an athletic event that requires pacing. Had the driver, the runner and the audition contestant been able to conserve their energy, they would have finished as planned. A tense mindset burns up too much energy, while a wise relaxed approach uses less of it and is more productive. The impetuous, the driven, and the frenzied usually defeat themselves well before the end of the day.

Suggestion: Drive to get there, not to be the first. Run to finish strong, not to impress everyone from the get-go. And play your best, but so as to be able to repeat the performance tomorrow. As you prepare, pretend that the event is actually twice as long, and pace yourself accordingly.

Staying in the Toy Store

As I was talking with a symphony veteran today, I perked up to something that he said. When I asked what keeps him going after so many years in the business, I could have heard, "I need the money, the medical benefits, the pension", etc. Instead he responded quickly, "I still love it. I'm still a kid in a toy store!"

That's the winning mindset. That's what has kept his quality playing pouring out year after year, and that shrinks obstacles. Perfecting his game hasn't come with a dampening of enthusiasm. We all claim that we love music, but soon find how easily our love for playing can grow old and cold. It's sort of like "for better or worse, in sickness and in health", and sadly, "for richer or poorer". Time and pressures test commitment.

You can tell when you're listening to a kid in the toy store. For that kid, it is art, not a job, a game, not a routine, fun, not work. The kid is still there in all of us. It's fun for everybody when that happens.

"Luggage" for '09

You can already hear freight train 2009 barreling towards us on its fast track. Fortunately it makes one final rest stop at Holiday Station, just long enough for us to collect a few thoughts before it heads off into the New Year.

As the old year rounds third and heads for history, it might be good to think about lightening our load a bit for the journey ahead. Extra cumbersome baggage is costly these days and adds unwanted strain on the carrier. So let's take into the new year only those things that we can carry and which will still be prospering when Engine 2010 approaches. For sure there is nothing new offered here, just a couple of reminders as we prepare for our routines.

The first item to take along - a disposition that leaves others encouraged. Improve rather than disapprove. My wife reminds us when cleaning the house for company, "Always leave a room better than when you entered it." ("Fine, then I'll just leave," I say. That's not the idea.) Contribute something edifying. Remove things unhelpful. Anyone can trash and tear down. Even a few well-spoken words are powerful - no flattery, just encouragement. It is always needed.

Another idea is to begin work on projects now rather than later. This obviously avoids extra stress. Starting your work early gives you and your project simmer time. Long haul preparation is more productive than last minute cramming. Slow plugging beats fast hammering.

Those who know how to prepare well are usually self-starters. They are not dependent upon others. They take initiative and finish projects. They also have learned how to inspire themselves, to stay motivated, and to dig their way out of discouragements. People like this should be your best friends.

Also consider that your gifts and abilities are given, not a given. We really don't own anything that we did not receive. Even the ability to acquire wealth has been granted from our Maker. This perspective produces gratefulness and helps us to approach our responsibilities without the selfish focus that brings the pressures of pride and insecurity.

Luggage for '09? ENCOURAGEMENT, PREPARATION, MOTIVATION, and GRATEFULNESS

Have a great New Year!

The Cop, the Doc, and the Maestro

What is the lesson that a highway patrolman, a dentist, and a conductor can teach us? There he is, parked around the bend on the interstate with his window wide open and that obnoxious gun thing aimed straight at you. He's our friendly speed monitor. The second guy we see is peering down from behind his sanitary mask with his obnoxious sharp poking instrument aimed straight at your mouth. It's our friendly tooth monitor. Next, there he is, staring back at you from his podium with that obnoxious stick in his hand pointed directly at you. It's our friendly note monitor!

These three can be either friend or foe. The choice is yours. But there is something important to be learned from each of them. For sure we get their message, but usually it's too late and costly. Had we only known and been prepared, our encounter would have been much more pleasant, or no en counter at all. But because of our negligence, we must face a ticket, a cavity, or a musical flogging . . . or a billing, a drilling, and a grilling!

