Release the Artist!

(ramblings of a fellow frustrated trumpet player fraternity member)

Do you ever feel like your trumpet seems to get in the way of what you're trying to do? You know how the music is supposed to sound, but your trumpet always has other ideas. Why is it that the great artist-performer in us is so easily silenced by technical demands? At the first sign of trouble we forget about our mission. Our trumpet wins while our artistry never even gets to make an appearance.

The trumpet loves to play with your mind. It looks up at you sarcastically and threatens, "Don't even think about enjoying this music, or about injecting any drama. Oh no! You must first conquer that long list of technical issues that you carry around every day. I suggest that you wax eloquently at some more convenient time." And we buy it!!

You look down and grumble back with clenched teeth, "I'd be a fabulous trumpet player if it weren't for having to deal with you and your many flaws. You cost me a fortune and all you do is squelch my tone, pinch my chops, and thwart my marvelous music-making abilities! If it weren't for you I'd be an awesome player! If I still have any semblance of a creative artist remaining in me, it's certainly no thanks to you. And by now any instincts of musicianship must have been permanently dwarfed!" By day's end the artist lies bound and gagged while alas, our trumpet has won again!

Ironically our greatest challenge does not lie with the instrument but in learning to let the music out of the instrument. Music should motivate mastery. Technique is merely a servant. Somewhere deep inside you resides a great singer impatiently waiting to be released. Just start giving the commands, and out will flow stunning, crowd-pleasing performances. This must be our battle plan each day. Good luck with that!

(Speaking of singers - Oh to have been a voice major! The vocalist doesn't have to clean his instrument, oil it, shine it, grease it, repair it, ship it, or stow it. In fact, no one can even see it, and it costs a singer nothing to get one! What a deal!)

Trumping the Nerve Giant

Lurking behind the curtains or perched high on the catwalks, our old nemesis the Nerve Giant resides. Sneering silently, he watches for each contestant to make his and her way to the front of the stage. Today is audition day, and he is having himself a good old time. At just the right moment, he begins to make his moves on each unsuspecting victim. Quickly he pounces and inflicts his debilitating tactics on as many as he can. Strangely, he is never seen, but surely felt.

His first task is to suck up all of the oxygen from the stage, rendering normal breathing nearly impossible. Next he instills crippling fear as evidenced by those nasty involuntary lip, finger and knee tremors. The right hand then begins to clutch the valves, causing them to stick uncharacteristically. No matter how many times the spit valve is nervously emptied, nothing comes out! We have no air, no condensation, and no sound.

He effectively renders the confident, disconsolate. Our snarling excerpt enemy then retreats to the darkest corner, preparing to eliminate his next victim. His goal is to hear this verdict from the personnel manager at the end of the day: "Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we do not have a winner. We will have to hold more auditions sometime in the future." The phantom of the auditions howls from on high.

Fortunately, this all-to-familiar scenario has a very potent remedy. The Nerve Giant can definitely be defeated. He is vulnerable. It takes some time and resolve, but it can be done. In fact, he can be made to work for the contestant, not against him.

Many have suggested that the antidote is AIR. But no, this is only a tool. AIR by itself isn't enough to kill the beast. The best weapon against the Nerve Giant is PURPOSE. That is, an unshakable confidence in the message about to be delivered. If PURPOSE has become strong enough, and has been time-tested, it makes the contestant virtually invincible. Nerves only intensify the resolve. And when accompanied by a sufficient supply of AIR, there is no giant too scary, no part too high, no valley too low. Strong PURPOSE marshals all body parts to function in harmony, summoning enough adrenaline, concentration, and artistic instincts to get the job done regardless of nerve pressures. PURPOSE RULES!

Music of The Great One

Every Saturday night in the mid 50's and 60's our family would turn on the television for The Honeymooners/The Jackie Gleason Show. Some honeymoon! Ralph and Alice would be having their Saturday night fights as Ed Norton easily had the audience in stitches just by bumbling into the room. The Great One himself, Jackie Gleason, was always in top form (for a guy in his condition.) It was always show time.

