Don't be Driven

It's better to drive than to be driven. There is no need to stress and obsess. No one wants to listen to a flurry of frantic frenzy including you. Your practice sessions should always be purpose-driven and not emotion-driven. Relax, be confident and be in control. Slow down so you can be more productive. You don't have a lot of notes to waste, so try to use all of them wisely.

Stop often so you can stay alert. If you get weary, pull over. Rest, refuel and then continue. Better to stop at rest areas than to do nonstop wheelies and spin yourself into a ditch.

Enjoy driving as much as you can. At the end of the day, what percentage of all of your notes will have been controlled and enjoyable? Your goal is to be fresh and usable tomorrow. Your performance will be a pretty good picture of how well you managed your practice. Remember:

• Be in control.

• Don't fret.

• Stay fresh.

• Enjoy the drive.

Practicing for Tomorrow

Butch: "Hey, man, I'm getting a blistering high C and I want it NOW!" Bart: "Wow, my new picc just arrived! See ya later, man. It's Brandenburg or bust for me!"

Sorry, Butch and Bart, you'll have to be patient, and don't say "bust". You are welcome to go for it like a raging bull in the china shop, but you'll have to pay tomorrow for all the damages. Your practicing is not likely to yield the results you want just in one day, so go at it slowly, methodically, and carefully. No one learns to play like Maynard in one day.

Why don't you map out a strategy for your summer's building project? Be sure not to burn out. You must live to play another day. What you do today is preparation for the next day. Don't expect your finished product yet. No pummeling allowed. Balance blow with rest throughout your sessions. Don't play anything unintentionally.

This should be a welcome relief from undue self-imposed pressure. Simply plan on being able to pick it up and continue working tomorrow, still fresh as a daisy. For now, less brute and more brains.

Smooth Sailing, Please!

Vacations, summer break and down times are just around the corner. Packing light for your travels? Make sure to stuff in your luggage the Clarke Technical Studies. The book is great for getting into shape and maintaining it. No amount of slugging or blastathons will ever accomplish what a few spoonfuls of this medicine will do for your chops every day. Follow Dr. Clarke's instructions carefully. His book produces great trumpet players.

Test yourself on the etudes. If you need some reconstruction, do the preceding studies. Etudes I, II, III, and IV are favorites for daily testing. Play soft, smooth and clear. Think how easily the clarinet player makes this sound. We want to match that. No bumps, fogged notes, or decibel variance. We must be able to function as a legato machine. Our goal is comfort and a smooth legato slur in and out of all ranges.

After a couple of weeks at this daily work you will find the etudes are memorized. Great. Try to play Etude II up a fourth and then up a fifth and memorize. Use small horns on this material too. Stay in a doable range. Smooth is better than high. Increase range only if smooth and controlled.

Yes, you can certainly blow up a storm this summer, but be sure to compensate with wise easy Clarke work. Need more of a challenge? Try double-tonguing them.

Have a safe and smooth summer break!

Free Lessons

Why pay for that which you can get for free? Avoid writing that pricey lesson check and the hassles of traveling to the big city. There is also no need to obsess about playing well for the big lesson which only lasts an hour anyway. Your window of receiving valuable information should last longer than sixty minutes, don't you think? Consider seeing your progress skyrocket right in the comfort of your own home, and without taking a big financial hit?

First assignment for those serious about sounding professional - get a library card! Take out as many CD's as possible of excellent recordings of works you need to learn. It doesn't cost you anything to listen to them. They're teaching you for free.

Next - start some serious listening. Note tempos, volume, projection, style, etc. Listen many times to each piece, and remember what you hear. Follow along with the music in front of you. Record your playing efforts and compare. Begin to narrow the gap between student and pro, unless you intend to forever sound like a work in progress.

Again, your responsibility is to come prepared with tempos, fingerings, transpositions, etc. well before that big lesson. Everything on the page is your job to prepare. Don't waste time and money having the teacher tell you what you could have learned on your own. Do your homework before you see the coach. Who knows? Maybe the coach will be so impressed that you'll get a free lesson!

