But Where's the Sizzle?

There you sit in the trumpet doctor's office with your mouth wide open, saying "ahhhh". With his tongue depressor he peers deep inside inspecting for open throat and esophagus. "You're fine. Just checking for unrestricted air flow. By the way, you might want to have those tonsils, wisdom teeth and molars removed. They'll have to go for the sake of your flow."

Next he examines your equipment, piece by piece, first making sure that your deep-cupped mouthpiece is properly bored out to accommodate massive air movement. Your lead pipe also must allow for floods of air traffic. Your rounded tuning crook and the fattest of bells also aids in the mission of huge-is-cool. And why not? Your sound is sweet, luscious, mellow and fat.

Reality often is that in spite of all these very nice adjustments that definitely improve sound and ease of playing, there can be side effects. For instance, you will likely have to deal with flat tops (of phrases), tubby tendency, lack of projection, unstable intonation, less than crisp articulation, and endurance limitations. These usually surface in extended passages, large ensembles, difficult solo works, and high decibel requirements. In short, the horn seems bigger than you are. These problems can be overcome, but at a cost of a lot more effort. Sizzle can happen, but it's hard with a cannon.

In the rush to go for the big sound, be careful not to sacrifice penetration potential, or "pokability". Equipment can be geared for huge sound quality while you shoot for the richest, fattest, most beautiful, gorgeous, velvety sound possible. No problem with that, but make sure to keep it balanced with enough edge. A great sound must have its share of bright highs as well as dark lows and be able to travel farther than a few feet. So whatever your concept or equipment choices, remember you must do it all. Be able to wield the shot put and hurl the javelin, and you're playing is smokin' and sizzlin'!

Your Sparkling Red Shoes

What does Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and the conservatory trumpet student have in common? Hint: It has something to do with Dorothy's shoes. Remember that she had the power and ability to get where she wanted anytime she wished? She just failed to recognize that her ticket out of Oz was at her feet all along - those red sparkly shoes right there in her possession.

Unfortunately, unlike Dorothy, we need more than the wave of an angel's starry wand, or an emotional wish to instantly arrive at our destination. A tough mission is involved, an arduous journey not unlike her assignment to capture the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. The road is treacherous and full of obstacles for sure. We might even have enough courage, heart and brains for the task, but what will take us there? Where are our "magic shoes"?

(HARP GLISSANDI) Why, your ticket out of the conservatory can actually be found right there in your own music case. Yes, it has been there all along! You needn't have looked anywhere else! The pathway is The Yellow Brick Road on which all great trumpet players must travel. I'm afraid there are simply no shortcuts. The secret to greatness is found in a very ordinary but very special book. You have had it with you every day, but have not known it or used it properly.

You must play it correctly however and do exactly what it says, for it has the power to make you into a great trumpet player. Ignore this book and its instructions, and you will remain captive in the Emerald City from which there is no escaping. Your "red shoes" is your very own book entitled Technical Studies by Herbert Clarke. You are now free to use it and find your heart's desire.

Your Cutting Edge

What do you think? Which is more important, being able to produce clear, well-defined fronts of your notes, or having a voluptuous sound? Actually, both are part of the same thing. If it's a quality note, it starts that way.

Like percussion instruments the trumpets must be able to function as rhythm kings. Good drumming is about definition, and so too the brass needs to be clear, energetic and on the beat, not blurry and behind. As attractive as a pleasing tone is, most conductors can be satisfied with clarity and precision from the brass.

We've played the 10-second game before for audition preparation. That is, playing only the first phrase or so of each excerpt in order to gain instant control. Now we need to play the split-second game. That is, play only the very start of the first note, nothing more. A warm up note is not allowed. The first note must be a winner.

Here are a few pictures that might help sharpen up your entrances: the beating of a snare drum, the banging of the glockenspiel with a steel-balled mallet, a pin prick, the uncorking of a wine bottle, the tip of a sharp long thin sword, the tongue of a rattlesnake, the anchor point of a compass, the tip of a syringe, etc. You get the idea. It's about nails, sharp ones. A cotton ball penetrates nothing. Choose a dart. Don't think about the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Think Dracula! Unleash your killer instinct as you perfect the clarity of every note.

