Passing the Pencil Test

There they sit, that great and powerful audition committee lurking behind that huge screen.  Each judge wields with great authority his or her pencil which serves as note-taker and timekeeper.  They wait patiently for someone, anyone, to save the day and play in time!  But no. Contestant after mediocre contestant fails to correctly match the notes with the tapping pencils. And so comes that dreaded response, "Thank you. Next!"  

Sound, accuracy, intonation all matter on audition day, but so does rhythm. No one wins without passing the pencil test! Fail that and you go home with no cigars. Few contestants are rhythmic standouts. But if you play precisely in sync with the pulsing pencils of the committee, you will win great favor!

Why not eliminate that problem?  Which is more annoying, practicing with a metronome, or going home because of poor rhythm? Solos and excerpts played with rhythmic precision is fun work.  Playing can be challenging, but great rhythm should not.  It must be a given. So if your playing is good but your timing is bad, what's the point?

Becoming an Unstoppable Force

Winning an audition is not about staying calm and avoiding mistakes.  It's about presenting an impressive musical product, one that will not be hindered by nerves or adverse circumstances. You must be so confident in the musical message, that you are able to play it anytime and anywhere.

High quality playing however must be a constant focus. Otherwise you might not be able to withstand those pesky monsters that attack at every audition: fear, nerves, travel nightmares, poor warm up conditions, negative feelings, intimidation by competitors, self-doubt, a bad chop day, etc. Simply put, your constant obsession for outstanding playing must overpower any obstacles you will encounter.  Think of your practice as bulking up on the music.  Consider yourself an unstoppable musical hulk!

Picture a powerful horse pulling a child's toy wagon. The horse is your strong concept of the music. Trailing behind is the little wagon carrying all of your greatly dwarfed performance enemies.  Those usual anxieties will no longer plague you when your message is stronger than your distractions.  Since you can't depend on favorable conditions on audition day, you must fortify your musical product.

Your internals must defeat the external assaults. Be preparing yourself for your most convincing musical presentation possible!  The audition then becomes just another day at your future office.

Got Anger?

Got an audition coming up?  Tired of fretting and wondering what the committee will think of you?  You know what?  Who cares! Try injecting large doses of anger, and then just play hard!

The stage is no place for fear or self doubt. Squash the fear monster with the anger monster. Unleash the mad demon on the fear demon. Fierce determination is way more impressive than careful, cautious coziness. 

Fits of rage will not replace diligent preparation however.  So, after all of your grunt work has been done as thoroughly as possible, add a good case of attitude.  Always include dazzling displays of artistry, and the job is yours!  Your winning formula: Artistry + Anger = Job!!

Getting Out of Jail

Does your practice room feel like a prison cell?  Is your espressivo about as exciting as Buster Keaton's deadpan stare?  Need a get-out-of-jail-free card?

Here are a few suggestions that might help you break out of that solitary confinement:

1. Practice with eavesdroppers in mind.
2. Don't stop listening to those who inspire you.
3. Practice singing each passage perfectly with full dramatic impact.
4. Make all fundamentals musical.
5. Turn boring drills into beautiful phrases.
6. Focus less on how you feel, and more on how you want the audience to feel.
7. Play ballads on flugelhorn.
8. Play soft AND beautifully.
9. Don't waste notes. (Even warmups must be worth hearing!)
10. Anticipate the satisfaction of mastering difficult passages. A jailbreak isn't easy and requires careful planning!
11. Daily mindset: you'll get paid for only great-sounding notes!
12. Feed big music with big air.
13. Practice competing with the great soloists.
14. Replace "drudgery" with "performance".
15. Look at your whole life.  What percentage of it was fun?  What percentage wasn't?  Fix it.
16. What's happening in your cell, fizzling duds, or sparkling firecrackers?

To think, or not to think?

Too much thinking about your playing can be just as bad as too little. Both can end poorly. A performance can be crippled by over-thinking as well as by recklessness. Somewhere there is a safe middle ground between brains and no brains, between too much caution and none at all.

Think about this: The question is not about thinking but about sounding. A total focus on the beauty of the product will eliminate thousands of useless notes and extraneous noodling that nobody wants to hear.  

A great performance is about great music-making. That priority should drive every practice session.  Think not about how you are feeling, but what the audience will want to hear.

Discount on Trumpet Books

 






Piccolo Trumpet Studies - 106 short etudes from easy to moderate difficulty, each with the purpose of gradually building control on the piccolo trumpet.  

100 Trumpet Etudes - moderately difficult etudes, written to not be boring, great for sight-reading. 

Trumpet 1, Studies in the Style of the Pops Orchestra Repertoire - 138 generic pops orchestra studies. Each is from moderate to challenging with an emphasis on style.

All books are $20. Sale price from now till 12/31/14: $18. each. Shipping is free in USA. 

To order via PayPal, enter collinsnotes@earthlink.net

Two Antidotes for Nervous Nellies

What's a good antidote or two for stage fright? Try getting angry or try getting sleepy. It's hard to be nervous when you're all irritated, or when you're so tired that nothing matters anymore. Being able to summon these moods just might help knock the edge off your next case of the jitters.

Instead of freaking, think of words like nonchalant, blase, laid-back, indifferent, apathetic, casual.  When our instincts are on such high alert that they are ready to short-circuit, we need a good dose of "it's not that big a deal, man, relax!"

Rather than stressing about every note of every phrase, simply decide to bluster your way through with an attitude. Of course you will have practiced meticulously, so you can now afford to charge ahead proudly and fearlessly.