Family accounting

Jeremy finished his first year of grad school at USC. He is pictured with members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet just after his recital this Spring.

Zachary graduated today from CIM! Viola student of Bob Vernon, Zak returns to Cleveland in the fall for graduate studies, gigs and auditions.

Wes, Sandy and Zak after a Cleveland recital. Wes is in the Atlanta Symphony. Sandy their first teacher, leads a large class of violin students.

Jeff and wife Kori with Jaime. Jeff runs Collins Painting business.

Grandsons Andrew, Stephen and Kenny. Tracey with daughter, Faith and Gracie. Pastor Tim in red shirt

Nailing Tannhauser

Welcome to F sharp major and a good lung flush! (Or G flat major if you prefer.) The ending of the Tannhauser Overture is on the stand. Once fingering and intonation are mastered, there is only one thing left - loud sustained notes with no decay just like a church organ. This excerpt shouldn't be a problem. No fast finger-twisting passages to coordinate. Just breathe big and blow.

Oh, one more item not to forget - notice what's on the top of each note, tent accents. Think of a cork being released from a bottle. Or think of a page of music being blown off your stand as soon as your first note sounds. Some call this a sustained accent. If you like pictures, imagine the sudden blast of water through a pressurized hose.

In fact, how about drawing this excerpt on graph paper? Use bricks to represent the notes, big fat cinder blocks. Draw them proportional to the musical line. What color do you like? They could be dark blue or maybe brilliant red. Your call.

Set your metronome for approximately 60 or slower. Painfully slow practice tempos will increase endurance and embouchure focus. Remember not to over-think this. All notes simply must sound good. It must be steady, in tune, loud and clear. Every note counts. Be sure never to crack the high A sharp at the end, and try to make listeners smile when you nail that low F sharp. This is a great warm-up. Have you ever tried it soft?

Notes on Shostakovich Piano Concerto

The Shostakovich Concerto for Trumpet (with piano) has one of the all-time most beautiful slow movements in the repertoire. You have to love all the great trumpet stuff he gave us in this piece. The outer movements dazzle while the slow movement laments, soars and sings. This work is all about us! Enjoy.

First of all, don't dare start practicing it until you've spent a lot of time listening closely to several great recordings of the piece. You must thoroughly enjoy before you explore. Consider these:

• See if you can write out the trumpet solo by ear.
  

• Use full air supply on each breath. You will need it all. Take as few breaths as possible.
  

• Find a mute that speaks well in all registers. Practice with your favorite mute on F# minor scales slurred and tongued up and down two octaves slowly. Get very comfortable going from low range to high and back. Practice higher than you'll need to.
  

• Don't settle for anything out of tune or stuffy!!

• Set your quarter note speed at approximately 72, plus or minus. Practice way slower and way faster than required. Have several comfort zones for tempo.

• The solo is somewhat soft, so don't be a bull.

• Use subtle rubato. Stretching is better than rushing. Avoid static metronomic playing. Play basically in time, but musically.

• Always very legato. No bumping allowed.

• Check often for stuffy unfocused notes. They do not belong.
  

• Intonation cannot not be a problem! Watch your tuner.

• This is classic espressivo writing. Be as artistic as the great principal woodwind players (or better!) Prove that we can do more than blast out-of-tune fanfares.
  

• Not much is printed in the way of dynamics, so do as you like. Follow your instincts. General rule: the higher the louder, although you can do some nifty softer notes at the very top. Be creative.

• Always be sure to play the line. Here's our chance to shine!
  

No More Mr. Nice Guy!

Weary of wimping out at auditions? "I was fine until I walked on stage." Or, "I was feeling great until I heard everyone else warming up." Or, "I started to crash at my first mistake." The problem was not nerves although they overpowered you. The problem was that you did not have something stronger. You were Roadrunner racing fast to cross the great chasm, only to sputter and plummet as soon as you looked down. Tired of hating when that happens? You need something that can overcome your fear. Try a healthy dose of anger!