So, go ahead and have your nice sound, but put an edge on it and be able to slice it up into tiny pieces able to project well into the audience. Before sauntering onto the stage, catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. Frown a bit, stick out your tongue as far as it goes, and bring it to a point. That tiny tip is about to do battle. It's the one instrument that didn't cost you anything, so train it, sharpen it, and use it!

Benefits of Feeling Lousy

You don't have to be inspired to improve, but you do have to be organized and improvement-oriented. If you always wait until you are fired up with your concert face on, you will likely be doing more moping than practicing. Moments of awesome music-making are probably not going to happen every time you open the case. So get used to it, and plan on making improvements regardless of how you feel.

This should be good news. You can build your playing even on a bummer of a day. Feelings don't have to govern progress. Decide what issues need addressing and plan to cover them wisely and consistently. Now, rather than a checklist to complete, your daily goal is improvement and consistency. Your assignment is to get better as fast as possible. If you are not getting better at a noticeable pace, practicing is a waste of your time.

Let's pick at random three typical "issues" that you can work on no matter how good or bad you may be feeling. First, everyone must have a good DT. How about mastering an even double-tongue by next week! Why spend a whole year trying to remove it from your Nemesis List? Fix it now so it is even and clear, with your tongue front-and-center. Get your K to sound like your T. You don't need 20 teachers. Just do it. We have so much material for reference. There is no excuse for faulty tonguing. Lots of dumb players have mastered it, so it is doable.

Next, let's take on the Tubby-Unfocused-Dead-Sound problem. You're most likely dispersing your air stream rather than focusing it on a smaller target. Tighten corners, direct the air straight ahead, no blowing down, and no puffy cheeks. Buzz the mouthpiece at a mirror. Try to pin a $20 bill to the mirror with only your buzzed note! Next, create a nice fog on the mirror with as high a note as you can. Think more Lazar, less tuba. Whatever it takes, you must conquer the TUDS problem. Also, a less heroic, more conservative mouthpiece cup size could make a big difference.

Finally, there is the Universal Fatigue Disease. Make this as uncomplicated as possible. Stop playing before you observe symptoms! Don't go where the disease is rampant. Keep chops healthy. Don't make them work so hard. Develop endurance without getting sick. Build your strength zone instead of venturing into the danger zone every time you play. More brains, less macho. UFD can be avoided. See to it.

Don't feel like practicing? You're missing the point and the chance for progress!

Summer In Attack Mode

Exams' in the can. The grades are made, and the horn's in the case. Right? Hope not. This is the time for a few months of stress-free uninterrupted practice that can elevate your playing and make you competitive! Put the pressure on. No one else will. It's just you and these summer days.

What do you want conquered by fall? Brandenburg? Start climbing, but be careful. It's a long way up. Don't fall. And don't get hurt!

Excerpts? Listen to the recordings. Listen again. Then listen to recordings.

Piccolo solos? Practice your piccolo. Play mostly other stuff. Master the horn first. Play the solos later. In the meantime, study the solos.

Poor sight-reading? Play a bunch from the Develop Sight-reading book. You can work on this without the horn probably better than with it. Either way, do it and don't ignore it. You must do this very well on any playing job.

Limited solo rep? Stack your stand with 20 or more solos. Organize your plan of attack and begin.

Horribly slow transposition? Make friends with the 100 Studies of Sachse and Caffarelli. Put the horn down and work the fingers. The problem is page-to-brain, and brain-to-fingers. The lips don't have to transpose.

Crummy attacks? Do thousands of starts. Maybe millions and millions.

Wavy, out-of-control vibrato? Do none and then very little. You have to be able to pierce like a Lazar. You can quiver like a sax some other day.

Awful intonation? Get your tuner, listen, sing, correct.

Bad rhythm? Live with the metronome stuck on on.

Sloppy embouchure? Look at Dick Tracy. Don't be chewing all over the place. Put it up there and don't move. Move inside only. All parts of the lips should share the work load.