Barney Fife became famous for these facades whenever he found himself in a frightful predicament. Audiences saw his cocky confidence and self-assured smugness in spite of crippling fear. Often he responded to stress with a ho hum, sarcastic smile. He masked his nerves with swagger, yet with a humility that endeared him to audiences. Use nerves to your advantage.

 

Leaving Your Mark

When your final performances have ended, and your last notes have all been played, how will you be remembered?  Will you have made the High-note Hall of Fame?  Will you own the coveted Loudest-Player-on-the-Planet award? Will it be said of you: "What a monster player, but what a jerk!  Seemed like such a nice person, till you got to know him."

Heroes are esteemed, but often at what cost? Is musical excellence achieved at the expense of personal reputation? Are great note-making skills an excuse for bad manners?  Is your amazing high C more important than your character? Time and others will tell.

Proverbs says that a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, (or great notes).  Your notes evaporate quickly, but your reputation lasts. Value people as much as your notes.

The Makings of a Great Player

What makes a great student?  What turns tons of input into profitable output? Is success attributed to genes, willpower, personality, a controlling mother, or a bunch of lucky breaks?  What is key in making a great player?

In the book of Proverbs, the wise person is not the one who hears instruction but the one who diligently puts it into practice. Doers become wise, not hearers only.  The best student is not always the most talented, but the most ready to listen and to implement instructions. 

This should be great news! Aptitude, work ethic, and encouragement all play a large part in success, but key is our willingness to absorb, and our passion to apply.

Shrinking the Gap

What's the purpose of practicing?  Is the purpose of playing just to practice?  And should we continue plowing through that same checklist of assignments hoping for a good result? How easy it is to loose sight of where we're going and why. There is always a gap between how we sound and how we want to sound. The main purpose of practicing is to shrink that gap as quickly as possible.
    
Motivated students tend to focus on the other side of the gap, not the great chasm before them. It's not about the distance but the vision. The practice session becomes a game of "how fast can I get out of here, and get over there?" The best students can taste the other side, aim for it daily, and listen carefully to the best musicians. The goal is to not sound like a student!

What then compels any sane person to jump headlong into countless hours of struggling with the trumpet? Is it not that strong concept of a powerful yet beautiful sound, and the passion to pursue it? The carrot before the horse is that great trumpet sound that captivated us from day one.  That's what sustains us through nerves, obstacles, discouragements, and even defeats.  Many jump, but few survive.

The Midas Touch

Remember King Midas? He was the king who got what he wished for, that everything he touched would instantly turn to solid gold. He quickly had a household of gleaming treasures including his daughter! Poor King Midas!


"Let's say you played 10,000 notes today, and you are thrilled because 2,000 of them were simply amazing!  Unfortunately that means there were 8,000 mediocre notes that nobody wanted to hear. Congratulations for the good notes, but sadly, it is the 8,000 mediocre notes that tend to be habit-forming.  The majority rules. Try to deliver 10,000 great ones!"   - Arnold Jacobs

Remember King Midas?  Everything he touched instantly turned to pure gold!  Why not have that mindset? Put on an imaginary crown and a royal robe the next time you enter your practice room.  Tomorrow as you open that trumpet case and pick up your gold-plated Midas trumpet with its gleaming gold mouthpiece, think about your treasure trove, boatloads of valuable golden doubloons!

You have no notes to waste.  Make it your practice to make them all count.

Game Time Practice by Michael Jordan and Arnold Jacobs

"During every practice I spend time imagining myself playing in the game so when the actual game comes it's no big deal because I've already done it all."  -  Michael Jordan

"There should be a period of time during each practice session when you perform. Invite some friends in to your practice room and play a passage or a page of something. ... What I'm trying to indicate is that each day should contain some amount of performing. You should engage in the deliberate act of story telling each day you practice. Don't only gather information when you practice, spend time imparting it. This is important."  -  Arnold Jacobs 

Note: These are two of many valuable quotes compiled by Michael Grose, Principal Tuba in the Eugene Symphony and Associate Professor of the Oregon School of Music. #jakeped 

Mahler 5 Alert!

The CCM Philharmonia will perform Mahler 5 on Friday evening October 10.  Auditions for the trumpet section will be held next week.

As we enter these exciting days, here are a few inspiring quotes from the great Arnold Jacobs:

"The big thing about music—or any other art form—is that you can enjoy what you are doing, but others must also enjoy what you are doing. It should be like painting a beautiful picture on canvas for others to appreciate. When you are playing a solo, you are not playing for yourself, but for the people who are listening."

"In your thoughts, be a musician not a mechanic." 

"One should have a great sound in the brain to imitate."

"It doesn't have to feel good, it just has to sound great!"

Guys, remember: drama, power, finesse, and beauty.  And one more: pacing!

 

The Second Most Obvious Audition Issue

The second most obvious issue at the auditions: 

There was some cause for pause this week in evaluating the CCM trumpet placement auditions. No worries and no cause for alarm however!  The fix does not involve brutal sessions of chop pounding, hyper ventilation, or great displays of monumental exuberance!  It is a simple matter that can be remedied rather quickly and without pain, and will greatly benefit players and listeners. It was present at the auditions, but since it did not abound, no one did astound.

I'm talking not about accuracy, intonation, volume, or style.  The given in any audition ought to be a steady sense of RHYTHM.  This means no rushing, no dragging, or anything short of incredibly precise rhythm.  The right tempo with a reliable beat is always impressive.  It must be so noticed that it rekindles a pulse in the committee.