Consider those heroic coaches who succeed by intimidation and scare tactics. Think of those famous for throwing chairs, punching out a Wolverine, or hurling first base into the outfield! Were they nice and smiley, meek and polite? I don't think so. We're not talking about throwing your horn against the wall, or lashing out at the conductor. Being out of control doesn't help anything, but a good amount of impassioned determination, might be the missing ingredient to your success.

Instead of walking on stage with a defensive mindset, try the opposite. Take control and perform. You must be a well-trained caged beast behind your mouthpiece. Forget the kind and gentle approach. Make sure you are ready to offer plenty of enthusiasm every time you play. Get angry at yourself and be committed to attacking each piece with appropriate drama regardless of the scenario.

Fiery coaching helps, but you must be both star and coach for the rest of your career. Get angry at your repeated stupid mistakes produced from cautious timid playing. Call a time-out, and yell at yourself. You need someone constantly in your face and on your case, and that someone will have to be you.

Fading Gracefully

No, this is not about growing old. Save that for another day. This is about a classy disappearing act. Most brass players are by nature good at boldly and belligerently bursting onto the scene. But it's our ability to gracefully get out of the way that usually needs much practicing. The impressive long diminuendo is our goal.

For example, performing Zarathustra, the Leonore calls, or Mahler 2nd Symphony will be no fun without this valuable skill. Each work requires a lengthy beautiful diminuendo on a single note without losing pitch or quality. At such moments in performance the trumpet player either hangs himself or plays the hero. You want such control on the long sustained notes that listeners stop breathing until your gorgeous sound finally disappears into thin air.

For some reason diminuendo practice seems to be neglected. Too bad. Fermata dims make for fun practice as you don't need music, and fatigue isn't an issue. Practice amazing your friends with your skilled stealth exits. Don't just quit at mp. Go all the way down to absolutely nothing, niente. Count quickly or slowly as you play, and think forward direction rather than just a static note. A goal is to be able to sustain your glorious note longer than necessary.

For practice, pick any note. How long can you hold it before it gradually fades away? Ten, fifteen, twenty seconds, more? Be sure not to get nervous, quivery, shaky, airy, sharp or flat. Have friends inspect your embouchure at close range checking for saggy lips, leaky air, smiley corners, exposed teeth, sputtering, drooling, snorting, or other serious problems. Please document and report issues to faculty.

How about a contest? Post signs around campus: The Longest Note of the Year! Prizes will go to those with the longest diminuendos that stay on pitch and don't get airy or fizzle. The higher the note the better the prize. Remember it must start ff and go to ppp.

How many of these orchestral and solo works do you know that test your disappearing skills? Lt. Kije, Don Quixote, Beethoven 6th, Dvorak New World, and every Mahler Symphony. Don't forget the end of the first and second movements of the Tomasi Concerto. You will want to collect your own notebook of high profile diminuendos for your daily practice. It's OK to be dim-witted.

Assembling Petroushka

Ding dong. It's the UPS man. You dash to the door to find your package, your very own dancing Ballerina! As you rip open the box you notice the assembly instructions in very large print:

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START YOUR BALLERINA UNTIL EACH PART IS SECURELY ASSEMBLED!!

Not a problem you say. What's the deal? She'll be twirling for only 25 seconds. That's just 163 notes, only 25 measures, and not even enough time to get tired! What's more, you don't even need your third valve. Stravinsky's Ballerina is a piece of cake!

Now for the assembly. You will notice that your Ballerina comes in five parts. Each part consists of notes which must be fastened snugly together so that they do not come apart during her performance. See to it that you complete each part before assembling the next. Note: each part is uncomplicated, but the trick is in putting them together seamlessly. The dancer must appear to change gears effortlessly.

