Sunday, November 21, 2010

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!"

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