Good rhythm is more than mathematical perfection.  It must be instinctive and infectious. After all, rhythm matters.  It is the basic structure of music.  It must be clearly felt.  With unstable rhythm, we have unimpressive music.

The best way to perfect rhythm is to put the horn down, and sing or tap out the notes in perfect time.  We tend to be better rhythm keepers without the instrument.  So, first internalize it, and sing it at all speeds accurately.  Then copy that with the trumpet.  If it's solid within, it'll be solid without.  If it isn't, it isn't.

A great player with average rhythm will only be an average player.  We'll likely miss a note or two, but we have no excuse for playing constantly with bad rhythm.  Do the work.  It will show.

(There was a more noticeable issue at the auditions than rhythmic problems, but we'll leave that for later.  Let's start with the easiest.)

One Word Matters

A wonderful break through happened the other day during the lesson of a tenth grade trumpet student!  As a result of just one word, his sound suddenly opened up. The room lit up, and it was easier for him to play! My rants on air, tongue, and coordination were ineffective.  Finally I told him to just BLAT it out!  Voila!

I wonder if the magic word needed for each student could be determined by some questionnaire!  The student answers all the questions and then receives his/her personal word for the week.  No teacher needed!  Sadly, it took me months to figure out that BLAT was what was needed. 

WIND GUSTS was another successful word picture that worked nicely.  But, one word at a time.  No wonder Proverbs speaks of the beauty of a well place word at the precise moment. 

A Trumpet Lesson with Professor Mahler

Professor: Come on in, you're next!  

Student: Hi, Professor Mahler.

Professor: I hope you're warmed up, because I've got a lot of stuff I am expecting you to play well for me today.

Student: What kind of stuff, Professor Mahler? 

Professor:  Contained in my scores is enough stuff to keep trumpet players at the peak of their game, and audiences coming back for more for a long time to come.  Now, let's take a look at your daily agenda.  Make sure to cover as many of these items as possible every day!


PROFESSOR MAHLER'S TRUMPET STUFF:

• soft as possible

• loud as possible

• lyric sweetness not expected of trumpet players

• long fluid chorales in all registers

• gnarly fanfares, fast and slow, soft and loud

• sudden rude pokes and jabs

• the mean and the ugly (the spirit, not the tone)

• high note diminuendos to nothing

• the mother of all offstage solos!

• shocking and unexpected entrances

• huge leaps in a single bound, soft and loud, fast and slow

• highest note, lowest note

• the longest note ever

• very quiet triplets on a low C sharp

• offstage screech part

• transposition always required 

• complete accuracy always expected

Student: Gee, professor, I'm not sure I am ready to do all of that stuff!  You see, I have many issues and problems that must be solved.  What can you suggest for all of my ailments?  

Professor Mahler:  What I have written is all you will ever need. 

The Makings of a Great Student, Part 2

Rather than another long and familiar list of the usual must-haves for success, here are some obvious must-not-haves to consider. These are job-killers that quickly cripple growth.

The enemies of success are not a lack of talent or an uninspiring environment. The real inhibitors of success are laziness, stubbornness, lack of taking initiative, and an unwillingness to address weaknesses.  These habits will quickly render one's talent and love of music of no effect.

Confronting weaknesses is a given for the successful. Great students learn to face their vulnerabilities on a daily basis.  Even token attention to difficult issues is better than none.  Regular and wise chipping away on those nasty problems will make them less nasty the next time. A lot of polishing will produce a nice shine. No buffing, no shine!

Part 2 of The Great Student is simple.  Organize a plan for staying with difficult tasks.  Say no to the couch naps.  Endurance isn't only about embouchure strength.  Mental discipline is the greater challenge, for it yields greater results.  A wise strategy beats an untamed talent.

The Makings of a Great Student, Part 1

A great student is not necessarily the best player, the most talented, or the most intelligent.  Successful students at any level are able to turn instruction into production quickly. Call it rapid turn around time.  This kind of student "gets it" and does it.  An important mark of a great student is in his or her response to instruction.

A violin professor was somewhat surprised to learn of the success of two of his students whose playing had been less than stellar all during their time in school.  What accounted for their turn around?

He learned that two key components to their improvement was their consistent use of the metronome and the recording of their practice sessions on a daily basis. Rather than wait until the music was totally prepared, they listened to their practice room labors every day and made a habit of turning on the metronome!

Significant progress need not take four years or longer.  Diligent attention to rhythm and listening will drastically improve performance in just a short time!  Really, how much talent is needed to dust off the metronome and click on the recording device? 

Glory and Grit

The road to the stage goes through the trenches.  Because the journey of grunt work never ends, we might as well learn to treasure the grit of preparing as much as the glory of performing.  After all, most of our playing time will be off stage. 

A few thoughts on rethinking the practice session in order to make it a pathway to glory:

• Don't jump into the trenches without a plan. Organized digging only! No wild flailing permitted. 
  

• Don't practice like a student. 

• Pretend someone important is listening.

• Don't waste your notes. You have precious few.

• Dig slowly and carefully on the hard stuff.

• Set time limits. Don't dig for hours on end, lest you exhaust brains and chops and get yourself nowhere.

• Record your sessions. See if there's madness to your method.

• Consider your practice sessions as snippets of quality playing rather than large chunks of rubble.  

• Avoid making brainless mistakes. Try to make the trenches your error-free zone.

• Practice musical risk-taking.  Don't just play it safe.  

• The more agony in the trenches, the more ecstasy on the stage!  Sweat the practice, not the performance.