Unmusical and boring playing? Check out CDs of great opera people. Sing. Conduct. Make gestures that fit the music. Then sing some more. Don't play boring. Please!

Always playing everything forte? Insist on ppp all the way to fff and back. Do it all. You'll need it.

Clumsy multiple tongue? Open Arban. Go slow and go fast. Do it. Then do it faster. Even faster. Now double tongue scales as fast as possible. How about your chroms? Polish 'em up before September. You may need some valve work done at a good shop.

Crippled arps? Double and triple the arpeggios in Arban. Very fast, no stops. They're everywhere. You might as well master them.

Be your own teacher this summer, or pretend you're being coached by the stars. You don't need to go somewhere, but you do need to go somewhere in your mind and in your progress.

A Night of Remembrance

CSO Principal trumpet Robert Sullivan gave a wonderful recital at CCM last evening to a large audience. The program included beautiful playing (of course) of Bernstein's A Simple Song, Copland's Quiet City, Jack Gallagher's Remembrance of Robin, Joe Turrin's O Come and Dwell in Me, and Eric Ewazen's brand new Eternal Spring. The program was full of moving and brilliant music performed in honor of Robin who succumbed to Sarcoma.

Chris Philpotts complemented Bob on the Copland, matching nuances and phrasings perfectly. Cristian Ganisenco likewise supported Bob in Turrin's poignant duo for trumpet and trombone. Julie Spangler was an awesome accompanist in each work, playing very difficult piano parts as easily as her quite natural improv skills on the Danny Boy encore. It was a great evening of music-making and tribute.

We can thank Bob for pioneering a few more very neat pieces for the trumpet repertoire. The Gallagher, Turrin, and Ewazen pieces are here to stay and worth getting a hold of as soon as possible. The Remembrance is a toughy, and indeed challenging, but was made to sound doable last night. Cristian and Bob were in sync and demonstrated soft beautiful blend and control in the Turrin.

Finally, Ewazen was Ewazen! How could one not like his stuff? It is always enjoyable at first hearing! The music to Eternal Spring arrived only a few days before the recital, like 3! One would never have known that months of prep had not preceded the show. Lesson: learn it and be able to sound great immediately! Other lessons taught last night: control, intonation, clear articulations on the fast stuff, range, and most importantly, communication. They were all nicely in play last night. Bob's heart-felt flugel-playing on Danny Boy was the perfect closer for a very special evening of musical rememberance.

Jeremy's CIM Recital and Graduation

Freezing some special moments in time

May 18, 2009 Mom, Dad and Jeremy Senior recital with Jason Vieaux

Graduating Guitar Guys and Jason After Jeremy's Senior Recital

Looking for Trouble

Great trumpet players not only know how to stay out of trouble, they know how to get into it! The issue is not if, but where. Crashing on stage is obviously not the place. The best place to encounter troubles is in the practice room. A good evaluation of the practice session will give an indication of whether there's trouble ahead or not. Honest and productive practice should include a daily assault on those pesky issues that we tend to avoid. Unfortunately, ignoring them will not make them go away, for they only become emboldened and soon grow into monsters.

"Yeah, but who looks forward to a daily confrontation with his or her own weaknesses? Should not music-making be about having fun? Trouble-shooting doesn't sound like any fun at all." Well, who promised that any career is all about having fun anyway? Actually the challenge is learning to enjoy conquering difficulties. Success overcomes obstacles, and winning requires a strategy, a plan of attack. It is not a question of work vs. fun. Our task is to organize and execute a wise practice agenda and to stay with it.

Take inventory on areas needing improvement. Draw up your battle plans, the things you will need to play to make improvements. If it's entrances, practice entrances of all kinds. If it's range, begin gradual upward and downward work. If it's too much lip pressure, then insist on less lip pressure. If it's fuzzy sound, then fix it one note at a time. If it's bad rhythm, then develop your metronomic instincts. If it's sloppy intonation, then listen and watch your tuner. If it's poor sight-reading, then sight-read. It really isn't brain surgery. It just requires an honest assessment and plan of action. Very little will improve if no plan is in place.