"A little traveling music" with Sammy Spear (or Ray Bloch) and the orchestra, and "away we went!" The show was funny, live and exciting, but I would watch especially to get my weekly trumpet lesson. I remember thinking that being the first trumpet on the Gleason show must have been the swellest job ever! Most of the trumpet work was played by Bobby Hackett, and "how sweet it was!"

I did not know that Jackie Gleason was a song writer, nor that he could not read or write music. Somehow his heartfelt songs found their way onto the printed page and into the hearts of millions. He produced the album Music for Lovers Only which holds the record for being on the Billboard Top Ten Charts for 153 weeks! It contains a collection of romantic ballads recorded with that luscious velvety Jackie Gleason Orchestra sound. Some pretty nifty trumpet work:

Melancholy Serenade (Gleason)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBYDFO995Ek&feature=related

September Song (Weill)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t77h2VROnCY&feature=related

The Last Dance
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLooV26OvOc

The Man I Love (Gershwin)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7nIX-AhmUs

Ryan Anthony Master Class

Ryan Anthony, Principal Trumpet with the Dallas Symphony, generously shared for almost two hours today at CCM. He answered questions about preparation, concertizing, and some of his experiences while touring with the Canadian Brass. He patiently worked with three students on solo and orchestral repertoire asking questions and offering excellent advice. This weekend he solos with the Dayton Philharmonic in the Liebermann Trumpet Concerto.

Mr. Anthony suggested becoming so comfortable with your range that you can consider it "your personal keyboard." That is, all notes should be on call and ready to be played as easily as on the piano, rather than using the tongue as a weapon to stab and jab. This concept should help to eliminate excessive stress about that upcoming high note. Just reach out and play it! Warm up should include all parts of the range, making sure that all notes have been touched.

Sustaining the intensity of a line is more difficult when wide leaps and rests are involved. Air flow through the whole phrase makes musical sense and helps with endurance. The music should continue to flow even when rests interrupt the overall line. Avoid chopped up and isolated line fragments.

Selecting your own adjectives describing the music is a great way to involve both player and listeners. There was noticeable improvement at this suggestion. Visualizing a storyline helps with character and style, enabling the performer to be in "a comfortable place." (Oh, to be able to stay there!)

Flutter-tonguing a nasty passage is a helpful first step for focusing. Likewise, slurring for tonguing.

Forte doesn't always mean a loud volume. Intensity can be independent of dynamic level. The quality of sound can be more important than dynamic focus.

Speaking of that comfort zone, Ryan reminded us of our mission. The audience expects to leave the concert remembering more than just a pretty good performance. Our job is to give them special things. Special things is what Ryan does so well! Just check out his recordings. Our thanks to him for being with us today.

The Demands of Mahler's 6th Symphony

(This posting is in light of the upcoming concert of the CCM Philharmonia on March 11, 2011 honoring the 100th anniversary of Mahler's death.)

The 6th Symphony of Mahler (the Tragic) provides for trumpeters the ideal forum to display the full range of skills. The work is a four-act drama of extremes. Your playing will be bold, joyful and triumphant only to be followed by strains of throbbing melancholy. One teacher speaking of the Mahler temperament said that "his moods ranged from the depths of Dante's Inferno all the way up the the Third Heaven and back again." Such is the Mahler journey with lots of louds, softs, highs, lows and all points in between. Rather than getting spooked, eager trumpeters salivate at this kind of challenge. Consider the 6th symphony a colossal marathon or better yet, one of the trumpeter's triathlons!

Movement 1:

You get only one warm up note followed by that bold in-your-face entrance that tests both your diminished seventh skills and your fearlessness. Your part demands repeated sweeps of intense passion emerging beautifully out of nowhere. Sing, dominate, and then disappear gracefully into the winds. A prominent feature throughout the symphony is the use of low to mid-range notes. You must sound like a fine third trumpet player shooting out the low stuff with no loss of presence. If you need to, brush up on F and B flat transpositions, and be alert to the frequent changes.

