What to Pack for the Audition

Job hunters need to have in their portfolio five qualifications that will make the employers' selection process easy. Unfortunately these skills cannot be jammed into your suitcase at the last minute. All-night cram sessions just prior to the interview/audition will not work. These winning qualities will best be evidenced when they have been carefully ingrained over time. They must become automatic.

Not only will you win points at your audition, but you will also have great confidence under pressure. No need to be overwhelmed. All five are quite doable. The good news is that you have daily opportunities to be building these attention-grabbers as much as you like. Keep all five on the front burner, well-prepared, simmering, and ready to serve.

• A BEAUTIFUL SOUND

• CLEAR AND CORRECT ARTICULATION

• PERFECT RHYTHM

• GREAT INTONATION

• DIRECTION OF THE PHRASE
  

Audition committees are looking for these, so pay attention and don't disappoint. Guaranteed - if you impress listeners with each of these, your job hunt is over.

Charles Saenz at CCM

Pictured are Trumpet Professor Charles Saenz and pianist/accompanist extraordinaire Solungga Fang-Tzu Lui, both from THE Bowling Green State University in Ohio. They visited CCM last week for a master class and recital. What a perfect kick start for the fall quarter on the very first week of classes! Beautiful playing and first rate coaching.

Charles plays with confidence, accuracy and wonderful musicianship. What a treat to sit and listen. Mr. Saenz's program began with Shchedrin's In the Style of Albeniz played with perfect agility and character. Their performance made you think "seductive subtlety". Wouldn't be surprised to see this work programed on a number of this year's recitals. It's a fun piece with nifty challenges.

Torelli's Sonata G1 in D major was next without the customary piccolo trumpet tuning difficulties!! It was gracefully played and nicely controlled. Trills and details had clarity, and phrasings were graceful.

Martinu's Sonatine was next. This work is not on many top 10 lists to my knowledge, but definitely worth studying and performing, especially for those looking for some interesting non-standard rep. This Sonatine definitely merits a closer look.

Mr. Saenz continued with the Karl Pilss Sonata. His approach which focused on refinement and style made this work more appealing and worth putting on the front practice burner. He demonstrated a nice flow over those rough angular lines. It sounded well sung.

Ravel's Habanera concluded the recital. This little piece likewise seems to be getting more fame of late. It's a nice classy filler for a recital, but not as easy as it may first appear. Great recital program and performance!

Things learned and general bullet points taken from the master class in no particular order:

• Breathe bigger and in time.

• Be bold.

• Begin phrases well.
  

• Control vibrato.

• Intensity should match the musical line.

• There can be a slight space between quarter notes for energy and clarity. Be able to use variety of articulations by design, not convenience.
  

• Chains of sixteenth notes need direction.

• All lines must have purpose.

• Problem spots are usually preceded by a lack of total control just ahead of a danger zone. Be secure before the scary moments come upon you.
  

• Legato matters. Smooth and well shaped lines are impressive.

• Play listening games. Pick an issue and listen for it. For example: Monday - starts day; Tuesday - releases day; Wednesday - dynamics day; Thursday - shape, phrasing and intensity day; Friday - accuracy day. Saturday - football and change of pace day; Sunday - take a break day! Be creative but be productive. Every day - keep it fun and challenging.
  

An Event Like None Other

Welcome to new and returning CCM trumpet students! One might expect some stress-free social or any instrument-free event to ease the transition from beach to books, and from travel to toil. But no, your unglamorous first assignment even before day one? Take an audition. The sheer shock of it! Congratulations to all of you for shaking off summer and tackling Berlioz, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, de Falla, as well as your solo/etude of choice. Some thoughts on days like this:

An audition can be like having to swallow bitter medicine. Or, like being rudely searched at airport security, or being forced to endure a root canal without Novocain, or being required to play the Buckeyes with no helmets on. If not a physical pummeling, audition-playing can definitely be a mental one. The contest can be embarrassing, humiliating, and even discouraging. That's the bad truth.