Signs of trouble serve to highlight our practice agenda. Let's look for trouble and deal with it.

Playing the 10-Second Game

Audition season is here and excerpt boards are coming up. As you are collecting your ready-to-go lists, how about playing the 10-Second Game? Seeing as you'll likely only get one chance per excerpt on audition day, you might as well begin to sharpen your entry skills.

Practice nailing just the first 10 seconds of each excerpt. We are going for exact tempo, clean first notes, the right style, dynamics, intonation and all of the usual requirements that separate the men and women from the boys and girls. This is more important than you might think. Most audition committees can pick out winners in no time, and that goes as well for losers. Even though you may redeem yourself nobly as you continue playing, your attentive listeners may have already checked out and returned to their magazines. It's all about making a great first impression.

Remember, we're looking for perfect entrances. Don't get carried away and practice the whole excerpt. Be able to start on a dime. Control-players get paid well. Let's imagine a loud "ka-ching!" resounding each time you get off the blocks in fine form. Anyone ought to be able to compete with the greats for 10 seconds! Go for it. You can do this!

A Sitting Duck

Learn how to nail this one item consistently, and you will greatly increase your odds on advancing to finals. Neglect it, and you'll likely be playing one-and-done on audition day. We're talking about knowing the speed limits of each excerpt.

Before auditioning we need to be very familiar with tempos. Going too slow gets you stopped. Exceeding the limit also gets you pulled over. But worse yet, they catch you rushing, and you're eliminated and sent home on the spot. The good news is that you can work as hard as you want on this, and your chops will never get beat up. In fact, you don't even need your trumpet. Anyone can master it, and because it's an internal skill, nothing hurts! Let's fast forward to audition day and see how well you have prepared your tempos.

Picture yourself at the audition carnival, sitting on top of a trap door over a large tub of water with an L on it. You will be expected to play every excerpt at the right speed for the audition committee. They will be watching and listening intently as they seek to knock off each contestant with bad tempos. (You are still wondering why there is an L on the tub.)

Someone calls out "Bartok Concerto, second movement!" You must instantly play the right tempo or you get doused. But you're ready, and you nail that Allegretto scherzando perfectly! No stuffed panda prize for that dude! You're still there standing, or sitting proud.

Next, "Outdoor Overture!" Even though it calls for a speed limit of 76, for some unknown reason you panic and play too fast, and then rush badly all the way down the two octave scale. Click, and you hear the music to "splish, splash, I was takin' a bath!" You hear the laughter as the audition committee is having themselves a good old time.

The audition monitor hands you a towel and props you up again for another chance. Next, a jury member barks "Schumann 2". Being under-prepared, you panic. Paying little attention to intonation or rhythm, your bad tempo selection quickly triggers the release button. Once again you are listening to your unfavorite tune of the day while plunging headlong into that large tub with the L on it.

Now that's two strikes against you. Maybe you can redeem yourself with the next one. "Heldenleben, the E flat solo!" Your heart begins to simulate the percussion intro, and you can't feel your legs or much of your upper lip. Nevertheless, you stab in the dark valiantly with atrocious accuracy and horrible intonation. Nerves and stiff chops seems to have short-circuited your thinking as your tempo is way too fast. The famed battle scene is not happening, and instead of deftly wielding your weapons, you are taking a lot of hits. (They should have heard me yesterday!) Click, you hear the music again, and that once proud sitting duck now feels like a dead one.

"Alright, thank you. Next candidate!" Now you know what the L is for as you slink to the stage door slipping and sliding away.

Of all the things that might go wrong, your tempo selection should never be one of them. Start with a good steady correct tempo which will be the rock solid skeleton on which you build everything else. Don't be a sitting duck for the tempo police.

Just the notes, please!

Consider this project. You are free to ignore all dynamics and phrasings. You may forget about any tempo markings, and put that metronome in a lock box. Finishing your whole piece is not a requirement, in fact don't even think about it. You're going to play just one note at a time. You may even become brain-dead to rhythms and all things musical. For now you are allowed to be totally clueless except for one thing.