PART #1 contents: 4 packages of a 12-note, 2-bar arpeggio in F (salute)

PART #2 contents: 4 packages (A and B) of 15-note scale fragments (soft noodles)

PART #3 contents: 3-bar, 21-note bold bolt up the hill and back (gush of steady air)

PART #4 contents: 3 bounces, 2 hills - 25 notes (hiccups and hills)

PART #5 contents: 1 final burst of 9 notes (and stay out!)

When all parts are in place your 3-note announcement will activate the Ballerina. She will start to dance at the sound of the snare drum.

WARNING: Some ballerinas have been reported to fall on their faces. There will be no factory recalls. Your ballerina will dance like a total klutz unless every part is prepared properly! Manufacturer is NOT responsible for damage due to careless assembly.

Speed Kills

Does life behind the mouthpiece sometimes feel like there's a camera on the front of your bell, and you're on a high speed bobsled going ninety miles an hour? All the notes are flying by faster than they can be processed. We're on a race desperately trying to maintain control, dropping more notes than we nail. Is this a trumpet or a runaway Toyota? Somebody help!

Remember what Dad did when the family would get lost on vacation trips? He drove faster! Why is it that the harder the passage, the faster we go? Instead of the panic button, we should hit the brakes. With treacherous curves at every turn, cooler heads and slower practice speeds ought to prevail.

Dr. Phil has a two-word remedy for this ailment: SLOW DOWN! Everything improves at slower speeds. Notes can be seen, heard and controlled much better in slow motion. Think paycheck. You only get paid for well-played notes, period. Why not perfect as many notes as you can at your own comfortable tempo? High speeds may be resumed when conditions are safe.

Pacing and Purpose

It was 1971 and James Levine was conducting Mahler 5 with the CIM orchestra. As students it was our first fifth! It was to be a big deal, the highlight, the main event of the semester. Levine and Mahler? No pressure.

Two things stood out during those several intense weeks of rehearsing. Our first lesson became clear even before we had finished the first rehearsal. Playing with all the gusto we could muster, we quickly realized that this was to be a long haul, and we had only just begun. Lesson #1: PACING.

Levine was great at preparing us to be at our best at show time. What good is a fabulous rehearsal if the concert is disappointing? We were getting a crash course in survival, (poor choice of words).

A great concert of course, is not just about getting through the music. The audience is more interested in heroes than survivors. A wise hero is better than a survivor, but a wise survivor is better than a dead hero. So it's a balance between playing it safe and cozy, and letting it all hang out. We were each learning to chart our own courses.

Lesson #2 was about PURPOSE. It came with Mr. Levine's instructions at the end of the last rehearsal before the big concert. He mopped his brow with that ever-present towel slung over his shoulder, and paused before offering his final advice. It was the best coach's pep talk one good receive. It has served as great motivation, and has helped to reduce anxiety for years of concerts and recording sessions.

"Don't be worrying about missing notes. The audience isn't coming to count mistakes. They expect to hear great music. See how many fabulous moments you can produce. You will want to remember this night."

Trumpets Go for the Gold

Nervous excitement is in the air this week as dozens of the world's finest trumpeters are gathered in Cincinnati to compete for the gold at the 2010 Trumpolympics. Five separate competitions will be held with the winner receiving the greatest number of points from each of five panels of judges.

First round contestants will be judged solely on RHYTHM. Round two will be heard by the PITCH police. DYNAMICS will be the focus on day three. The ARTICULATION contest follows, and the final round will be heard by the prestigious MUSICALITY panel. The winner will be awarded the coveted Golden Tone Trophy. Runner up will receive the Silver Bell Award, and the third place trophy will go to the worst of the three. She or he will get to take home an unplated miniature Bronze Bust of Vincent Bach.

Let's listen in as advice is being offered from past contestants:

Pay attention now, gals and guys. This is important. Remember that Rhythm Judges will be deducting points big time for faults such as rushing and for playing a triplet instead of a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth. This panel is fanatical. What they see in the score better be what they get. Speed monitors that they are, they bristle at wrong tempos and at all things unsteady. You will notice their yellow pencils tapping impetuously and their feet stomping involuntarily as they try to correct you while you are playing. Consider yourself warned. They are nasty and unforgiving, but if you can keep them calm and provoke a nod of approval or a slight grin, you're in!