The good truth is that we must admit that auditions are perhaps the best learning experience available. Learning to get through the negative emotions is a large part of the challenge. In about ten minutes you just showed yourself exactly where you need improvement. You are forced to confront reality straight in the mirror. If we want to like what we see (and what we hear), adjustments must be made. Auditions hand us our agenda for specific practice. The best part of the day should be your assessment of your performance, your very own sheet of will-dos.

One more important item: mastery of the instrument is our goal of course, but our motivation is not just technical ability. Musical expression, drama, energy, style, and story-telling will go a lot further in sustaining your interest than just checklists of technical details. The former approach helps tremendously with nerves. Your mission is more about the musical message than it is about trying to reach note perfection. Effectively communicating music to the committee and the audience is what this business is about. In fact, how about less "business" and more artistry?

The Auditions: an event like none other.

Dumpster Day!

This is a great time to rent one of those enormous Rumpke dumpsters! Let's call it the Trumpke dumpster. Haul it right up to your practice room door and load it up. In goes junk, garbage and all manner of notes, chipped, cracked, dropped, bumped, banged, flattened, roughed up, broken and smashed. Totally clean out that practice area. From now on it's each note in its place. No clutter, no junk.

You have too few notes to waste, if any. Your daily notes should be destined for eager ears, not the garbage heap. Before sending out your huge quantity of daily notes, consider where they will end up, land fill, or pay dirt! This can be a very fun project each day. You'll be playing less, and listeners (including you) will be enjoying it more.

The Loudest AND the Best!

Know what? Almost nobody in school plays loud enough! Good is nice, but good and loud is more impressive and memorable. Judicious and generous jolts of power win fame, money and applause. You must be able to play full out on a moment's notice yet be able to segue into a gorgeous pianissimo. Can you do it? Are you practicing for it?

Playing soft enough is the usual goal which none of us ever feel we have reached. But let's not focus so much on the soft dynamics that we forsake the ability to totally fill the hall with savage, fearless, amazing, shocking, voluptuous trumpet playing!!! Almost every major symphonic work calls for you to meet that demand. Are you preparing?

Where is that CCM player this year? Anyone ready? Warning: If it's going to be loud, it had better be very good and well controlled. Caution: You are entering the no-split zone. The mistakes stop here!

Running in Your Own Lane

"Look at that runner! No way I'm ever going to catch up! I'm not even close. But hey, look how far ahead I am of the runner at the back of the pack." Comparing with others breeds pride and inferiority, and is a distraction from our game plan. Just run.

Looking sideways or behind isn't the best strategy in running your race. Sure, learn from and be motivated by others, but avoid the trap of evaluating your worth by comparing with others. Your most difficult challenges will be with yourself, so don't be worrying about the next guy's strengths and weaknesses. We've got enough stress as it is. Run well in your own lane. Be consistent and diligent. Put on blinders and just go.

Darts, anyone?

Which best typifies your playing, a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, or Darts? Do you tend to stab blindly in the dark when you play, or are you working on the skill of directing each note to its target? Thankfully trumpeters, like dart players, don't wear blindfolds, so there is hope.

Too often instead of a poised, focused approach on the trumpet, we hurriedly grab a few sips of air and then proceed to lunge viciously in the general vicinity of the notes, hoping to fasten them to some target. Valiant attempts? Yes. Bulls-eyes? Not likely.

Here's the game: Your air stream must simply meet the phrase head on, and remain focused for each note. So, take a good appraisal of the phrase, breathe accordingly, and release your air directly onto its targets, not above or below. If the notes were candles, you want lights out with one breath. It's probably not going to happen with a blindfold on. If you're still thinking pinata, you're in the wrong game.

You want to impress your listeners, observers, and yourself with your accuracy and control. Again, your air must meet and support all of the notes. We're not talking over-thinking each entrance or analyzing ourselves into paralysis, just putting enough air on the notes, period.