Let's pretend that you will be awarded $50 for every right note you manage to produce. (Do try to give each a decent sound - no bricks allowed). Inasmuch as there is no time limit, all you have to do is sound great, one note at a time. Take as long as you want between notes because this is only about quality. In fact, quantity is your enemy. If you once again get impatient and start spewing out strings of questionable notes, then you instantly get docked $100 for every one of those notes in question. One clam cancels out two good notes. You can't afford many losses. You will quickly drive yourself into bankruptcy.

O.K. For all of those who are independently wealthy, or for whom losing a bunch of money means nothing, let's try another approach. You will have attached to your bell a high-voltage electric bad-note zapper. Talk about being wired. Jolts of super-charged electric shocks will instantly channel through your horn and go directly to your chops and well beyond at the slightest hint of a junk note. If your notes fizzle, your chops sizzle! It'll be all pain and no gain! All dross is your loss. You will learn quickly that money and pain can be great motivators.

Here are some highly motivational signs for your studio practice room:

CARELESS LIPS PRODUCE PINK SLIPS.
NEVER EAT AT CLAMSRUS.
DON'T WAKE UP TO KACKADOODLEDOO.
CLIPSRUS IS A BARBER SHOP!
NEVER MAKE FRIENDS WITH MISS ANOTE, NOR HER BROTHER, CHIP.
(IN FACT, DON'T EVEN BE THINKING ABOUT HER. . . . AND BEWARE OF THEIR DOG, SPLITZ)
SPLATTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN ELSEWHERE.
DR. PFITOOIE NO LONGER PRACTICES HERE.
THUDS ARE FOR BOWLING ALLEYS.
THE CONCERT HALL IS NOT A CRACK HOUSE.

Just the good notes, please.

Watch Your Speed

With recitals, boards, and auditions once again just around the corner, we unconsciously rev up the speed of practicing and usually do more wheel-spinning than getting anywhere. "More and faster" seems to be our instinctive defense against deadline pressures, when just the opposite is much more productive.

This is nothing new, but try making yourself play in slow motion and see what happens. Insist on exact pitch and clear tone no matter how short the notes. At the pace of a snail, you can easily eliminate air notes, fuzzed, and pinched notes. You will also be able to get a better feel for all the intervals, chords, and patterns just as a pianist positions hands to cover even the widest leaps. Instead of stabbing in the dark, you will be able to pounce with accuracy.

You must be a cat deftly scampering all over the place in pursuit of mice. But notice that the cat is first motionless as it stakes out its prey. It thinks about it, plans the strategy, then proceeds with caution. Stalking very slowly at first, it then gradually picks up speed en route for the kill.

Know where you're going before you get there. Your brain must precede your tongue and fingers. Not only will the mechanics be better coordinated, but you will give your musical ideas a chance to happen. So, set your metronome on "boring", and clean it up. You can speed later.

Bob Sullivan at CCM

Welcome to CCM Tuesday Morning! CSO principal trumpeter Bob Sullivan was the visiting masterclass man. He immediately awakened all with Reiche's brilliant Abblasen Fanfare. That 30 second flashy warm up ought to be the wake-up and get-going call on every trumpet player's alarm clock! Next, it was getting down to the business of sharing many excellent ideas on communicating and balanced preparation.

For the first hour Bob worked with three grad student competition winners. Joel Baroody played beautifully the second movement of the Pilss Sonata. Some of Bob's suggestions: stand in the well of the piano, put the horn down, and sing both to your accompanist and to the audience exactly how you want it to go. Develop your ideas. Interpret and communicate. In performance, the message must dominate, not the concern for mechanics. We must always be slaves to the music, not to the technique. Consider the bell an extension of the voice, that inner trumpet sound. That all improved the second go around.

Jeff Lewandowski then did a nice job on Enesco's Legend. His suggestions: stay in the present time. Keep concentrating. Communicating something musical will overshadow the odd clam. Maintain interest. Supporting longer phrases is the challenge, especially when there are rests in the middle of the phrase. Performers tend to focus on details while the composer envisions the whole composition. Know the piano part thoroughly, and then begin work on the solo part. Bob suggested Copland's book, What to Listen for in Music.