• Practice enjoying the frustrations of your grit and grunt work.  Don't avoid your weaknesses. Let difficulties improve you, and the glory will take care of itself.

Another frenzied practice session?

With so much music to rehearse and so little time, how do you respond? Is it going to be another one of those frenzied, aimless practice sessions? Question: is it better to play a lot sloppy, or a little well?  What's more important for our training, quantity or quality? Which comes first?

Usually when under time pressures, we quickly forsake quality for large quantities of flailing. Ten fabulous notes however, are way better than a thousand notes that no one would ever pay to hear. Wouldn't you prefer even a smidgen of gold to a wheelbarrow of dirt?

Imagine a firefighter shooting water on a burning building.  You wouldn't expect to see him randomly and frantically spraying just anywhere? We would hope he'd be patient, deliberate, and thorough, conserving his resources, and getting the job done quickly.

Or, consider the major league pitcher who can throw 110 mile-an-hour fastballs, yet he beans batters half the time.  Similarly, no one would go to a careless heart surgeon, or pay to watch a tennis pro with a chronic double-fault problem?

Just as the firefighter, the ballplayer, the surgeon, and the tennis pro cannot afford to perform poorly, so too the musician must have a mindset of discipline, quality, and accuracy even in the practice session. It's not pressure or an impossible task.  It's a positive rethinking of our approach. Every notes counts. It should remove nervous stress and make practice more efficient and rewarding.   Replace frenzy with organized music-making. 

Escaping the Cubicle!

Picture two very different scenarios.  One is a boring cinder block practice cubicle, the other is a spectacular concert hall.  The next time you sit there in your solitary confinement, visualize an entirely different venue!  No one ever made it to the second without excelling in the first.

One of the problems with practice rooms is the sterile and uninspiring environment. Acoustics are always horrible, your sound evaporates instantly, and nobody is there to listen. (Can there be music in the forest if there is no one there to hear it?)  Maybe you should have a colorful mural painted on your practice room wall just for realistic expectations.  Then add some piped in crowd noise, applause, the tuning A, and the tapping baton?  Next, add some terrifying and inspiring maestro pics, and your practice efficiency could be revitalized enormously. 

Now your are ready to begin your playing session.  Remember, you have no notes to waste, no trial starts, no getting lost, no transposing break downs, no intonation clashes, no rhythmic malfunctions, just pure, enjoyable music-making!

Yes, you must work, but you must also perform. Make getting used to it a fun project.

Hot Air Needed

One Word Lessons

Are you motivated after lessons, but don't know where to start? With so many assignments it is tough to get your mind around them all, let alone your embouchure. Usually however, there is a key concept that needs work, such as sound, expression, or accuracy for instance. Try this:  Boil your lesson down to one word that will best characterize your focus for the day.


Your word of the day could be any word that prompts you to be especially alert to what you want to focus on.  For example, here are a few that have produced nice results:  APPLAUSE, ROMANTIC, PRECISE, AGILE, RAVISHING, PINPOINT, SIZZLE, SWEETNESS, DELIBERATE, SUBTLE, DOMINATING, HEROIC.

What words work wonders for you?  Words are as powerful as music.  Use them to motivate your practice and performance.      

Posted Reminders

Posted one-sentence lesson notes for us dummies:

• I refuse to stink!
• It's not how much you practice, but how. 
• Don't waste any notes today!
• Don't sound like a student! 
• Listen to imitate.
• Hear it before you play it.
• Got air?
• Feel the rhythm first.
• Don't just practice, compete!
• Determine not to get tired.
• Posture matters.
• Play extremely loud.
• Be the softest player ever.
• Practice great leaps and bounds.
• Tone on the short notes matters.
• Put singers to shame.
• Save it, but give it all! 
• Make your day!

Brilliance in Brevity

Long teaching rants with too much information is not nearly as impressive as one powerful moment of inspiration. The teacher's mission is to discern the best way to communicate quickly and effectively with each student.  Just say it, or play it, and then get out of the way and see what happens.  The longer it takes to explain, the less successful. The goal is to make a lasting impact in the least amount of time. Needed: brevity and brilliance.

Think of the most impressive teaching you received. A vivid impression was made which you remember to this today.  That's the goal, a precise, well-planned strategy of instruction and inspiration. 

Here are a few memorable moments from my teachers which made a lasting impression on me:

• "Don't play like a student!"

•  "You could be a little more laid back."

• "Your notes must speak just like that!" (at the snap of the fingers).

• "In the orchestra you have to be able to play so (expletive) loud."

• The Zarathustra octave calls were so shocking I could almost see the notes flying straight into the audience. 
• With only a gesture, the conductor communicated exactly what he wanted without ever speaking a word.  (The best conductors spoke very little English.)

• Without saying a thing, he picked up my horn and fixed my cracking F natural by blasting that note into its place.  He then returned my horn, satisfied that the problem had been permanently solved. It worked like a charm!

• "Rhythm is relentless!" as he repeatedly pounded his hand onto the desk.

• I thought my Pictures Promenade was really good.  Then came that memorable comment from the committee: "Very good. Now play it in tune." 

Great teaching can happen quickly, as can great learning. Keep a journal of what inspired you.  You'll need it for yourself and for your students.  Brevity and brilliance work wonders. 

Standing Around to Stay in Shape

What do music stands have to do with staying in shape?  Five stands in your studio will help bring some order to your practice sessions.  Let's call it progressive practicing. Your goal is to arrive at the end of the day in shape to live for another day. Now all you need is a timer.  Warm up carefully and proceed.