Are you secure with strong high note diminuendos to pp? And how about those muted spiky militant march snippets that must penetrate through the entire orchestra regardless of dynamic markings?

Another fun item for practice - massive slurs of more than an octave. No cheating allowed on the articulation. Pound the valves and jerk the air slightly right in time. Very cool and impressive! Keep in mind your purpose: giving the audience many magic moments to take home.

Don't forget to prepare for those chorale-style soaring, sumptuous and expressive lines both soft and loud. They must be able to happen at any time.

Observe the large amount of dynamic and articulation instructions. They are not printed for the beauty of the score. They are there by design. Make sure they are evident. Obey the print. Don't soil the picture with bland colorless playing.

Movement 2:

Find related etude material to prepare for what is required in this movement: slow, long, smooth, sustained lines, both loud and not. Here's a good movement to really focus on well-centered intonation and sound quality. All the great playing you can do is useless if it is out of tune.

Movement 3:

In this Scherzo movement you will be busting in all over, with and without your sword. Have an attitude! Don't try to be pretty. Our roll here is largely percussive. Show snappy accurate rhythms. This is about focused sordino control. Prepare for this by sticking in the mute and practicing articulation studies. Lead the brass with your very steady and precise playing. Scherzo is the character. Short and clear is the technique. Volume, clarity, and accuracy rule the night.

Movement 4:

You get to announce your presence with a Zarathustra-like muted explosion landing on a high C sharp! Hold it until you turn purple. Be careful, it's a long one.

Again we have great interval leaps to command and control. With Mahler no interval is safe. Prepare! Three slow poignant trumpet calls linger in the upper range. Control the notes and the intonation and you will have partially earned your solo bow.

Again, rhythm is king. Give your utmost attention to this! Bad rhythm ruins everything.

The finale is a race to the finish. Stay strong throughout. Keep in mind what's ahead. Be ready, get set. Now bring it on. You live for this, so practice accordingly!

Spanish Christmas

Looking for something new and exciting for your next recital? Check out Matthias Hofs playing A Spanish Christmas by Wolf Kerschek. Fabulous playing. It must be nice not to have to wrestle with fast mute changes!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsxWtx-jHw

Controlling the Bludgeon Instinct

If this is you, don't change, just stay in control. Killer instinct, yes, but know how and when to unleash it. Learn to wield that trumpet skillfully. Power with precision pays nicely.

Playing Your Part

There's a time to lead and a time to follow; a time to be seen and a time to be part of the scenery; a time to be heard and a time to be part of the herd; a time to take charge, and a time to support the charge; a time to blast and a time to blend. Music-making is about leadership and teamwork.

Scalpel or Jackhammer?

Imagine looking up from the operating table as a patient awaiting your heart surgery only to see what appears to be an annoyed jackhammer guy in hard hat fast approaching you all irritated! This will not likely be pretty, you're thinking, as it's pretty much the wrong approach!

Some music demands especially skilled and patient precision, not impulsive brutal stabbings. It's gotta be finesse over force, bulls eyes rather than javelins. You can pound the pavement another day.

Oh, the tools and mindsets of the business! Sometimes it's Haydn, Johann Strauss and Waldteufel. Another time it's Richard Strauss, Mahler and Star Wars. Stay handy with both jackhammer and scalpel!

What if it Ain't Broke?

Your embouchure - if it's not broken, why worry? One need not worry, but with only one square inch of valuable flesh serving as the foundation of your career, one ought to be careful. With so much focus on breathing, support and all the good mechanics required for solid playing, we can easily neglect proper care for that exact point where the music meets the horn.

Suggested reading on the subject of embouchure care is a book entitled Broken Embouchures by Lucinda Lewis. That title makes any brass player cringe, but better for you to cringe now than for your chops to cringe later. It comes in two volumes full of spot-on advice about lip injury prevention and rehab. Should be a must-have for all brass players with lips.

Just as young orchestra players are rarely too concerned about the pension provisions in the master contract, so too the young and mighty tend to dis any advice on embouchure care and maintenance until the unthinkable happens. "Hey, I always just pick up the horn and blow. Got the killer instinct, man! I'm no wimp!" Sound familiar?