Your speed suddenly matters when it's found unacceptable. Dental hygiene matters when the painful cavities surface and must be dealt with, and the lack of right notes matters once they are publicly exposed. Neither a quick jamming of the brake pedal, nor a flurry of brushing, nor a frantic last minute practice session can make up for our woeful lack of preparation. These monitors teach us not to get too late smart.

But wait! Could it be that these three characters, the cop, the doc, and the maestro, are only ghosts of the past, and not necessarily what must be in the future? No, they need not be specters that dog us in the new year, hounding us for our wealth, our health, and musical success. Yes, we can awake from these very real nightmares to find instead that we have yet another chance to prepare to meet them, and this time with confidence and readiness and joy! MERRY CHRISTMAS, everybody! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Fire-Starting Methods

Christmas Eve will find you . . . kneeling down to fan the flames of that yuletide fire, but you quickly realize that you are working way too hard because not much flame-flickering is happening! Furthermore you are getting faint fast and your holiday company is growing impatient and not at all impressed with your fireside manner. The smoke seems to be winning the blowing contest as it poofs right back into your face which grows paler by the puff. What a wimp!

Holiday lesson: Sorry to say that this scenario is highlighting your severe embouchure and breathing problems! Your approach also reveals a serious character flaw which is totally unacceptable for a brass player. It appears that you are trying to start that fire like a woodwind player!! (Actually they have fake fires, or else they have someone start it for them.)

Let us observe three ways how not to get a fire started this Christmas. First is the oboe player's Tight Squeeze Method, subtitled A Fire in a Pinch! No Chicago fire will ever get started with such an embouchure. Windy City? Not. While they're aiming at the floor, more air actually escapes from their ears than ever reaches the smoldering wood. It takes oboes a very long time to get a little fire going, and this is definitely not the way to impress your holiday company. The fire cracklings seem to be laughing at this over-stressed effort.

Next mistaken approach: the Classic Flute Puff Method, which attempts to ignite flames without stirring any dust or soot whatsoever. You can faintly hear only slight puffings and twitterings from the would be blower as he never inhales more than a reed cup full of air. The pitiful air stream does have a nice quivery vibrato however. This method is somewhat popular because there is so little resistance.

Then there is the irritating Bottle Hoot Method. This is especially popular with bass clarinet players. Alto flute types also invariably latch onto this technique. The flute family often uses this method to suit their fast tonguing needs by using "hootalee-hootalee-hootalee's". This may help them with Bolero, but is not the greatest for fire-starting. The positive side is that The Bottle Method does provide a real hoot for observers.

Christmas break assignment: carefully observe your fire-starting technique and don't be using any of those woodwind methods. Brass players need to be studying The Three Little Pigs Method. You must huff, and you must puff, but you must blow the house down! In fact, the more dust, soot, and smoke, the better! When your flames are blazin', then you're cookin'!

Time For a New Toy

We have the results of your annual trumpet e-check. Are you ready? It calls for three valve jobs with alignment included, complete chemical flush to remove all red-rot and corrosion, compression checked, dents fixed, corks replaced, new pearls, new springs, bell straightened, plating redone, pitting to be buffed from mouthpiece as well as all areas of contact of the horn with sweaty skin, lost nut screws replaced, mouthpiece gap adjusted, loose braces soldered, lost third valve bottom cap replaced, leaky spit valve fixed, and all food to be drilled from mouthpiece back bore. And oh, your mute also needs a few corks!

We expect first-rate music to flow from equipment that is often in poor repair, and wonder why we struggle. A horn in excellent condition says something about the player. It also can make life a whole lot easier.

Forget the huge repair bill. This is the season for a shiny new toy!