Stand #1 is your etude stand.  No other rep allowed. Pull up your chair, set your timer, and go.  Goal: technique-building, sight-reading, accuracy, and endurance.  Don't get carried away.  You have four more stands to go!  Take a break.

Stand #2 is your solo stand.  It holds only rep for future recitals.  Don't perform each piece every day, just plug away methodically. Prepare the hardest passages slowly so that you avoid panic on the week of the recital performance. Pause.

Stand #3 is your excerpt stand.  This is NOT your most important stand.  For great playing, you need all stands in operation. Thorough excerpt prep over time equips you for that audition that comes up suddenly. Cover a lot of excerpts regularly, rather than burning out on one or two. Coffee.

Stand #4 is your pic stand.  Small trumpet rep only. Work wisely and don't neglect this one. Learn to be comfortable up there.  This shouldn't be your last stand. There must be life after high notes. Take a walk.

Stand #5 is your flugelhorn stand.  This should be "Sunday practice", chill time playing, ballads, favorite melodic material, hymns, or anything but etudes and excerpts.  Your flugel practice segment should be totally stress-free, expressive, and enjoyment-oriented. This stand offers you therapy from the mental and physical bruising of the week.

Entrance Awareness Month

Entrance Awareness Month

If you haven't heard, this is Entrance Awareness Month! There's nothing like impressing audiences, jurors, professors, and committee types with amazing clear starts of each note and each phrase.  Great beginnings matter for great performances.

Tired of always trying to redeem yourself after a faulty start?  Why not determine to be impressive from the get go?  Capture attention immediately. Think clarity of note fronts, pinpoint attacks, a dart, a surgeon's knife, a snake's tongue, or whatever picture helps you to get a grip on your entrance.

Fearless confidence is the required mindset.  Armando Ghitalla used to say that "the first trumpet must come bustin' in!"  William Vacchiano simply gestured, "the notes must speak just like that!" as he snapped his fingers.  In short, "you must be there, on time, with a great sound." Doug Lindsay observed that the "tongue should release the note rather than attacking it." Bernard Adelstein, that wonderful great-note machine, never missed and never appeared to worry.  When the baton came down, his first note was always right there. Mel Broiles possessed a command of every note as if he were holding each one tightly in his grasp.  There was almost a vicious aggressiveness about his approach.  Loved it!  Myron Bloom proudly stated, "I'm not afraid to make a mistake!"  Practice that kind of confidence with every entrance!

Arnold Jacobs had the classic answer for all who hesitate.   He was more concerned about what the phrase said than the mechanics of how it started.  The focus should be more about the singing quality of the phrase than it is about the first note.  It should be less about the start, and more about the start of something great.  Think wind and song, not tongue and sputter. Entering with a message gives freedom to the messenger.
  

Three Amigos

There they are, the three amigos of your right hand. Look at them! They are able to refine or hamstring your technique with just one stroke. They can break you or make you a lot of money. In their grasp they hold the keys to your success. Yet how often we fail to train those unruly digits of destruction.

We've heard endless sermons on air flow, embouchure efficiency, breathing concepts, sound quality, and of course proper equipment.  So how about paying some serious attention to those three undisciplined fingers which are before our eyes every day?  

Here are the problems with our fingers.  They tend to be sluggish and uncoordinated, making people think we are total klutzes.  Often they fly way too high over the valve caps, or don't even press the valves all the way down.  What's worse, under pressure their desperate grip causes the valves to stick.  Don't you hate that?  By the end of the day we are foiled by our own fickle fingers just when we needed them the most!

Are you tired of being flummoxed and discouraged by your horrible precision?  Acquaint your fingers with your tongue and urge them to be the best of friends. Imagine a connecting nerve between the four of them.  Insist on perfect sync on all scales, major, minor, chromatic, whole tone, whatever.  Just as the piano key is struck, so must be the sounding of the note. When the baton comes down, the air, the tongue, and the finger tips join in perfect accord. It's simple. Just be there. 

Note:  Don't penalize your embouchure for the laziness of your fingers! Save your chops by working the fingers and tongue apart from playing. 

Don't listen!

Question:  When the late great Luciano Pavarotti sang, was he constantly listening to himself, evaluating, and making adjustments based on how he felt at the moment?  Or, was he totally consumed with the dramatic impact of the music?

What is your strategy for the day of the big performance?  Are you already anticipating playing it safe and second-guessing yourself?  Don't plan to fail.  Prepare to perform.

Assuming all of your detail work has been thorough, you are now in a very enviable place!  A great percentage of your playing was detailed and analytical.  Now you have earned the right to totally perform.  Don't drag the practice room onto the stage, and don't be listening to yourself.  Just play! 

 

Just Singin'

Singing is great preparation for playing!  For some reason creative instincts are much less hampered when the trumpet is nowhere in sight.  Drama is more likely to happen that way. Try it.

As I was preparing for an important audition years ago, a good friend challenged me to sing each excerpt, and give it everything I had.  The game was to pretend that the committee was going to award the job to the singer who best represented everything the composer intended. I scoffed and insisted that no gimmicks were needed.  My playing was good enough as it was.  He persisted however, and I was surprised to see and hear the results of our little drama class.

After some awkward moments of my pitiful croaking, we noticed that expression drastically improved.  Phrasing and subtleties were noticeably better. Rhythm was steadier, and the music was less cautious and much more interesting.  He snapped, "Don't just crank it out, play it!"  Now it was game on!