The Pitch Police are likewise very strict and intolerant of anything even slightly sharp or flat, especially sharp. If you don't make pitch corrections immediately, you're burnt toast. Just like their tuners, they will instantly signal out-of-tune and have you waved to the side of the stage. Like highway patrolmen, they are more alert to offenders than to law-abiding drivers. Your assignment is to keep them from bothering you. If you are a highly skilled pitch-finder, you'll be fine. No pressure.

The Dynamics Panel is equally nit-picky. You'll notice they constantly have their heads in the score listening for faults. They are like crowd-counters, quickly clicking their mistake buttons with every perceived decibel infraction. Don't ignore any dynamic markings! Even the smallest detail matters, for they are the sacred guardians of every dynamic the composer ever wrote. To satisfy them you must consider yourself an efficient volume-monitoring machine. This can actually be a fun ride, so let this game begin.

The Articulation Committee is your next venue. They will be listening for every kind of note beginning indicated by the composer. You will need articulations ranging from pickax to cotton swab with everything in between! Remember: different strokes for different notes! One size does not fit all. Knowing the style will help you style the notes. Clubbing, stuttering, and splitting will immediately get you yanked from the competition, so control your flow, guys. Think clean, smooth and focused.

Now for your last hurtle you must elicit raves from the snootiest of committees, the Musicality Monitors. These judges will be looking for you to score high marks for nuance, expression, drama and overall showmanship. They tend to look the other way on details from the other committees, but they do expect to be dazzled. Just think AMERICAN IDOL.

"Summon the Heroes" is now starting to echo throughout our huge contest hall, so toi-toi, y'all. Get out there and have the time of your lives! (thundering applause)

A Core Issue

What do the goal posts on a football field have in common with the lane in a bowling alley, and does this have anything to do with trumpet playing? Can kickers and bowlers teach us anything? For the kicker, life is about delivering his three points with consistency. The bowler is about totaling up points by toppling as many pins as possible. Of course there are no points for awkwardly spilling the ball into the gutter. For both athletes, it's nail it, or come up empty. Genius or klutz. Money or none.

Three-point attempts can make heroes or goats, and the clumsy gutter ball is just plain embarrassing. Don't you hate it when the crowd rubs it in by chanting "air ball, air ball" at a basketball game, as if the poor guy did not already know he missed everything? (Now there's a nightmare scenario if that ever happened at trumpet recitals!) Speaking of missing everything, if the artist on the flying trapeze is careless or distracted easily, it's game over. Good things happen though, when they are nailed securely.

I wonder if kickers ever practice with narrower than normal-sized goal posts. What if bowlers in order to refine their skills practiced on especially narrow lanes with very wide gutters? How about the trapeze artist grasping for an extra small rung on a really tiny swing? Talk about crash and burn stage fright! Or think about the soldier training to cross a field full of buried explosives. Absolutely no room for error!

The point is not to be worried to death about missing the mark, but be to be challenged and encouraged about making the mark. We need to raise the bar by narrowing the posts. If it's wide to the left, short, or wide right, we come up empty.

Think about going for the heart of the note, the very center of the pitch, the meatiest, richest part of it. There is no playing around the edges allowed. In the core of the note is the best quality and the most resonance - pay dirt, if you will. Accuracy also improves when there is no tolerance for playing in the cracks. The adjectives "sloppy" and "unreliable" should not describe our playing. We should be able to walk fearlessly onto the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning and deliver nothing but strikes right down the heart of the plate!!

Ryan Anthony at CCM

CCM trumpeters have been in hog heaven recently, first with Joe Burgstaller visiting last week, and now this week with Ryan Anthony, Principal Trumpet with the Dallas Symphony. What can you say about these guys, each with stellar careers going full blast! Well known is Ryan's impressive experience as a Canadian Brass member, soloist with many major orchestras, winner of numerous awards, Trumpet Professor at Oberlin College, and much more. Both are obviously top-notch musicians and excellent communicators.

