Perception, Reality, and the Practice Room: Why Your Practice Routine Stinks.

Ok.....


.....so to be honest, I have no idea if your practice routine stinks or not; nor will I be able to impart some magical practice schedule to suddenly make you a virtuoso. In fact, this blog will address a certain crowd. It's a club to which I used to be a member.


To which club do I refer?


It's the 'I stink, everything's terrible, why can't I play this, everything is horrible, I'm never going to get any better club'.


I freely admit, when I returned to school to restart my music degree, I was a terror in the practice room....terror to myself that is. I grunted, signed, yelled, cussed, and....on one occasion, kicked my case across a rehearsal hall so hard that it scared several people.

What on earth did I hope to accomplish with this? What possible good was I doing myself? Unfortunately, I'll bet several of you reading this blog have acted in the past or continue to act in a similar manner. Look, let's be real here. This behavior is just plain dumb.

Banging your head against the wall only gives one a headache. It does nothing to the wall and besides, the whole 'tortured artist' thing is played out. If you're doing this because you believe that this is part of how an 'artist' should act with some misplaced passion, just stop. Seriously. Stop.


It's simple- YOU DETERMINE YOUR SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN THE PRACTICE ROOM BEFORE YOU STEP FOOT IN THE DOOR.

Is that clear enough?

If you walk in the practice room with the attitude of 'I'm never going to get that passage right' or 'This isn't going to be very good' then your best course of action is to turn around, go have your pity party somewhere, and come back when you have the right mindset.

What IS the right mindset?

Gee, I'm glad you asked, loyal reader.  The right mindset involves a combination of science lab and child's playtime.

HUH?!

Ok, let me fill the gaps in that statement. Remember being a kid and playing. Let's say you were swimming. Child you decides "I'm going to swim from this point to that point underwater. Ohhhh, I didn't quite make it. Let me try to take a bigger breath and push off harder with my legs! YAY!!! I made it!"

What we often did as kids when we were playing was, in a zero pressure environment, figure out how stuff worked and, just as importantly, what doesn't work. We just need to transfer that mindset to the practice room.

"So you mentioned something about a science lab?"

Oh yeah, thanks again loyal reader. Here's what I mean about the science lab. What you were doing when 'figuring stuff out' as a kid was simply a rudimentary form of experimentation. What do the folks in science labs do? Exactly. Here's why I mentioned both-

You take the child like curiosity and enthusiasm and add the documentation of scientific experimentation. Write things down. What works? What doesn't? How did something feel? Most importantly, though, make practice into playtime. "Ok, I hit that low C at piano...I wonder if I tweaked my airstream this way if I could play it at pianissimo?" Make it a fun activity....BECAUSE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ONE!


"Well what happens when nothing is working?"

There are those days, huh? You're tired, you can't focus, or things just aren't coming together for some reason. There are a few options. 1: Put that activity aside and work on something else. Hit it again when your mind is fresh. 2: Go get some water and walk around for a few minutes to reset your brain a bit. 3: If it's a REALLY bad day, pack up your instrument and walk away. Explain why to your teacher, if need be, and assure them that you're hitting it again later (and then actually do!).


All fields of study have frustrations. You should absolutely try to limit yours. What we do is a joyous thing. We are part of a long and very prestigious tradition. Have fun. Explore. Figure things out!


Ok, so the next part here has nothing to do with the previous subject. Full disclosure, I'm making a small change to the blog and becoming an Amazon Affiliate. What does this mean to you? Not a darned thing, really. There will be an Amazon Banner on the blog from now on and if I mention a product that's on Amazon, I'll link to their site. This does NOT mean I'm simply going to put products on the blog to make money. However, if I'm talking about reeds, music, etc and Amazon happens to carry them, I'll make a few bucks if someone clicks on the link and buys them. Otherwise, please continue to read and comment. It won't cost you a thing.

The Curious Case of Mozart's Magic Beans

What a beautiful time of the year in sunny Las Vegas!

    I'm discovering more and more how fortunate I am to be here and working on my masters degree. More than that, I'm fortunate to be studying (as are you) at a time when there are so many opportunities to share information and discuss ideas. One such idea has presented itself several times recently and I thought I'd share it. It's an old idea which, like good ideas do, gets recycled from time to time.
 

    It's the concept of Mozart's Magic Beans.