As you prepare to toss that dart towards the center of your dartboard, observe your natural instincts, and do likewise when you have horn in hand. An unfriendly game of darts anyone?

Using Swan Air

Every brass player knows instinctively all about Shotgun, Fireworks and Spitfire style air techniques. Those are what we are famous for. But few have perfected the delicate skill of Swan Air. This breathing technique is needed big time in every audition, every slow movement solo, and for keeping day jobs. We're talking very slow and steady air movement. You are to exemplify the graceful, gliding swan. Ducky Duddle splashing and splattering won't get it done.

Want another picture? Consider a single burning candle. Now blow carefully at it without extinguishing the flame. It must flicker steadily for as long as you can keep it moving. Prize for the longest flickering. Can you do 15 seconds? The longer the better, but it has to be steady. No jerks allowed.

After mastering this very therapeutic and relaxing exhale exercise, you are good and ready for those deadly pianissimo excerpts: Schumann 2, Academic, Mahler 3 chorale, etc. Remember: very deep inhale followed by your very slow release. Swim gracefully and don't make waves.

Case Closed!

Due to the summertime heat advisory, all CCM trumpet cases should look like this until further notice. No practicing permitted. Don't even think about it. Case closed!!

Roller Coastering

"Step right up. You're next. Take your seat, please fasten your seat belt. Here we go. Hold on!"

You know what to expect. Fright happens on rides. That's part of the deal. Scary goes with the territory. Oh that the ups and downs of trumpet playing could be as much fun as a roller coaster ride, but that depends upon your perspective. The key is knowing what to expect and learning from your experiences.

Ever notice how much more traumatic that very first ride on the racer is? The next one is much easier as you learn to manage the bumps rather than just survive. If you quit at first fright, you never get to enjoy. Hey, next time, hands up, no fear!

Downward plummets happen in life too. Failures, coming in second, third, or not at all, is part of the adventure. Remember that today's winners were yesterdays losers. The wise losers hang around long enough to win the next time. Precious lessons are ready for the taking for those who look to ride again. Don't go home. Get back in line.

Stop Already!

"Stop or you'll blow your brains out, or worse yet, your chops!" Woodwind players can always buy more reeds, but brass players can't buy a new box of lips. Easy does it with those non-stop workouts.

You've certainly got a metronome, tuner, and maybe even a decibel meter in the practice room, but how about a timer? You need something that regularly signals that it's time to rest and come up for air. The chops need a break and some fresh blood circulation. Muscles are strengthened by resting as well as by exertion.

Mandatory resting might seem like advice for wimps. Hence, you rarely see a timer in a trumpet player's bag of goods. For us obsessive/compulsive types some sort of stopping device should be a must-have.

Andre is reported to practice many times a day in brief sessions. Vacchiano advised us to put the horn down while the embouchure still feels good. Strategic resting preserves chops while impatient blasting tends to destroy them quickly. Try practicing a little a lot rather than a lot a little.

When Soft Speaks Loudly

Keep this picture in mind as you practice this week. You do not want to be constantly seeing the maestro's shushing gesture or the palm of his left hand. His "softer, trumpets!" indications are not always this kind and gentle. You can keep him off your case and out of your face with a simple strategy.

Your strategy: a daily generous dose of playing softly! Warning: side effects may include lack of breathing and/or boring playing. If so, take a breath and sing normally. Low decibel work should not mean loss of support or interest. The softer you play, the more you must sustain air and line. The goal is not just being quiet, but playing quiet beautifully.

Develop the skill of controlling a quiet product. Train yourself to be comfortable in pianissimo dynamics.The benefits for you are confidence and favor with audition committees. The soft excerpts are often the deal-breakers in finals. Many wield the big stick, but few can also speak softly.

Enough Money in the Bank?