First on Mr. Anthony's master class agenda - Bitsch Variations played by Masters' student Chris Pike. Adrienne Doctor, undergrad, followed with the Charlier Solo de Concour. Then DMA, Rory Powell nicely made his way through some of the difficult Tull Sonata. Each responded well to suggestions and showed noticeable improvement.

Quintet coaching followed with spot-on comments on the Ewald. No words were wasted as Ryan offered some seating and musical suggestions. Items addressed: using enough energy, steady and forward-moving rhythm, more variety of dynamics, communication between players, balance, and freedom of expression.

Here is some of the feedback from those in attendance:

• Mr. Anthony offered some good communication points for our quintet such as eye contact, taking advantage of the "robust" volume potential of brass, as well as a more audience-friendly seating arrangement. The string quartet was suggested as a model for freedom of movement, communication and energy.

• With regard to the Anthony class, I felt that his point that the audience will feel what the performer feels really hit home for me. If the performer is stressed, the audience will feel the same. Likewise with a joyous, exciting performance.

• Tell a story when playing no matter what it is.

• Be able to list adjectives that describe your piece.
  

• The most important part of your first note is the breath. Don't walk on stage without it.
  

• Be able to play a skeleton outline of awkward passages. Once fluid, then add the passing notes.

• Play so well that it makes the judges put their pencils down and listen!

• Everything done on the stage must be contagious and magnified.
  

• Breathing is a part of the musical phrase.

• Focus on the emotions rather than just the notes in the music. Get beyond the printed page. Tell a story, attempt to convey something other than notes to the audience.

• Put the audience at ease with your persona.

• Communicate; treat everything like chamber music.

• Never stop being a student.

• All music is either SONG or DANCE. Relay that to the listeners.

• Avoid "vanilla" performances. Add more flavors.

• Audiences also listen with their eyes.

• If all you focus on is technique, that's all your audience will hear.

• Music must move us.

• Think: I can't wait to play this!

• Take a passage, any passage. Now, if that's all the composer ever wrote, it must still sound great!

• Impressive heroic visual of the great horn soloist Hermann Baumann totally winning his audience even before he ever played the first notes of the Strauss Horn Concerto!!

Joe Burgstaller at CCM

Joe Burgstaller visited CCM last week, taking time away from his busy performing and teaching schedule to lead a two-hour master class. Joe is well known for his terrific work in the Canadian Brass and as a soloist and clinician. He is currently on the faculty at the Peabody Institute teaching trumpet and chamber music. His newest release is a must-hear, Mozart's Blue Dreams & Other Crossover Fantasies.

Mr. Burgstaller heard the Gregson Concerto (DMA student, David Wuchter) and Koetting Intrada (Senior, Paul Futer), and followed with a quintet coaching. Both solos were played impressively. Joe shared many neat ideas and perspectives on performance and music-making. His time with us was very motivational and thought provoking. Here are some of the highlights shared by those who played and attended.

• Favorite concepts from his master class: honesty, and being willing to face uncomfortable performance situations. Since it's impossible to lie on stage and there's nothing we can do to change that, we may as well learn to soak it in and enjoy it.

• I really enjoyed what Mr. Burgstaller had to say about performing - about making yourself more open and vulnerable to the audience. The whole idea of leaving your center of energy there for the audience, instead of hiding behind a stand. I found his entire master class very interesting!

• I liked the time-line Joe Burgstaller gave in his master class. He slowly side-stepped across the stage, emphasizing total focus on playing well in the present. Worry about the next step when you get there, not before.

• I liked his encouragement to stop being absolute slaves to the printed page.

• He was able to encourage a freer sound and approach to playing.