More of his butt-whipping: "Project the music to the back of the hall.  Wake the committee up. Instantly capture the drama of every excerpt."  Concerning auditions, it was the great Arnold Jacobs who summed it up, "At the audition, you must simply play better than everybody else."

Summary: Obey everything on the page.  Sing it perfectly, and then begin to copy that with the trumpet.  Either we will follow the trumpet, or it will be made to follow us!  

The Attention-Grabber

Go ahead. Turn the tone dial all the way up!  People want to hear you.  Give them precision, but also give them a 10 on the tone scale!

By the way, a great sound is a nice flub-eraser at auditions.  If the audition committee likes the way you play, they are likely to excuse a clip or two.  A great tone just might cancel some inaccuracies if they had to choose one over the other.  So you might as well keep a good sharp focus on your tone in daily practice. Prepare to be noticed and remembered for your sound.  

A great sound is not enough however.  It must be accompanied by great musicianship and style. These compliment each other.  A great sound with no direction or purpose is boring.  Our goal is to project the appropriate style with a distinctive and captivating sound. Opera singers plunge into their roles with an abundance of drama. Why not be that opera singer every time you play?  Command the attention of a large audience. Sound quality and extraordinary musicianship matter.

Note:  Great tone does not just equal high decibels. A great sound should happen in all dynamics. The bullets for today are TONE and MESSAGE.

Powerfully Persuasive!

Confidence in pianissimo! That's a winning ticket, and a rare one indeed!  Mel Broiles as well as Roger Voisin, two players known for their amazing power and style, both maintained that the secret to great playing is control in the softest of dynamics.  That seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?  We think that loud is great, and soft is not.  Actually, anyone can blast, but few are comfortable in an expressive pianissimo passage.

Maneuverability in pp is the goal.  It is vital for the music and the health of the embouchure. Our lips get tired, or "tard" as some of our Cincinnati colleagues used to complain.  What's a brass player to do after an orchestral pummeling?  The macho in us says, "tough it out, man!  Meet fahr with fahr, (fire)!" The truth is that wise, soft, practice of basics for sensitivity is the best way to recover and to prepare for the next blastathon. Regular low decibel practice will help guarantee confidence and security in performance. 

Explore the soft range. Learn to control both screaming loud and super soft.  Just because the part indicates quiet dynamics doesn't mean you play with no tone or style. PP does not mean pitifully puny!  It stands for Powerfully Persuasive! 

Note:  As the finalists for his job were awaiting the verdict from the BSO trumpet audition committee, the great Roger Voisin himself strode confidently into the locker room. "Hi, boys, he said.  Just wanted to see who was going to get my locker key."  He then opened his locker, pulled out a muted C trumpet and played for us a very tasty, spiffy-clean Bozza-like soft and agile fanfare.  He grinned, hung up his horn and left.   He could have won his own job back! Soft was VERY COOL and the lesson was very persuasively imparted!

Where's the Hulk?

Alright, alright! It is agreed that this brute must be conquered and well tempered.  However, in our quest to obtain elegant and refined playing, we are too easily convinced to sacrifice that visceral presence that commands the attention of every listener within a five mile radius. The training mission may be accomplished, still a thirsty committee yells, "unleash the hulk!"

How about restoring the proper mixture of sensitivity with bombastic belligerence! We originally started playing with the exuberance of a monster, only to be severely chastened: "Don't you ever again break those restraining chains!  Know your proper place, stay there, and don't come out again!"

Audition committees certainly look for command and control, but if all the finalists are equally accurate, then what?  Maybe they're hoping for a hulk to emerge.  At that point, a well-tamed monster will win every time. 

How much of the hulk is in your daily playing?  30%, 20, 10, any at all?  Have your aggressiveness and your overall impact evaluated.  Finesse is demanded, but so is power, confidence, and a nice amount of THE INCREDIBLE HULK.  Be that guy!

Giving Lip Service

This post is for all of us simple trumpeters who might be in need of a facial adjustment or two. Silliness is sometimes the best way to make a point. Speaking of clear points, which of these guys is more likely to deliver a crystal clear, sharp-edged tone, Mr. Flabby-Leaky Lips, or Mr. Snazzy-Steely Lips? Wonder how they sound?

Often our greatest need is not for the newest horn, a pricey mouthpiece, or an amazingly huge air stream.  The big time deficiency could well be the not-so-wonderful mouth of Mr. Touloose-Lips himself!  The good news: getting a spanking new spiffy embouchure costs us nothing.

The key word for today is embouchure. A great setup is the first step towards a great sound. Both lips must be disciplined to work for us, not against us. Each part of the embouchure must participate. We shouldn't have to try to play well in spite of lazy lips.  Let's declare this month EMBOUCHURE EFFICIENCY MONTH.

Free-flowing air must travel over firmly anchored lips. An unfocused embouchure disperses the airstream robbing us of clarity, projection, and endurance.  We should also include lack of accuracy and range. 

An ultra relaxed look might seem very cool, but music is not about appearances.  Simply focus and blow.  Hit the audience with your streaming air, not the side of your neighbor's face! 

The best advice I remember on clarity: "Pucker, point the tongue and blow."  Another profound comment: "Direct your air straight down the pipe."  Another: "Release the air, don't attack the note." Also: Buzz it, then play it. And: "Great playing begins with a great embouchure."

Whatever is happening right behind your mouthpiece matters! 