  This is a concept that was first presented to me a few years ago by my major undergrad professor, Dr. Doug Owens. It popped back up this week in an article published by Sean Hurlburt on his Saxophone Performance website. Finally, Mark McArthur (my current professor) detailed it in UNLV's saxophone studio class at the end of the week during a discussion on effective practice techniques.

  Ok, so it's being talked about and now you're asking...'Great, what are Mozart's Magic Beans?!'


  Look, one of the legends of Mozart is that he somehow popped out of the womb as a virtuoso performer and composer. While it's true that the guy was almost laughably talented, legend and hyperbole do tend to often go hand in hand. The truth is often a little different.
  The truth is, Mozart's dad was a very accomplished and skilled musician as well. He was the his son's earliest mentor and as most celeb dads seem to be, was extra hard on junior (obviously, it worked but also tended to make ole Wolfgang a bit nutty). One of the technique used by Daddy Mozart involved beans......


Mozart's dad would give Jr ten beans and have him place the beans in his left pocket. He would then play a passage, scale, whatever. Every time he played it without flaw, he'd move a bean to his right pocket. The goal was that he would eventually play the passage flawlessly ten times in a row and have all the beans in his right pocket. If he played it less than flawlessly, he would have to move all the beans back to his left pocket and start over.


Tough, huh?


I tried this tonight using pennies. My goal? Play a C major scale in thirds in sixteenth notce at quarter note equals 80bpm ; articulated. Do you know how many pennies I moved? Do you want to know my record?

FOUR!!!!!!

It could have been worse! I could have had a tuner playing the Tonic as a drone and I would have had intonation staring me in the face too.

Let me offer this caveat. I'm no virtuoso but I can play. I have a degree in this and was good enough to have interest from several graduate programs.

Why, then, was my record less than half the goal?

The rule, per Mr. Mozart- FLAWLESS.

You see, there were no instances when I simply couldn't play the scale. What went wrong was an inaccurate articulation...or slight misfire on palm keys...or running out of air at the end......thus the difference between playing something and playing it flawlessly.


So what do I think about this technique?

I believe the technique can be very effective but has two distinct dangers-


1: You MUST be honest with yourself about what's happening (recording yourself might be helpful here). It's easy to rationalize and say 'close enough'. That isn't the goal. The goal here, to steal a sports addage, is 'nothing but net' or it doesn't count.
2: It would become very easy to turn this into a negative experience and start beating oneself up over not being able to get to ten (or even four, five, or six). One must keep this as a growth experience. If , for instance, your're working on a passage from a Bach Cello Suite and you work your way up to the point where you are playing it five times in a row, flawlessly....well, you've improved as a musician and gained valuable technique on your instrument, have you not? Yes, the goal remains ten. HOWEVER, the more important goal here is GROWTH. If you got three in a row last time and four in a row this time....you're getting better!

Give it a try!

Drop the Tylenol- Headache Prevention for Music Students and Musicians.

Wow,

 Sorry folks, it's been way too long since I penned one of these (Penned? It's a computer, genius!). School gets busy. That said, I had some observations about things which can make your experience in school......and life....much better. If you read one of the comments and get insulted, well, good. You probably need to be.

Ok, let's start with some simple stuff....

• The brand of instrument is less important than how it's set up and maintained. Musical instruments by and large have moving parts which can wear down and get out of adjustment. They do need to be properly maintained by a QUALIFIED technician; one who hopefully isn't in a 'big box' music store and expected to 'repair' 200 instruments per week. Find a good one. Ask around. Who do professionals in the area use? Develop a rapport with the technician and ask questions. They need to know what you're looking for and can better explain things to you if they have more information.
• If you buy a brand spanking new instrument, take it to a tech to get it properly 'set up'. I guarantee that even the best brand/model of your instrument could use a final tweak or two. Some need much more. Even if it was well set up at the factory, it was shipped, loaded, unloaded, packed, unpacked...in short, knocked around a bit. 
• Read the above and know that the difference can be night and day and actually clean up problems in your playing.
• Make sure you have supplies to keep the instrument clean and dry when not in use. It will save you thousands over your life time....if you use them regularly....
• If you're a woodwind player, no, two or three reeds isn't enough. Keep a box or two around. I know they're expensive. You picked the field.
• Have your mouthpiece checked out to make sure it's in good shape. You'd be surprised. It can make a HUGE difference.
• Similarly, have someone look at your instrument's barrel, lead pipe, neck, or bocal. Those can also make a huge difference.
• If you are on a student instrument and that's all you can afford, then rock it. Make sure it's in good working condition and make the most of it. 

