A Trumpet Lesson with Professor Mahler

Professor: Come on in, you're next!  

Student: Hi, Professor Mahler.

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

Student: What kind of stuff, Professor Mahler? 

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


PROFESSOR MAHLER'S TRUMPET STUFF:

• soft as possible

• loud as possible

• lyric sweetness not expected of trumpet players

• long fluid chorales in all registers

• gnarly fanfares, fast and slow, soft and loud

• sudden rude pokes and jabs

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

• high note diminuendos to nothing

• the mother of all offstage solos!

• shocking and unexpected entrances

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

• highest note, lowest note

• the longest note ever

• very quiet triplets on a low C sharp

• offstage screech part

• transposition always required 

• complete accuracy always expected

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

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

The Makings of a Great Student, Part 2

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

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

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

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

The Makings of a Great Student, Part 1

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

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

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

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

Glory and Grit

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

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

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

• Don't practice like a student. 

• Pretend someone important is listening.

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

• Dig slowly and carefully on the hard stuff.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another frenzied practice session?

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

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

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

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

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

Escaping the Cubicle!

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

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

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

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

Hot Air Needed

One Word Lessons

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


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

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

Posted Reminders

Posted one-sentence lesson notes for us dummies:

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

Brilliance in Brevity

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

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

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

• "Don't play like a student!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Standing Around to Stay in Shape

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

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

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

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

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

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

Entrance Awareness Month

Entrance Awareness Month

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

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

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

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

Three Amigos

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

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

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

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

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

Don't listen!

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

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

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

 

Just Singin'

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

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

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

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

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

The Attention-Grabber

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

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

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

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

Powerfully Persuasive!

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

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

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

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

Where's the Hulk?

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

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

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

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

Giving Lip Service

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever is happening right behind your mouthpiece matters! 

A One-Track Mind

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

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

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

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

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