Buerkle's Brass Festival a Hit

The drive to Kettering was worth it. Brian Buerkle did it again. It was the perfect venue for an Organ and Brass Festival at the Kettering Adventist Church just outside of Dayton. A total of fourteen brass players from near and as far as Colorado shared in the glory of brass and organ favorites. Some very nice playing by everyone contributed to a great concert experience. Trumpeters John Rommel, Justin Bartels, Jon Kretschmer, and Wesley Woolard joined Brian in covering C, piccolo, and flugel parts cleanly. An appreciative audience filled the large church.

Adding class to the program were nice touches of color and perfect poundings from the percussion guys. CCM's mezzo-soprano Brittany Wheeler beautifully sung the gorgeous solo part to the Urlicht by Mahler. Ravishing is the only word for that movement, and the brass shared the many solemn moments beautifully.

Bravo to maestro Buerkle for envisioning an ambitious project and seeing it through successfully! We heard not only very fine trumpet playing by him and his colleagues, but also witnessed skills in organizing, leadership, arranging, and conducting, as well as mature musicianship. There was a lot of talent on display, but that was not the focus. His humble but quite confident presence was perfect for drawing our attention to great music. Thank you for that!

Organist Jerry Taylor spoke well with humor about the French organ composers represented. His playing on the Franck Final was brilliant. His instincts for dramatic flair were perfect as he was thoroughly enjoying the music which eventually climaxed in the most grandiose ending imaginable! Total immersion by musician is always special for audience. Well done! (Brian, you have to arrange that one for antiphonal brass forces next time!)

The horns nicely finessed the many runs and flourishes with impressive sizzle and tone. The trombones were appropriately sensuous in the Shostakovich Jazz Suite and gave the trumpets a comfortable cushion for their lead moments all through the concert. They also had many fine trombone moments of their own. I thought the highlight was Wagner's Gathering of the Armies from Lohegrin with all juices flowing in sync. Off stage beltings were just as they should be - strong and confident with Brian conducting accordingly. He managed the likelihood for distance/delay problems well.

That Gabrielli Canzon has got to be about the all-time best showcase for the back of the orchestra ever. It gives reason to put us up front permanently! The competing choirs did a great job of friendly combat. The original score must have said something in the fine print about each group trying to outdo one another. Choir A keeps laying it down, only to be defiantly answered by the reply of Choir B, with each insisting on dominance. This is as it should be, and it continues until they all cross the finish line together to the cheers of those in the stands. You gotta love Gabrielli!

And then came the Finale from Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony. Who needs strings and reeds to hide in! The piece works just fine without them. Brian's arrangement was a toughy, but they got it done. This program showed what inspiring brass music is all about. Where would orchestras be without it? Nice show, Brian!

Season's Matchings

COLUMN A

Bad Solfege _2_
Has an 18-note word _10_
Mahler 9th _7_
Scale down _5_
Bengal _1_
ESPN Theme _3_
1812 _4_
Environmentally-conscious cuffs _8_
Scale down _6_
Mahler 4th _9_

COLUMN B

1. Snow Man
2. Deck the Halls
3. Bridge to Sleigh Ride
4. Same Old Lang Syne
5. Joy to the World
6. Away in a Manger
7. White Christmas
8. What Child is This?
9. Jingle Bells
10. Angels We Have Heard

Trumpet Works in Toronto

Andrew McCandless, principal trumpet of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, is the Professor of Trumpet at the Royal Conservatory's Glenn Gould School of Music in downtown Toronto. Not unlike Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, the G.G.S. accepts only the best talent, and takes very good care of its four trumpet majors. Proof: recent grad Adam Zinatelli is just about to land the Principal Trumpet position in the Calgary Philharmonic. School's mission accomplished!

The school is part-way through a massive building project which will include a new concert hall. There is already an impressive fusion of the old school masonry with sharp new century design. Just next door, however, an alien high rise appears to have crashed and adhered itself right onto the front of the nineteenth century fortress! The Conservatory's new music building should easily offer a more subtle, yet bold presence, reflecting traditions while implanting the new.