• A successful performance involves more than just the notes. Communicating is only 30% verbal (or notes) and 70% energy (stage presence, posture, body language, countenance, etc). The show starts as you walk on stage even before a note is played. You can't lie on stage. Your bow, posture, and facial expressions matter. What you are comes across. No walls are allowed.

• Embrace the audience. Don't ignore them, but play to them. They can be a scary mass of people, so don't make them nervous.

• Don't think about your notes. Think about the story behind your music. You MUST emotionally connect to this story.

• Have energy right from the first note. Your first phrase is the most important and will get you going.

• Overdo EVERYTHING on stage. Appear confident to be confident. Remember your five P's - Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.
  

• Don't hide yourself from the audience. Get away from/lower the stand.

• Practice constructive self-criticism. Remove negative words from your vocabulary.

• Practice technique: find ways to make difficult passages more difficult (slower, faster, softer, higher, etc.)
  

A few cool one-liners:

• Musicians are special.

• Dynamics are colors, not decibels.

• Before the audience can be sold, you must be.

• Learn to grab all the music you can from the printed page.

• Good intonation is more than pitch-adjusting. It involves tone-matching.

• Put air on the first note.

• If you're not creating line, you're creating boredom.

• Say of your playing, when appropriate, "That was really good!!"

Loser?

What are the deadliest three words in the audition business? After working diligently for months on your list, you do your best to survive all the travel stress on the big day, and then wait for hours trying to stay ready. Finally you get your 8 to 10 minutes, only to get rudely stopped by those three dreaded words, "Thank you. Next." The committee may as well have shouted "LOSER!" and then laughed out loud. Oh, the sting of it!

So, you give up? Change professions? Not so fast. Keep in mind that not winning can be the start of some great music-making on your part, if you want. Why be discouraged? That's normal. Anyone can get depressed. Here is your chance to learn from your loss and to manage your emotions. A defeat does not define us, it should propel us.

Consider your discouraging audition experience a vital part of the growth and refining process rather than a personal insult. Take inventory. In the heat of your audition moments dross (unwanted tendencies) rose to the surface and now waits to be skimmed off. But more importantly, have a new focus. Instead of despair, you have a fresh list of highlighted items to address tomorrow, not only negatives to reduce, but many positives to add.

It's the positives that make winners. Maybe it's not what you did wrong that disqualified you as much as what you did not do enough of. Consider that the committee really was rooting for you, but they didn't hear enough musical moments to advance you. Instead, they may have heard indecision and lack of confidence. Practicing being convincing is your first goal. (Or, if you were a little too convincing, perhaps tone it down a bit. That is, over the edge in style and dynamics, not likely to fit in, overdone, too exuberant. Most need to turn up the heat. Some need to cool it.)

Auditions also have a nice way of reacquainting us with much needed humility. After all, who do we think we are to have every one of life's rewards handed to us at every turn?

Another perspective: Others are watching to see how our loss affects us. Learning to handle adversity may well be the most important achievement of the day. Winners must learn how to lose. A gracious loser is better than a proud winner.

Lastly, life is bigger than an audition victory or loss. It's not life or death. Keeping that in mind can relieve some of the pressures of performance. The quality of the person is more important than the position held.

All Ears

French was not my thing in high school simply because I did not feel like studying for it. I liked the sound of it, but was not willing to do the work required to be conversant. As a result I nearly flunked, yet our teacher said that I had the best ears in the class! How could that be?

I could take down every syllable of a French dictation assignment accurately, but it made no sense. Phonetically it was perfect, but perfectly wrong when one tried to read and make sense of it. Even though my hearing may have been awesome, my fluency and study habits were awful.

Excelling in Music 101 is no different than excelling in French 101. Aptitude is nice, but it must be matched with diligence. Intense listening is just as important as efficient and sufficient practice. The tempting trap for us trumpeters is too much lips and not enough ears, or as Mel Broiles used to say "a little less blow and a lot more brains!"

Hearing is critical, but for too many of us our hearing is in critical condition. We just don't pay serious attention to others or to our own playing. Consequently our ear never gets fully developed, and so goes our quality. Is that a talent issue or a character flaw?