Your audition is in two days! Ready or not, you're off to the airport. You leave home allowing plenty of extra time only to learn that your travel agenda is going to be adjusted slightly. Your road to the audition/competition will now include all of the following unplanned obstacles:

1. Due to late departure, you will not be able to make your connecting flight in Chicago.
2. Your checked baggage will not be accompanying you.
3. You will be stranded at O'Hare as all remaining flights are now canceled/delayed due to severe weather.
4. You must search for a hotel for the night.
5. Precious funds are evaporating.
6. Congratulations. You're about to be sleepless in Chicago.
7. Jet lag is starting to kick in and you still have one more time zone to go.
8. Junk food normally avoided for auditions is becoming your only option for survival.
9. You're sensing a strong urge to bail. Why bother?
10. Once having landed in Cincinnati, you still have a two hour drive to Louisville!
11. More than a day later you finally arrive at the audition site with less than an hour to warm up!

Is this not the worst audition nightmare scenario imaginable? Probably, but consider this: by the end of the day, this competitor advanced to semis, then finals, and then won third prize in a nationwide guitar competition. Just think if there were no obstacles. He might have won the whole thing, you say, or he might not have even placed at all. Sometimes obstacles keep us from being too consumed, but that is another topic.

The point: He survived heroically because he had enough money in the bank. His reserve was still in tact regardless of the externals. A smaller account might have been overdrawn by any of the above distractions. You can usually plan on one or more of these audition scenarios to present themselves. You will have no control over any of these, but you can protect your musical treasure from robbery. If your message has been properly prepared, it will survive!

Tornadoes Zero. Jeremy Collins Won!!!

Off the Charts Loud!

Committee Comment:
"That was the loudest and most electrifying trumpet-playing we have ever heard! It was never forced or out of control. We must hire this person!"

Unbelievable Playing!

The Winner played
EXTREMELY SOFT
and BEAUTIFULLY

We Have a Winner!

Plays with:

RHYTHMIC FIRE &
AMAZING BEAUTY

'Tisn't the Season

"What, me work?!" That's the mindset that tends to accompany these warm weather months. Oh to have a conservatory in Iceland where the grass is browner, the snow is deeper, and the outdoor distractions aren't!

Productive practice should be unaffected by weather, moods, or environment. We function well when we can put aside the many external and internal issues that discourage daily work. Consider yourself a year-round practice robot who consistently does what is needed regardless of obstacles.

It would help if we were as dumb as the trumpet! (No comments needed). The trumpet scolds us: "Would you please just play without all of the drama! Blow, slur and tongue. How hard is that?"

Of course this is ideal and not real. A variety of interferences are daily in attack mode and seek to prevent us from performing our basic chores. It is encouraging to remind ourselves that basic maintenance is not dependent on feeling like it. Quality playing can still happen even when you're uninspired, tired, angry, depressed, or distracted. Consider each of these intrusions to be perfect training for life on the job. Conquer them now, or they will conquer you later.

Music Sets Your Agenda

Connecting practice to performance is the challenge. Knowing how to make very nice use of the precious time we have so as to yield great shows, that is the task! Some learn this early, some late, and most never get it. (I think I fell somewhere in the latter two groups.) Don't you love it when you see and hear someone who has grasped how to practice and play? Look around. They exist. Observe, listen and learn.

I doubt there are very many players who have not had to be painstaking learners of practice discipline. The naturals still need training and maturity, so be encouraged. They were where you are, but they have moved on.

The "never get it" group spins their wheels at great speeds while all the time basically stuck in the same ditch. They sometimes experience bursts of inspiration, but only to be followed by fits of frustration. Zeal-mustering eventually looses the battle. Hate when that happens, but learn from it.

Learning to organize your work comes after trial and error. In that sense, error can be a great teacher! Failings can be our greatest wake up call. Congratulations, you have just given yourself your personalized practice agenda! As a colleague once commented, "it should be obvious what to practice next."