A One-Track Mind

What does Grand Central Station have in common with your practice room?  Hopefully nothing.  Often however we experience the same stress and anxiety of a busy terminal.  Instead of a calm walk to the beach, you find yourself frantically looking at a multitude of destinations.  "Which train do I take, and WHERE am I going again?" Like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, you've got no time because "you're late, you're late, for a very important date."  Sadly, it sounds like your destination is unknown.

How about approaching practice with a one-track mind?  Pick something you need to work on.  Don't flit about like a bee from one flower to another.  Do one thing well at a time!

Here are a few trains to consider taking.  Remember, you can only board one train at a time. 

• RHYTHM - Your most productive work will probably be without the horn.  Sing it. 
  
• SOUND QUALITY - Play very slowly for great sound on all notes. Listen. 
  
• DYNAMIC CONTRAST - Don't assume it's happening.  Exaggerate.
• DRAMATIC MESSAGES - Avoid the boring. Be devoted to the story. Act it.
• STARTS OF PHRASES (first notes/entrances) - Enter the music well. Start clearly. 
  
• THE MOST DIFFICULT PASSAGE - Spend extra time on the nasty stuff. Master it. 
  
• HOLD THE HIGHEST NOTES OF A PASSAGE FOR SECURITY - The top notes must be the best.  Enjoy them. 
• ENDS OF PHRASES - Enter silence gracefully.  Last notes matter.

Relax, define the issue of the session, and walk through it carefully and slowly. Think beach, not terminal.

Your Best Tutor

What player wouldn't welcome some quick help with sound quality, focus, and intonation?  Since we all have limited practice time, what's a good fast remedy for these vital issues?  Well, consider your friendly tutor, that much ignored little corrector, your mouthpiece!

We shouldn't expect the trumpet to correct our unrecognizable pitches, our unfocused tone, or our floozy attacks. However, after some consistent accurate buzzing on the mouthpiece, you can enjoy instant improvement. 

(Some argue that buzzing is different than real playing.  I agree, but I've always noticed marked improvement after enjoying a good buzz.)

It seems that when it's unclear on the mouthpiece, it's also unclear on the horn.  But when it's perfect on the mouthpiece, it's a whole lot better when you add the horn.  It's like a ball player swinging two or three bats before stepping to the plate.  Don't trust me, or yourself. Trust your mouthpiece.

Assignment:  buzz any phrase slowly and accurately with as little fuzz as possible.  Don't modulate, and don't approximate.  Just nail each note, spot on with ease and no hand pressure.  Watch what happens after even a single session of conscientious buzzing!  Now, simply add the trumpet, play like you buzzed, and, voila, an amazingly improved sound and focus!  Repeat often during your day. Very cool! Your own personal tutor!

Bullets to Go

Trying to keep lesson assignments short and simple.  A daunting list of expectations is discouraging for student and teacher alike.  A few bullets to go is the goal.  The lesson should end with a doable agenda clearly in mind.  Here are some items covered today:

• SING IT - Before playing, sing your music with all the inspiration you can muster.  Most of us sing way better than we play.  This ought not to be.  Don't let the trumpet be a music inhibitor.  Try to sing everything the music indicates, but with no horn yet.  Don't even think about it.  Just sing well, play it later.

• BUZZ IT - Your goal is to buzz the mouthpiece with accurate intonation and pure tone.  Remember: it must be in tune and clear.  We demand too much of the trumpet when so much can be accomplished on the mouthpiece alone! Buzz it.

• SLUR IT -  A slurred line always has better tone than an articulated line.  Suggestion: slur the whole line first while listening for your best tone on all notes.  Check with your clarinet player friends.  They always do great at this.  Slur it first, tongue it later.

• TONE IT -  Try for a "Pictures" tone on all notes, especially the short ones.  Do you recall any stuffy or fuzzy notes in Pictures at an Exhibition? It's quality control on everything. Tone it.

• CLICK IT - You must be a metronomic freak.  Your rhythm must be awesome.  Amaze all listeners with your unusual ability to be STEADY.  Rhythmic character wins jobs.  Click it or ticket.

The Day the Music Dies

Do these little guys look familiar?  One is very upset because his trumpet playing is just never good enough no matter how much he practices. Poor guy. The other fellow unabashedly displays his who cares attitude.  Poor guy.

The first is usually an emotional wreck and a perfectionist grump, while the other just shrugs and yawns apathetically.  We have obsession and ambivalence, total opposites yet both preparing for a career in music!  Which one 's going to make it?  Maybe neither!  Attitudes matter.  Unfortunately their attitudes usually have the same result: their music has died.  Why?

One works like crazy and is never content, while the other is content not to work. Somewhere there exists that wonderful balance between these bitter extremes. An all-consuming passion for learning music must be balanced by an it's-not-the-end-of-the-world mindset, but it must never descend into lethargy.  Have a passion, but have a life!  Where do you fit in?

Sadly this poster has little to offer for the ailments of the frenetic and the discouraged.  You'll have to prescribe your own remedies.  Just saying that we should beware of both of these little guys. You will observe that no method book has a section on obsessing or laziness. 

So, work wisely.  Feed the music beast.  Stay inspired, my friends, but be reasonable.   Don't be crazy, and don't be lazy.  



 

When Losers Win

"I am sorry but no one advanced from your round.  Thank you for coming."  To make it worse, this announcement is delivered with absolutely no emotion or sympathy.  Equally painful is that deafening silence that follows one of your less than perfect excerpts. Oh, and there is that infamous verdict: "Thank you. Next." Life is not good.