Ok, Life Lesson Time:

• There is a difference between confidence and arrogance. As musicians, we NEED confidence. As musicians, arrogance will usually find you in the unemployment line. You might be really good. However, unless your name is Heifitz or Yo Yo Ma, there is likely someone better. Tone down that ego so you can learn something.
• If you're the best player in the room, you're in the wrong room.
• I said this in my 'Rules for Music Majors' post but once you step foot on a college campus, your accomplishments in high school mean exactly JACK.
• 'Once you reach the top of one level, you find yourself at the bottom of the next' - Janos Starker
• Show up on time and ready to play.
• Let people know that you want the gig and then SHOW THEM that you want the gig.
• No, you aren't 'too good' to be at whatever school you attend. 
• Practice rooms have the same use at Eastman and a community college. 
• Hard work is more important than raw talent.
• Hard work and a great attitude absolutely crush raw talent. 
• Chair placements are often not due simply to playing ability but needs in the ensemble. If, for example, you're auditioning for your school's ensemble for the principal trombone chair but everyone knows you are a KILLER bass trombonist, guess where you're likely to end up?
• Don't be a jerk. Everyone knows everyone now. If you act like an arrogant jackass in your department, good luck with grad school or jobs. 
• Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and reach out to teachers and professionals all over the world. You'll be surprised what good can come of it. 
• Just because you aren't the one playing in studio class or a masterclass doesn't mean you can't learn something. Less mouth, more ears.
• Help others in your studio, even if they're competition. It helps you in the long run.
• Be the person people want to succeed.

A Few Rules for Music Majors

Man, summer always flies by.....


 I'm in the last few days of Interlochen Arts Camp and then it's home and time for my second semester of graduate study. Watching what goes on here, surrounded by some of the best young artists, instructors, and conductors in the world, I can't help but notice things and how they relate to my undergraduate colleagues around the country. Hence, I compiled a few thoughts.

• Even if you are going to be conducting a band or working with elementary/middle school students, you should have a STRONG working knowledge of orchestral lit. I mean lit actually performed by an orchestra; not the band arrangement and certainly not whatever drum corps adapted it into a field show. This isn't to bash bands or drum corps. You just need to experience the piece as it was originally intended to be played. That way you understand how it's supposed to sound if you choose to program an adaptation down the road. Besides, listening to orchestral recordings likely means that you're hearing YOUR chosen instrument being played at a high level. More about that in a moment.
• You need to know (be aware of) a ton of solo lit for not only your instrument but a strong working knowledge of major works for other instruments. Your students need to listen to masters perform on their instrument. You need to tell, for example, a clarinetist about Marcellus performing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra. Ask your classmates. Ask professors. What's been written? 
• On that same vein, what's on YOUR playlist? You need to know every big time player on your instrument going back several decades. Moreover, you need to know at least 1-2 heavyweights on every instrument. Listen to masters on everything so you'll have a working knowledge of what GOOD is. 
• (This is also not a bash against drum corps)- If you are a junior or senior in college and the majority of your listening is drum corps, you are doing yourself and your future students a disservice. I'm not saying don't listen. I'm saying Santa Clara Vanguard performing Scheherazade should prompt you to listen to, say, the Vienna Philharmonic performing the work. If you can name the show the Blue Devils played in 2013 but can't list ten major recordings on your instrument, you're simply doing it wrong. 
• Your professors do know more than you. They might not be right 100% of the time but yes, they are trying to make you better and unless you are finishing a DMA and are a total virtuoso, they are likely much better than you at the instrument. You might disagree with what they say but try it out before you simply dismiss it.
• You sometimes have to do things which you find to be a waste of time. Welcome to life. 
• Don't be afraid to say 'no'. You are there to improve and be a student. If professors/administrators are constantly hounding you to recruit, work events, or do things which are taking away from practice or study, 'no' is a perfectly acceptable answer. Be a team player but not to your own detriment. 
• If you are a music ed major and say 'I don't have to get that good at my instrument. I'm just going to be a band director.' then you are doing it wrong. No, you don't have to reach anywhere near a virtuosic level on your instrument to teach others. You do, however, have to TRY. How can you understand your students' struggle unless you go through it? How can you expect your students to work when you refuse to? No, an hour a week before lessons isn't enough. You have to put in lots of work on your instrument. It helps your ear. It helps your theory skills. It helps your musicality. It's why you are there. Suck it up, buttercup.