Let the demands of the music set your practice agenda. Take Ravel's Piano Concerto in G for instance. What's needed? A thousand repetitions, maybe two thousand? No. You'll soon loathe the piece. How about first practicing clean single, double and triple tongue patterns on shortish Clarke-like etudes? Start with diatonic patterns and proceed to include gradually greater jumps. Be able to bust in with dead on accuracy. Don't play a lot sloppy. Play a little cleanly. Daily work is not as good as daily wise work. Pretend the greats are watching and listening as you are slugging away. Will they be impressed with your approach, or will they shake their heads and proceed to the next person?

Consider the Brahms Academic Festival Overture. We don't need loud bursts of bumps and bangs. Obviously required are smooth soft lines, in tune with pure tone and chorale-like direction. Got it? Now practice accordingly. Use slower than needed speeds for control, softer than needed dynamics for control, and higher than needed range for extra control. Set your own strategy, and play with impressive musicianship. It's not brain surgery, but it requires some modest daily brain work.

The Trumpet Shall Sound from Handel's Messiah presents different but similar challenges. Before attempting to scale the heights, you must first master the low range. What does the audience expect? Givens are a pure sound, unobjectionable intonation, clean starts to all notes, and a sense that you are in control of 100% of your product. Begin to build that kind of comfort range and grow it gradually. Only go as high as you are satisfied with your results. The piccolo trumpet cannot be tamed instantly, but must be carefully trained over time. Beware and approach with care. (Paste that on your pic case.)

Don't shove "the music" aside until you've mastered all technique. Instead use the demands of the music to motivate you to master a wise daily strategy. You can go from teacher to teacher with hat in hand, or you can come up with your own brilliant approach to each piece. Get guidance, but you must ultimately figure out your own way.

If you are not the "thinking" and "organizing" type of player, just think of this. Your very own Great-Note-Monitor has just now been attached to your bell, and it is activated. It is recording and processing all of the notes you are playing. Will you be proud of the readout?

Hanging With the Doctor

Seen the Doctor lately? Sounds like not! If your pulse is unstable, fluctuating, erratic, you are past due for a visit. Just as we don't ignore heart irregularities, so why allow bad rhythm, unsteady tempos, rushing and dragging to threaten our musical lives? Needed badly: a steady ticker!

Prescription: one Dr. Beat. His subdividing options were not available years ago. Remember having to balance that large wooden tic-toc triangle thing on a flat surface? The beat was never perfect, always sounding slightly peg-legged. Even the nifty plastic jobs were frustrating. Drop it once, and it forever limped.

Now with a simple click you can have the perfect Dr. Beat on your case and in your face right next to your ears as loud as you can stand him! The more obnoxious the better. That way the medicine might work and the beat might stick.

Another problem with elderly metronomes was that they could easily be drowned out by exuberant brass belting. In fact, considering the high decibel level required for so much of our demands today, it might be good if someone came out with a DR. BANG! Each click would sound like an empty garbage can being pummeled by a baseball bat! Hey, put it on a dotted quarter note = 120 in 12/8 with subdivided eighth notes and enjoy!

More Spikes!

Whatever jolts you to double down on improvement, go there and go often! Spikes in your playing need to happen regularly. Life is depressing when motivation disappears. What is it that produces in you an on-fire mindset? Is it attending a brass conference, hearing a great concert, an amazing recital, or listening to Strauss, Mahler, Gabrielli? Certainly you can't walk away empty after hearing great solo playing. Whatever works, do it. Your assignment is to search out greatness and camp out there.

Nothing particularly motivating you today? Take charge. In between spikes, why don't you get to work on bolstering up those dreadful downward spikes? Bring up your low levels so that nobody ever knows you're having a bad day. Daily lighten your load of guilt by chipping away at your nemeses. Then treat yourself with some challenging musical entertainment.

There will always be spikes, but you want them to be more frequent and less deep! Your output depends upon your input. Feed yourself.