Beating the lips into submission is one of the mindsets I was raised with unfortunately. Mind-over-lips has its place but also has its consequences. Denial of our limitations is not the strategy for improvement. When your lips scream at you, you need to listen. A wise approach to playing is not a warrior approach nor is it a wuss approach. Finding your balance is critical for long term lip life. Chop-protection is as valuable as chop-building.

Speaking of building, why not research some exercises that strengthen the lips? Your goal is to bulk up the chops and to increase the distance between the mouthpiece and the teeth. The Lewis book has some excellent exercises for this. They can be done apart from the horn. You can work on your firmer embouchure while driving, walking and even talking.

One teacher recommended his students walk between classes with corners anchored, lips tensed tightly as if holding a straw, while saying "I AM a trumpet player, I AM a trumpet player." Pucker and point the lips, freeze, relax and repeat. You could start with a straw, then a pencil, and for serious weight-lifters, a screw driver! More is better, right?

Another exercise to strengthen the "smile muscles": hold a straw (or pencil) only with the teeth while smiling widely for as long as those around you can stand it.

Remember that your lips must be at least as strong as your left hand. Remind your hands to lighten up. Give your chops a break and allow them do their work. At the end of the day, your chops should still be in tact. Don't squelch your lips, strengthen them.

This Must be You!

This could be you with perhaps nothing outwardly suggesting that a superstar is in the house. The audience almost defies you to move them. Low expectations abound. Fine! It's better that way, you say. You are ready.

With nerves on edge you pace. Doubts scream in your mind, "Who do you think you are! You have no business going out there on that stage. You have nothing to say that has not already been said much better than you'll ever say it!"

But you have none of that. This is why you're here, for moments such as this. These are your working conditions, and you'll be getting used to them very nicely, thank you.

Now, it's your turn. The crowd awaits. Play your part well, connect with the audience, and move the skeptics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMcT84bNkLo

Nice job! Let's see if you can even make more improvement in the next show! What do you think? Even better, yes!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ-dJHNbFPQ&feature=related

Some Healthy Choices

O.K. the eating frenzy is over. You're thinking, no more sweets, no junk, no more sugar-induced colds. Help! If you are now more convinced than ever to get healthy, you may want to apply that obsession to trumpet practice. Consider good intakes of some items that are sure to improve rather than tear down your playing? Here are a couple of healthy suggestions for your practice menu. Get a head start today on your '11 resolutions.

How about a good helping of daily sweet starts? You need to be able to guarantee a great-sounding first note. Imagine being able to win an audition with just the amazing quality of the first note of every one of your excerpts! Wouldn't that be sweet?

Next, you may partake of some of those very expensive specialty starts, the high and the soft. Don't try to gulp them down. Approach each with calm care. Then let them melt in your mouth. Savor that ability to pick them off slowly, one by one, to the amazement of all who listen and watch!

No slurping at the table. Why are the upward slurs usually played better than the downward, especially in the low register? We tend to slur up and slurp down. Your job is to make legato intervals the clean, the pure, and the in-tune every time. Be sure to keep corners from sagging and relaxing so much that you can't recover your firm setting.

Great players have learned how to be successful with the simplest of tasks. Now open up Arbans and Schossberg (or the like). Confine your work to the beginner section at the front. Simple and boring is what you're looking for. No expressive shoulder-lifting, just precision. Goal: cold-blooded, deadpan control and accuracy - the mindset you'd expect from your heart surgeon!

See earlier posts on this subject:

• Playing the 10-Second Game, 4/18/09
• What a Way to Start, 4/11/08
• Garbage-Free Zone!, 4/21/07
• Playing the Dim Game, 2/6/07
• Five Seconds Only!, 5/13/06
• The Tip of the Brush, 5/1/06

Trumpeter's Table

As you approach that smorgasbord, your attention is instinctively drawn to the stacks of luscious chocolaty desserts, the crispy fried chicken, endless turkey helpings, piles of buttery rolls, gobs of seasoned stuffing with savory gravy. What do you say we just skip the salads, the fruit dishes, and the artistic vegetable trays. A balanced meal? Well, some more convenient day perhaps.