Next Chris Pike took on the whole Charlier 12th etude. Bob brought a refreshing approach to these studies - much more soloistic, free, and musical, and less like the approach to Clarke technical work. Chris's playing quickly took on color, shimmer, and a lot more interest. Finishing the whole thing at all costs is much less productive than strength-building a little at a time. The practice room is for gradually pushing our limits. We must be able to play exact details but also with great expression. I like the picture he mentioned of being able to play "outside the box" as well as inside.

For the second hour, Bob opened with a flawless and captivating performance of Koetting's Intrada. I enjoyed the lesson demonstrated on being able to play cold at such a high level. All notes are on call at any time. His theme was on how to practice. We needed a full day or two to hear all that he had to share. Basically, daily playing must be organized and balanced, he said.

The break down is conditioning, technique, and music. Conditioning: anchored corners, buzzing, bending, long tones, peddles, air movement, lips always vibrating. Short sessions are better than long. Our goal is building confidence by first building solid foundations. All elements should be covered daily. The Stamp method was explained, (staying up when down, and down when up, etc.), and not just playing it, but how and why.

Technique work includes tonguing, single, multiple, and tone work. The Music portion, as all of his practice, is free of "routine". Concepts are incorporated and ingrained. Singing and skeleton work is done. For example, the huge leaps in Honegger's Intrada are first reduced to nearby notes and then expanded without loss of focus. Musical line rules. Technical work always supports that goal. These are only a few of many things shared.

Our thanks to Mr. Sullivan for two great sessions! Hopefully there will be more to come.

Candles in the Wind

Ever watch a young child trying to blow out birthday candles? Flames flutter but few are extinguished. Why is that? Then you lean over to help get it done with just one well-placed puff as all are amazed. Maybe it's the Blowing-More-Than-Focusing Syndrome, or also the dreaded Bad-Aiming Disability. Your intentions are great, but aim and focus is poor. To get the job done it takes too many tries, more than enough air, and frustration. But there is a cure.

Sometimes our trumpet-playing is a lot like bad candle-blowing. We huff and puff ourselves into quick fatigue, and still miss most of the notes. We often over-blow and aim at clusters of pitches rather than nailing them individually. We need that skilled parent leaning over next to us saying, ready, set, go, as we guide some well-directed air to its target. On your mark, get set, blow.

The candles go out when the right amount of air hits the middle of each flame. Notes get nailed when the right amount of air hits the center of each pitch. Think of taking care of one candle at a time. No second blows allowed. With both candles and notes, your air must make good contact with its target. Now make a wish, and blow 'em all out!

Looking for an Adventure

The difference between great music and not quite so great music, is that great music is full of great music. It's not hard to find. Not so great music requires great music makers to ensure that it happens. George Szell said that if you are playing the music of composers other than Mozart, Haydn or Beethoven, you must work harder. We can certainly object to so short a list, but the point is understood. We are on a mission to discover the music in the music. This then becomes our life-long adventure.

We are usually pretty good at recognizing musical intentions when the trumpet is not present. Now put a horn to our face, and creativity stops. The focus shifts to the difficulty of mechanics. The very instrument we love quickly becomes our enemy. Instead of being the conduit of our best musical intentions, the trumpet turns around to bite us, and stifles the whole process. Why is that? And what can we do about it?

Suggestion: Look at the advice given by the composer at the top of the page. Start there. How about assigning your etude, concerto, sonata, or symphony passage a theme, a storyline, a mood, or even words? A horn player colleague used to sing his own unforgettable lyrics to Brahms and Bruchner symphony fragments. Those passages suddenly came alive!

There is music on them thar pages, but you are required to discover and draw it out. A good imagination is all it takes to free us from musical paralysis. Instead of thinking another concerto, we think "Bull fight arena, scene 1", or "German tanks unstoppably meandering through the dense brush", or "A hazy sunset viewed from your high-rise veranda in Spain", or "A high speed sports car racing though European mountain terrain accompanied by your best friend!" Nothing is just notes. Everything is programmatic.