Professor McCandless has a lot to work with, and his students have a lot to draw upon. He brings to his studio his on-the-job experience with the orchestras of Savannah, Kansas City, Buffalo, Dallas, San Francisco, and now Toronto. His training credentials include Boston University and the Eastman School. Andrew is an excellent soloist who also has an unashamed love for teaching. The word is that he is also a sought-after speaker!

Yesterday was one of the days the school generously offers an outsider to participate. It was a day full of solos and excerpts. I was privileged to throw my deux cents into the mix. We heard nice displays of Arutunian, Hummel, Hindemith, and Honegger, (no Haydn. Without the H's, we'd lose half of our solo repertoire!) Solo class was then followed by a good look at a dozen of those pesky standard excerpts that never seem to go away. Some efficient nailing happened.

I was reminded that successful training is never painless. If it is, it isn't happening, or else we have a genius on our hands. In addition to all the normal requirements, Andrew's lesson agenda includes regular doses of transposition and sight-reading! Duets are also part of each lesson as they stimulate vital ensemble instincts. How easily these three are neglected!

For music school hunters and/or trumpet recording geeks, Toronto offers a fantastic experience. As many orchestra budgets have brought recording projects to a standstill, the Toronto Symphony is already thriving with a bunch of CD's that, along with the music school, serious trumpet students ought to check out.

So, what'll it be, boys?

"Hi, boys! Back again? Let me take your order. Today we've got some tantalizing appetizers, tempting side dishes, and plenty of devilish desserts. Now which will it be?"

Does eating have any relationship to trumpet practicing? It may be a stretch, but maybe not if you consider the importance of discipline for improving in both areas. We make decisions every day that affect us for better or worse. Whether you're opening up the Arban book or the menu at Applebee's, you are faced with choices. We tend to order up what we want, not what we need. Do those decisions matter, and is there a relationship between good nutrition and good performance? You decide.

With life's bar 'n' grill serving up its daily specials, it is difficult to maintain a balanced diet of anything. There are lots of attractions and distractions. Keeping in mind our goals for top physical and musical health, some things have got to go. We must make decisions that will leave us in better shape at the end of the day. Suggestions:

Control over those shakes just might help us with control over our shakes. We could start substituting scales for ales. Shed the gin, and head for the gym. Do flies, not fries. Less spaghettios and more arpeggios. Tonics are for playing only. Less pizza and more pizazz. (Sorry).

Moderation, discipline, and self control are issues that affect all areas of life. Being out of balance in one area could jeopardize our success in another. Control in one area should help us with control in all the others. If our trumpet really matters, so must our discipline.

Hold On!

Few have the patience for this kind of practice. It's too boring and unmusical. Besides, it takes too much time and can be embarrassing as it makes others think you must not be very advanced. The truth is that this practice is excellent therapy for what ails most of us. How so? It helps intonation, tone, breath control, endurance, and even articulation all at once. To ignore this practice is to show up for your very first rehearsal unprepared. We're talking long tones, holds, fermatas.

One very long note can be a whole lot harder than a string of fireworks. Somewhere in every piece you will hear at least one. Often Trumpet I is called upon to demonstrate to the world how it's done. For example, take Zarathustra, both Leonore calls, Mahler 2nd and 10th, Rienzi, every Brahms Symphony or Strauss tone poem. Second players are not exempt. Beethoven and Brahms made Trumpet II the king of low, long and soft. Put on your fermata or long-sustained-phrase glasses and you will discover them everywhere. This gives us new motivation for daily fermata practice. You know you're going to need it!

This week add a good dose of long ones to your practice agenda. Just think organ, sostenuto sempre, Bruckner's molto adagio movements, bagpipes, air raid sirens, swimming under water, bullfrogs, puffer fish! Whatever works for you, think it so you will do it. Come up with your own strategy. You could have a long-note lottery. Pick a note, any note - loud, soft, high, low. Time yourself. Try them with dims. Try them with crescendos. Have someone mercilessly conduct your one note until you're totally out of air. We get paid by the note. Pretend we get paid by the length of the note. Grab a good breath and hold on!