The table of brass goodies likewise invites us to plunge headlong into the high, the loud and the flashy. That's where the fun, the fame, and the glamor is. After all, who wants to rehearse the low, the soft, and the boring while there's so much excitement to be had?

What do you consistently avoid? That which you neglect is probably the very thing you need the most. Does focusing on intonation taste like broccoli? Is working on soft control no different than a mouthful of cold cauliflower? Are scales and arpeggios unappetizing? Does transposition make you gag at the very thought of it?

Go ahead and enjoy the sweets and the glamor, but don't neglect to take in all the daily must-haves that will make you successful. As your mom used to say, "Eat it anyway. You just might learn to like it! And you'll thank me some day."

Thanks, Mom. I still don't like it, but I eat it anyway.

"That's my boy!"

A Clean Machine

Look at you - dressed sharply, well-groomed, appearing friendly and outgoing with pleasant disposition, and likely to make a positive impression even before that first excerpt or solo is played. Surely they will have your contract in hand, except for one thing.

Your observers must look at that grungy tarnished war-torn instrument of yours. Rubber bands are holding broken spit valve springs and have corroded the plating badly. Your moldy valve guard protector has long since failed to protect anything. Dents dating back to marching band days are still visible dulling both your sound and your reputation. Those sticky valves from those inadvertent drops (that someone else did) continue to cause havoc with fast licks. Aren't you tired of glaring angrily at your horn while you pound the valves with your fist so they won't stick? For some reason you continue to struggle with all of these annoyances.

Slides tend to stay put while the bore of your horn has now likely shrunk from a Large to a Mighty Small. Several years of meal fragments line the lead pipe, and the mouthpiece bore once gleaming brightly now is full of craggy lumps. Who knows what has been lurking secretly inside your trumpet for months or even years?

If you play like an angel you are allowed to have a horn that looks like hell. But since most of us are fallen players of various degrees, we cannot afford the luxury of a cool-looking civil war relic for an ax. We need all equipment in top condition and ready for scrutiny.

Hey, clean the horn! Chem flushes work wonders. Your trumpet will play better and look better. Keep it that way. Its maintenance is a reflection of its owner. Impressions matter.

A Nicely-Toned Machine

Yup. That's you, looking good but sounding even better! Just as with a job interview where that first impression speaks volumes, so does your sound. Those first notes out of the bell matter.

Pop the cork and out sizzles your rich and amazing tone. Just as the fashion model presents a striking visual impression, so too your sound must grab instant attention. Listeners must do a double take as soon as they hear you.

Is your playing distinctive? Is it recognizably you? What distinguishes you from your competition? Sure, go for accuracy, but don't forget that people are listening. You want to be offering generous treats of expensive ear candy every time you play!

Pretend that your every note is being monitored even from those first sounds of the day. You have no notes to waste. Your warm up is careful and systematic, but not without plenty of attention on well-focused tone. Show your listeners the results of your summer tone-up.

Buzz it

A great buzz makes for a great tone. An unfocused airy buzz makes good tone-production harder. Simply place the mouthpiece so that the center of the lips can freely vibrate. Anchor your corners, and direct the air straight into the hole in the mouthpiece. Focus the best buzz possible. Your goal is purity on your mouthpiece first. Then just add large doses of artistry.

Now using as little pressure as possible, buzz one note at a time, eliminating extraneous fuzz from your buzz. Go for the core of the pitch, the most resonant sound you can muster, always with minimal embouchure effort. Hold mouthpiece with only two fingers and one thumb, no fists. Air pressure must be greater than arm pressure.

Begin with sirens, slowly glissing up and down, pausing briefly on the lower and upper pitches. Remember, no junk, no stuffy questionable notes, just well-centered pitches, nothing less. Developing a soft response will be more helpful to your embouchure than just belting and blasting. Learn finesse and control in soft first.