Feel free to add your thoughts.

Seeing the Forest for the Trees- A Look at the Big Picture.

So I really dislike my playing right now and you know what?


I'm totally ok with that.


  You see, as I went through my first semester of graduate school, my professor worked to change and streamline a lot of things about my playing. This put me in a position where I was having to relearn how to do a lot of things. In many ways, I was having to take a few steps back to correct subtle but very bad habits and help push me through to the next level.
  I've spent the past few years trying to break through the proverbial wall to no avail. I'd made strides, the wall has divots, cracks, and holes, but it still stands. This is why I dislike my playing right now.

  Ultimately, when it takes a long time to break down that proverbial wall the aspiring musician has to spend a great deal of time staring at a really ugly, cracked, dented, beaten up wall; wondering how to finally break through.


So, how do we do that?


  First things first, you have to believe in yourself and your ability. You do have the ability to improve your skill on whatever instrument you play and your ceiling is likely far higher than you believe. This is a rite of passage that all musicians must endure; usually several times in their life....several, dozens, hundreds, THOUSANDS. There are world class players who still sit with their metronome and pencil on their stand saying 'Why can't I freaking get that passage?!'.

   When you love something enough to fully commit to it you are going to be frustrated by it constantly.  We all set impossible standards for ourselves and are still shocked when we can't ever seem...to....quite...dang...almost...no....DANG....get....no....WHY WHY WHY?!?!?!? Believing in yourself allows you to do this but still step back and say 'Ok, I didn't quite get it today but I will tomorrow!'. If you don't believe in yourself, learn how. Find books on self confidence. Work with people who might be able help. You HAVE TO believe in yourself to succeed in this.


   Second, you have to trust in your teacher. If you don't, you need to figure out the disconnect or find one you do trust. If you don't believe they can really help you, then why are you there?

   Lastly, you must keep faith in the fact that the wall will come down. Keep steady consistent work in the fundamentals of your instrument. If you aren't performing scales, long tones, articulation work, etc every day then you are doing yourself a disservice. Get some studies on rhythm and work the heck out of them (I like Robert Starer's Rhythmic Training). Get music theory texts and work that. Most importantly, work to recognize 'holes' in your technique and work diligently to shore them up. What's holding you back? Is it air? Your tongue? Fingers? Is there a hitch in your technique in certain ranges? Identify those 'holes' and spend a little extra time focusing on them. As an example, one of the holes in my technique is a deficiency getting around the palm keys. As such, I'm going to spend a few weeks working major and minor (harmonic and melodic) scales, scales in 3rds, and scales in 4ths, just going into, through, and out of the palm keys.


So, why am I ok with disliking my playing right now? Simple, I have a plan and know that if I persist, the wall will come down eventually and I'll be one step closer to virtuosity. The only thing standing in between me and the literature I truly want to play is.....me. With that knowledge, I can make it work.


Believe in yourself.
Get to work.
Blast through walls!

The Comparison Game- What Should Your Standard Be?

It's Institute Week at Interlochen Arts Camp!

  The cool thing about Institute Week is that the normal totally world class faculty is joined by some true heavy hitters. When I say heavy hitters I mean flautists like Paula Robison, clarinetists like David Gould, and the entire Prism sax quartet. These are folks who are absolutely at the tops of their field which leads me to my point...

 How fair is it to compare yourself to them?

  I'm not going to go on a diatribe about how young or learning musicians and music students shouldn't compare themselves to the top folks in the craft. Yes, in a perfect world it would be true but one cannot point to these folks and say 'listen to and study their playing as the best examples of the instrument played at the highest level' and not expect some comparison. That would defy human nature. We are going to compare ourselves to others; especially those further down the path than us. Here's where things get tricky, though.

  Yes, for many of us, the end game is to reach that level. We want to be the Heifitz or Jessye Norman of our instrument or voice. I know it is for me. This dream of, desire to...near desparation to reach that level is what drives folks like me. However, it can also be destructive. It gets you caught up in the comparison game, where you compare yourself to every other person who picks up the same instrument; including the true masters. This can be very dangerous.

  You see, most of the time, when you hear someone play, it's only for a few moments and largely equates to a 'snap shot' of their playing. Moreover, the mindset I described often tends to cause our brain to interpret the other person's playing as much cleaner and refined than it actually is. Lastly, what jumps into our ears is anything that person does well where we might struggle. We often ignore the aspects of our own playing which might exceed theirs (and remember that a great deal of this is totally subjective).