We can learn a lot about ourselves when under the pressures of competing and performing. It's decision time. Will it be depression or motivation?  A loss doesn't define you. It serves instead as your most effective instructor.  Don't give up. Losing is part of progressing. Consider this ordeal your best lesson, not a judgment. This is not the end, but the beginning of a wiser and much improved trumpet player. You lost that battle, but the war is still yours for the taking. 

Appreciate that you have just been given a more focused practice agenda! We don't have hundreds of notes to waste each day.  Every note counts, exactly the audition scenario!  Work on eliminating that which will eliminate you.  Strap onto your bell an anti-dismissal filter which allows only excellence to escape.  Don't ever remove it!  Next time, try as they might, the committee won't be able to find anything wrong with your playing.  Even better, they'll find lots to like.

Audition Priority

What would you say is the most important thing you can do to win an audition? What is likely going to be the deal-breaker for the committee?  Multiple choice:

Is it great TONE, demonstrating great RHYTHM, showing all the DYNAMICS, playing with amazing STYLE, and/or exuding enormous CONFIDENCE?  Doesn't that about cover it all?

We might be able to rack up high marks on sound, dynamics, expression, rhythm, and style.  But without a high degree of accuracy, the whole product is unsellable.  Without accuracy, you are hoping the committee will be willing to take a huge risk.  Few are willing to gamble on a hit-or-miss player. 

Simply, you must never miss.  You play with all of the above goodies, but you must be all nails.  Hit the target center with every note.  With that skill and mindset in your arsenal, you can't miss!

Mask-wearing

Which one of these faces is you?  The smirk, the grimace, the deadpan expression, the angry, goofy, playful, proud, the furtive?  Shades of expression seem endless.  Never mind your temperament or personality type. You have your many masks to hide behind.  It's OK. Play the part. In any performance you will have to strap on any one of these masks and enjoy it, so get used to it.

Have someone observe your playing.  What do they hear, and what do they see?  Is your playing bland, colorless, and always the same with no variety? Don't bore your observers and listeners!  Boring doesn't sell. 

Oh, and just when you might be getting comfortable with your new persona, you must be able to turn on a dime and swap masks.  There's nothing like acting!  Performing is convincing. Go ahead and play the part. 

Eyes Closed

Here's a non brilliant idea for your practicing during these summer dog days. You might find it useful. Close your eyes and just play. No books needed, just a good supply of musical imagination and your passion for playing. Get out of the practice studio, at least in your mind, and play what's on your heart.  How long has it been?

A constant connect with the printed page can result in a too-well-thought-out performance, not that that is a bad thing.  For a change however, try the blindfold approach. Listen rather than watch.  Feel rather than follow.  Create rather than be totally captive to the black and white page.

Go somewhere with your trumpet.  Don't be confined to four walls and a boring study book.  Think movie soundtrack, nightclub trumpet solos, studio recording.  Imagine your picture on the cover of your own solo album!  Whatever you would expect to hear, do it.  Why wait for money and fame.  Go for it now as you practice.  Do it often. Your message will be noticed. Close your eyes and play.

Avoiding Trauma

The orchestra has tuned.  The maestro bows, and the baton slowly descends. The music says pianissimo.  It's time for drama, not trauma.  Yes, drama can happen in very soft passages too. Have you prepared for moments like this? If not, you'll know pretty quick.

The first side effect of poor soft prep is a lack of response and air flow.  It quickly gets worse however.  Next, your assumed artistry is out the window. Flummoxed by this unexpected trauma, the body frantically tries to function in an unfriendly zone. Your worst nightmare is happening. Does this sound familiar? Anticipate these potentially uncomfortable situations. It's hard to be musical when fear rules. Wise prep trumps fear.

Take the opening of the second symphony of Schumann.  You do not want to hear "softer, trumpets!", nor do you want to see the conductor's wincing expression or the palm of his left hand.  (I've never heard of a conductor wanting more sound on the opening.) So to avoid this showdown you will need to have a large reserve of soft, smooth, slow air, delivered with perfect intonation. 

Just as an on deck batter surveys every move of the pitcher, we must plan for unexpected curve balls from the maestro.  The conductor, like the pitcher, can be an ace.  Be prepared!

Note: Marching band season is approaching as well as all of those loud outdoor concert events.  Be sure to balance all of that fortissimo playing with careful pianissimo practice.  Mel Broiles, one of the strongest and loudest trumpet players, told his overeager students that the best players in the business are the ones who can be relied upon to play very softly.  

Playing with a Full Blow

A full bow is our full blow.  Often a good picture is our best instructor.  The violinist's fully extended bow arm reminds us that a full breath followed by a full blow matters.

Why is the violin bow as long as it is? And why do our lungs have the capacity they do? Both bow and lungs were intelligently designed for, among others things, the ability to produce a great sound.

What would the best Stradivarius violin sound like if played with only a three inch long bow?  Similarly, would you want to listen to a brass player who only played with tiny sips of air?  The sound of that little ToysRus fiddle bow resembles the tone quality of a brass player playing on a soda straw.

Of course, there are many times when small bow and small air is called for.  Often though, when the maximum tone is required, we default to the small blow/small bow tendency, and the sound suffers big time.

Violinist Gil Shaham in a master class at CCM was frequently encouraging more bow for better results.  If he had to hear a bunch of trumpeters, likely his advice would be the same: more air flow for better results.

The violin bow draws out the violinist's great singing tone.  Our air is on the same mission. Don't short change your sound by using sips instead of controlled gulps.  Learn to be comfortable with a full blow.  Your sound depends upon it.