Next, buzz short simple tunes, college fight songs, Christmas carols, etc. Keep the whole song well supported with a steady air stream. Each note must be clear and exactly in tune. Modulating cannot happen. Check with the piano often to ensure stable pitches. Notice how clean the tone is on the piano, starting instantly and not wavering? Copy that.

Determine that any eavesdroppers will be mightily impressed by your buzzings. Your listeners must admire the clarity of tone you are able to produce with just a four-inch piece of metal!

Daily conscientious buzzing will greatly improve your ear and your sound. Check with your mouthpiece often during the day. Whatever the passage, you will be able to control it when you can buzz it.

Sweep it!

Sweep it! Not your room, but your notes. One word is often better than a lecture. Make your progress simple and fast. How many one-word instructions can you recall that trigger immediate playing improvements, both for yourself and for your teaching? Studio flash cards, anyone?

The word "sweep" works nicely, not as into the trash, but into the audience. A good conductor's sweeping gestures are effective in drawing out broad expansive phrases from the orchestra. No conductor to look at? Visualize a yard full of dry leaves being cleared away by a power blower. Jump start that thing, and let it do what it's designed for. Our playing needs to be wind-swept, avoiding pokes and jabs. Just breathe and blow.

Our goal is fluid air no matter how angular the phrase. Nasty clusters of awkward gnarly notes can easily cause your air to get stuck somewhere behind the mouthpiece. Keeping a forward direction with a steady supply of free-flowing air always brings improvement. Tone opens up and embouchure tension is reduced.

Inhale, then release without holding back. The phrase must start before it is played. Intake and outgo must be free and in time. Your product must be musical, but your air must be dumb. Jerks, hiccups, and bumps will happen in the music, but not in the air stream.

Remember: Air rules.

Accepting the Ratio

Recently I was a fly on the wall as I overheard some basic advice being shared for someone facing an upcoming audition. It's so simple that it seems not worth mentioning, but being simple, it caught my attention. The student was feeling overwhelmed by his huge scary excerpt list, yet felt a certain weight lifted as he considered: "You don't have to feel good, you just have to work!"

We expect the trumpet to behave itself every day, and that each practice session must be joyful and triumphant. And then as soon as reality hits we think that something must be terribly wrong with us. One famous orchestral trumpeter revealed that he actually felt like playing maybe 10% of the time! He must have learned early that success on stage and in the practice room is not dependent upon feeling good. (Imagine the announcement just before the the concert: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce that the trumpet section will not be present tonight because they are not feeling well.")

The number of warm 'n' fuzzy days are going to be far less than the cold 'n' prickly ones. The ratio is just not in our favor. We must get used to it. Good practicing does not require that we feel good. We simply have to be organized, efficient and productive. Just do it.

Note: the better organized, efficient and productive we are, the better we will feel.

Colorado '10

Things You Love To Hear

What would you like audition committee members to be jotting down as they listen to you play? We want to keep their job easy. No need to make them write a lot, only a few superlative adjectives and you're hired. How quickly can you impress them?

Let's start at the end. Picture the mob of players on the infield at the end of the World Series, or the massive celebrating at the finish of the Super Bowl. How about those trophies proudly held high? Whatever plasters an inspiring picture in your mind, go for that every day.

For us music geeks, motivation could be as simple as anticipating that instant foot shuffling of orchestra colleagues after you finish an impressive solo. Or a bunch of "nice job, man!" comments after the concert. Or, getting that solo bow that is a must after Mahler. You want to hear more than just "Wow, you got all of the notes! Good job!"

Anyway, back to audition prep. Can you control what they will write about your playing? How about earning comments something like:

• nice playing!
• great sound
• perfect rhythm
• awesome energy and style
• amazing control!!
• very accurate
  
• really clean articulation
• fearless!
• no problem with soft stuff
• endurance will not be a problem with this person
  
• YES!

Grab a few passersby and invite them to listen to you. Ask that they write down a few adjectives describing your work.

How well did you do? Do you like what you heard?