Charlier etudes and Arban Characteristics offer much more than boring studies. How about some of these pictures? A bicycle with an obnoxious dent in the frame of the front wheel, acting like a relentless metronome; a Frenchman cycling through the streets of Paris cheerfully waving to pedestrians; the morning of a fawn suddenly interrupted with fanfare by the hunter; a pastoral movie scene; a great unaccompanied flugel solo ideal for a recital; fireworks shooting up and then cascading downwards in slow motion; a merry-go-round horse rolling way up and down; swirling bees in a frenzy; loud and angry accents on off-beats; participating in vocal auditions at the Met. The list is endless! There is enough music just in trumpet etudes to equip any trumpet student to compete anywhere. Adventures are awaiting.

The Sign of a Trumpaholic

What are the signs of a trumpaholic? Appearances may be deceiving. Don't be fooled by those tiny headphones always seen en route to the next class. Or by all the talk about the newest releases by European trumpet soloists. Or by the impressive collection of platinum-plated mouthpieces and bags o' mutes. Or by all the shiny high-priced trumpets in those multiple state-of-the-art strapped gig bags. Or by the complete library of all the latest trumpet fads on everything from The Art of a Full Inhale in .06 Seconds, to The Amazing Benefits of Blowing your Mouthpiece Backwards.

The best proof of whether someone is honestly a trumpaholic is found on the stage of the recital hall. How good is the playing? Or even better, how much improvement has been happening? Trumpaholics get better. Being a trumpet jock is cool. It's nice when you love your work. Youthful enthusiasm is a great weapon against boredom and burnout. Never lose it. But it's what comes out of the bell that has clout, earns paychecks, and speaks loudly (and softly) to listeners.

Brick-laying

What do brick-layers and trumpet players have in common? Some would say both are unskilled blue collar laborers lacking in artistic abilities. Sometimes maybe. It's not so much a question of ability however, but of integrity.

Accuracy is a reflection of character. A mason's work does not allow for sloppiness. Weak foundations will cause disasters, and that kind of worker is not likely to be rehired. Precision matters. We trumpet players seem to think that we can get away with laying the notes down any old way. We tend to slap together our notes of etudes, excerpts, and concertos, paying not enough attention to the quality of each note. Would that we had the commitment to the precision of master builders!

Imagine a huge pile of bricks just dumped in your front yard and ready for your grand building project. You've studied your blue prints, so you know pretty much where you're going. You have your manual and electric saw, chisel, hammer, mortar, trowel and all the equipment needed to get the job done. Then your hard work begins. You want your finished product to be functional and of aesthetic value. Others will appreciate not only all of your labor but your eye for detail. They will marvel, and you will be proud of your work.

So the good news is that our work is not so much talent-based as it is attention-based. Whether you're building a patio or a concert hall, playing a scale or a concerto, each individual part matters. Spend lots of quality time with those bricks, and treat them with care. Whether builder or artist, working with bricks or notes, your success is in the details.

Put Progress on the Fast Track

One of my boys' teachers at CIM suddenly stopped to ask him this question in the midst of his lesson. "So, what's the goal here?" Play all the notes in tune, he guessed? "No, to be gainfully employed!" He let that glimpse of reality sink in for a moment before continuing the lesson.

Considering that life as a student will end in a matter of months, it should be sobering that reality is fast approaching. In fact, it is already here. It is not likely that you will suddenly turn into a monster trumpet player over night. Evidence of that talent should have already surfaced, and it must be fed and trained on a daily basis in order for survival. That becomes our job description: monster-training. In fact, you should be a monster-in-progress.

No matter what your major, you should be committed to finishing your schooling with honors. That first paycheck depends upon it. A certain amount of partying and/or laziness seems to be what happens in school. But keep in mind that those are not job requirements. Have a life, but also keep a realistic perspective on the competition that lies ahead. Let's put some serious progress on the fast track.

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!