Picture This

Every day during practice sessions in the basement, I would pause to gaze at my gallery of trumpet heroes on the wall. Each day they were there, staring at me through their picture frames, watching, listening, and some smiling as I slowly proceeded to blast my brains out. If I stopped playing long enough to listen, I could hear them. They had all at one time influenced me both by their words, of course by their notes, but also by their lives. But with the passing of time, their only help was in what I could recall.

Actually that is not true. When I looked closely at their embouchure as they were playing, I could still get a free lesson. Watching can be almost as beneficial as listening. My own embouchure had been a bit dysfunctional especially in early years, and many problems had to be overcome by sheer willpower. It was my way, the only way, and the hard way. Being coaxed and advised was not as helpful as observing other players - something about a picture and a thousand words. A wiser student would have heeded instruction as well as seeing it in practice, but that is a topic for another time.

Looking at those guys on the wall, I could see that each embouchure had a natural placement of the mouthpiece on the lips. It just looked right. Corners were firm, center free to vibrate, and the rest of the face appeared to focus on the blowing process. Air was directed straight into the cup, with no detours. Both lips shared the work load with an absolute minimum of strain. At least, it looked that way. Upper body was relaxed and upright while the air made its unhampered passage directly to the audience. The mouthpiece looked like it belonged there!

We study the art of music, but we also must learn the art of controlling its vehicle, the air stream. Behind every great trumpet performance there is a well functioning embouchure whose job is to manage air flow. Call him the quarterback, the point man, the executive officer, or the busy air traffic controller of your playing. If he has been trained to handle all that passes his way, you are good to go. Don't be at odds with your embouchure. The quality of your music depends on how well he functions. I was always amazed that so much great music could travel through such a tiny aperture with such efficiency and ease!

Treadmill on the Incline

It's just what you asked for, your very own Life Style Treadmill! It comes complete with lengthy practice manuals and a lifetime guarantee. The fine print warns that you will wear out before it does! Nevertheless, you accept the challenge, and it quickly becomes the focus of your life. You're on it 24/7.

But what happens when that treadmill seems stuck in the inclined position? Instead of walking on air, your every step is a painful uphill climb. Or worse yet, that exhilarating jog has become a joyless drudgery. Soon you're thinking, "How could this have been so much fun, and now so much work? And everything hurts! Do I really want to keep doing this?" Congratulations! You have just run into your first wall.

Playing trumpet can be just as rigorous as a long uphill jog. Various degrees of burnout are quite common at music schools. In fact, it might as well be in the small print of every course description: WATCH OUT FOR THE WALL! The problem is that we didn't expect it. After only a few months you are seriously tempted to rethink your commitment to your ongoing warfare with your trumpet.

Be encouraged. You are fortunate to have just experienced a microcosm of reality. It happens after school just as much as in school. Start learning to deal with it now and prepare yourself. Those oncoming walls have their way of blindsiding you. Our job is to expect them and to learn to avoid their damaging physical and emotional effects. A wall can ruin your music making. You must tear down that wall! (or avoid running directly into it)

In my opinion there are two things that will help overcome debilitating discouragements. The first is a mindset that is committed to a daily routine of basic fundamentals regardless of how you feel. You can't wait for winds of inspiration to blow before you ever tackle your work. On the other hand, you don't beat yourself up, but you regularly develop those basics that will make you great.

The second is the most powerful. It is what got you were you are so far. It is your love for music. Without that, you cease to be an artist, only a mechanic. Go ahead and be the mechanic, but also be the musician. An intense passion for music can be the most effective weapon in sustaining you through stressful times. Your musical message must be stronger than the steep road in front of you. Use the looming walls out there to motivate you to develop your musical instincts and skills before you ever encounter the opposition.