  More dangerous to our mindset is the obsessive and unrealistic comparison with the big name artists.  As I said, some comparison is bound happen. However, I have friends who shut down completely because they cannot play a phrase as well as 'Virtuoso Artist A'. I get it, I really do. It's no fun when you hear a master take a phrase with which you're struggling and make it sound totally easy. There are some things you must remember, though...

• You have no idea how long it took them to learn the phrase
• They are further, often much further, down the path than you are. 
• They are more experienced. That does not mean more talented. It means they've taken more time and put in more work. In fact, they may have LESS overall talent than you. You don't know what their talent level is compared to yours and don't ASSUME they simply have that you don't have. 
• The fact that they're great, elite, musicians doesn't mean you're a crappy one. Believe in your own abilities as they stand; not as comparison to the elite of your field. 

  It sounds cliche but the person you should use to draw the most comparison is 'past you'. How do you sound compared to yesterday, last week? How many metronome markings have you been able to progress the tempo that phrase in the past week. 2 clicks? 20? Either is progress. Either shows you're improving. How's your sound compared to last year? Are you generally more in tune? How about rhythmic accuracy? Is your precision improving? The goal is continued improvement; day in and day out...even if you cannot see it from day to day.

  If you consistently try to ask and answer those questions you'll improve a LOT over the next year, and the year after that. Try to compare yourself to who you were last week, month, year. I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results. You're likely better than last week, even better than last month, and loads better than last year.

Listen to others

Focus on yourself and the path you must take

Celebrate victories! 

Get to work!

The Dangers of Hero Worship- The Search for My Sound.

Greetings from the soon to be 90th season of the Interlochen Arts Camp!

  The great thing about having a blog like this is that when I have a thought, I can quantify it not only to myself but share it with others who might be helped by it. I had such a thought today.

  Sooooooo yeah, this one is pretty much all about me.

  I tend to listen to things repeatedly to an almost obnoxious level. If I like something, I'll just binge listen. Recently, one such recording has been a recording of Christopher Creviston performing Corelli's Sonata da Camera Opus 5 on soprano saxophone. Here it is-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EutUz3k2HRo


  Today as I listened I caught myself in the thought 'Man, I wish I sounded like Creviston on soprano.' . Now, on the surface that might sound harmless and for a young student I have no huge problem with it. However, for someone with years of playing under their belt and a music degree....wow....

Is that still where I am?

Do I have such little confidence that my sound is going to please people that I STILL covet the sound of those further down the path?

  You see, for years I idolized guys like Allen Rippe, James Houlik, and Donald Sinta. Everything about my sound concept was shaped on....not developing MY sound...but developing into a version of THEIR sound. Oh I did a darned good job at it. This came with big problems down the road.

  Here's the first problem- I'm not any of those guys and to get a sound which mimicked theirs, I have had to over voice and manipulate my oral cavity in some fairly unnatural ways. This has created a lot of tension in my playing and has had an adverse effect on several aspects of my technique to the point where I'm having to unlearn a lot of things before I can move to the next level.
   Second- I've tried so hard to sound like my heroes that I cannot shape my sound to match others very well. This is especially true on tenor. Early this year I sat in with my grad school's wind orchestra on tenor. I could NOT blend with the rest of the section, try as I might. This is something that will cost me jobs. Musicians must have the flexibility to blend in sections; regardless of genre.

  Ok, back to today's thought. As I was pondering hero worship and how it played out, I observed that all of the current big name professors in the sax world have pretty darned unique sounds and though they share some basic concepts with their mentors, they sound very much like themselves. Tim McAllister sounds like Tim McAllister even though he studied with Don Sinta for a long time; same for Allen Rippe and Chris Creviston. Stephen Page and Otis Murphy sound like themselves even though each spent time with Rousseau. Here's the difference. Where I said "I want to sound like THIS guy!", they said "I want this guy to help me sound like a better me!"

  So, what to do? Well, I will hear saxophones this summer due to where I am. When the Prism Quartet performs 150 yards from your bed, you go, period. However, I think that as far as chosen, active, make-me-better listening, I am going to listen to master's of other instruments. I'm sure Perlman, Heifitz, Rampal, and others can teach me plenty.

   Meanwhile, I'll go back to learning to sound like me and be the best ME I can be.