Most of our mistakes may be be traced to careless listening. More than an assignment, it must be a passion and an obsession - constantly feeding on the best playing and demanding it of ourselves. If all we give to our ears is mediocrity, that is what they will learn to tolerate. Ignore your hearing and it will go away.

Audiences won't know that you excelled in music history, or that you aced every theory test, or necessarily that you just finished 5 hours of practice. What they will recognize and expect is to hear quality playing. Should not we be as picky?

Don't Get Blown Away!

We shouldn't be easily blown away. If we are frequently shocked and awed by great trumpet performances, something is wrong. Yes, we admire, respect and appreciate exciting trumpet events, but each one should not be a wake-up call. Quality is to be expected, not a surprise and not foreign to us.

When all we listen to is ourselves, we reduce expectations, lose inspiration and quickly become out of touch. Each time we hear an inspired performance it should quickly have an affect on our playing. Response: "I can do (some of) that. I get it, and can't wait to try it!" Osmosis should be happening daily. With all the listening tools and opportunities we have available to hear top level playing, there is no excuse for not improving at a very noticeable rate.

Great players are not on some other planet. We inhabit the same world. Our job is to connect with what they do and absorb how they do it. Improving is as much about the student's initiative as it is in the training by the teacher. Critical listening in generous daily dosages is key. If you're not getting better fast, you're getting blown away.

Kiradjieff at CCM

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal and Third Trumpet, Christopher Kiradjieff led an excellent two-hour masterclass at CCM today. Never at a loss for great comments and very helpful suggestions, Chris heard four students play some of those familiar excerpts that never seem to go away. He followed with a very productive coaching of the full student trumpet section, extras included, on Pines of Rome.

For any note-takers, there was no lack of material shared. Here are just a few keepers that I captured. First up . . . .

Petroushka:

• Clarity is more important than speed. Individual, distinct notes is the goal.
  
• Slow-and-clear is better than fast and not-so-clear.
• Once it is clean, then speed can happen. Speed is the last item to add.
  

Bartok Concerto for Orchestra:

• Movement I: icy smooth and soft, secure starts, no vibrato, phrases must have direction, think crescendo between bars
  
• Fugue: strong and uniform, marked articulations, proper length of opening quarter, emphasize notes that tend to get lost
  
• Movement II: mechanical, clock-like, more obvious dynamic contrasts, don't be afraid of doing "duts" when needed, instead of all "duhs"
• Discover the "leaning, heavier" notes in the chorale.
• Movement V: 16ths clearly nailed dead in time, very steady, strong and articulate, drive the triplets
  

Gershwin Concerto in F:

• Don't be afraid of taking control, be soloistic.
• Develop the long notes immediately.
• Louder, more schmaltz
• Not too soft
• Wail, and be generous with the vibrato.
• The huge intervals become a non-issue when big, singing vibrato notes are what it's about.
  

Mahler 3, Chorale from Movement VI:

• Slow, soft and connected
• Come on in clearly on the first 2 notes, and then sail.
  
• Bring out slightly the "leaning" notes.

Isolated practice suggestions in general: slow, segmented practice; fluttertongue the hard stuff; use different rhythms; exaggerate the weak notes. Your playing has to be distinct at a distance.

Paraphrasing some highlights: Details are all good. The audience will notice. The integrity of the section, the whole ensemble and of the performance is at stake. Everything in the part matters and must be brought out. Rhythm, clarity and musicianship must rule! Exaggeration, projection, great sense of rhythm, knowing the key notes to be emphasized in a phrase, staccatissimo - all of these must be able to happen. Sound has to be full and secure. Instinctive, steady rhythm must dominate.

Chris has a gift for making the mechanical demands musical demands, which makes his approach fun and gets nice results. Little needed to be said about trumpet technique because the musical goals were clearly communicated and got the job done. It's like: "Here's exactly what we want. Now let's do it!"