One last thought. It's not about how great you become, but how much you love what you do. It is those who will have the most impact. Few seem to really enjoy their work. Be one of those who do. Keeping alive your love of music will sustain you and give you much to share. Keep running. You're not done yet. That wall may be the best thing that you ever ran into!

Filling Up Space

Conservatory practice rooms have their purpose and even a benefit or two, but there is a big problem with them. There just isn't enough space in there, physically or acoustically. Sometimes there is barely enough room for a mute change. If you want to switch mouthpieces, you first have to leave the room. Take a deep breath, and your shoulders are touching both walls. After a couple of long tones all of the air is stale, and in mere moments everything in there smells as bad as it sounds.

What's more, all of your notes are dead on arrival. Because there is no resonance, the only feedback you get is the slap in the face from your notes ricocheting directly off the wall, which soon describes your playing. Breathing tends to become shallow since everything is plenty loud in there. Consequently, the lips can be forced to do way more controlling than necessary. It isn't long until Frankie Fatigue and Sammy Smashmouth once again barge into the room to keep you company for the rest of your day. Assignment: find a way to get rid of them!

With that said, these cubicles do offer a great benefit. You can hear everything! All flaws are quite audible and exposed. We now have no excuse for ignoring weaknesses. Such a completely unforgiving acoustic teaches us honesty and humility, revealing that we are not as good as we imagined. That miniature stage presents us with our urgent practice agenda. It's clean up time!

Let's move to the concert hall. Look around at the space that needs to be filled up. Your sound will have to travel all the way back, all the way up, and to both sides in a split second! First lesson is to breathe accordingly. Your sound must have presence, projection, and resonance. Good air flow, and lots of it, will be the key to your survival. With a destination for your sound in mind, you will be able to shift much of the work from your chops to your air. Chops squeeze, lungs blow.

The stage also is the arena for music-making, whereas the practice room is the classroom for working. Since playing is more fun than working, and performing is more fun than practicing, your challenge is to bring the stage into your practice room. Add play to your work. It then becomes not about where you are, but how you are thinking.

Visiting Houghton College

Late October in upstate New York has got to be an artist's perfect getaway. If you never dabbled in water colors for lack of the right scenery, or ever dreamed of picturesque outdoor photography, consider camping out at Houghton College in the fall. It is a 125 year old Christian Liberal Arts College founded as a Seminary in the Wesleyan Methodist tradition.

Post card photographers must have a field day there. No photo shopping needed. Nature remains as it has always been, still unaltered by a single McDonalds, KFC, or even a Starbucks. Once over the shock of that reality, life can nicely settle down to what really matters. At Houghton, it is all about being in the ideal surroundings for lots of intense study, practice and worship. In such a place, how could you not?

The campus is pristine, and the students appear to be thriving in their distraction-free zone. The new music building is first rate, modern, classy and bright, and seems built to encourage all who enter. One is struck by the friendliness of each student as well as the school's dedication to excellence. Quality abounds.

Three trumpet students played for a brass meeting in the auditorium. First up was a lyrical study from one of the new etude books by Phil Smith. It was played with beautiful tone and expression. Wider contrasts of volume and operatic expression was the goal. Goal reached!

Next was the Lied by Bozza. Emphasis was on focus of tone quality and intonation. It's always nice when those two happen.

Finally we heard parts of the Concertino by Jolivet where there were high marks for confidence! Mr. Jolivet was our instructor that night as all that was needed he had already printed in the music. Who doesn't need to pay more attention to dynamics, tongue-finger coordination on fast notes, and centered intonation? We always get better when we observe major details. With each player, more efficient air flow made them sound better. It takes much patience, but practicing under tempo is worth the effort. Slow motion reveals our flaws. Nicely done!

Dr. Paul DeBoer, professor of brass instruments, must be doing many things right at Houghton. His students are obviously being well trained as the learning curve is fast and adjustments were made quickly. Fine people and fine musicians are being graduated from Houghton College. You get the correct impression that everything about the school matches its surroundings perfectly.