Thoughts from the Desk of Ye Olde Music Major

• For wind players- Your sound is your voice, and your interpretation is what you have to say. Make both as profound as you possibly can.
• Every note you play is important and should be played with as beautiful of a sound as you can muster. I don't care if you are playing a scale. You should strive to make every note of that scale the most beautiful thing you've ever played, period.
• Your technique should be refined to the point that it doesn't a: get in the way of your sound and b: prevent you from saying what you want to say. This is a lifelong journey and we all struggle with it.
• If you become angry or frustrated with yourself during a practice session, walk away. Banging your head against the wall only hurts your head.
• Scales aren't the thing. They are the thing that gets you to the thing.
• Long tones/overtones- see above. 
• Fundamentals never stop being cool.
• Very few people can practice for 3-4 hours straight and actually be productive. Take breaks. Let your fingers, mouth, and brain recover.
• Being a musician is a physical activity. The better shape you're in the easier it becomes.
• Stage fright is normal.
• Taking the above into account, if you are too scared to play your instrument in front of people how on earth do you expect to pick up a baton and conduct 50-60 people in front of an audience?
• Love what you do.

The End Game- Your Most Important Responsibilities as a Music Teacher.

     Looking at this, my second trip down the lane as a music major and I can easily tell you the biggest difference between this time and last. Maturity is a big part of it but ultimately the biggest difference between 40 something me and 20 something me is PERSPECTIVE. I process what my teachers say a lot differently than I did in 1990. What I enjoy is when my major professor and I get to 'talk shop' and look at how we arrive at the big picture. We had such a conversation this morning.
       This is a really busy semester and we're nearing the busiest point in that semester for much of our music department. This morning, my professor was talking about his own practicing and how he was having a difficult time currently getting more than a few minutes a day worth of practice time because of all of the extra things going on. His statement made me continue down the path of a thought I'd already formed........

- One of the problems with teachers is that they are humans and humans each have their own agenda. It may be subconscious but it exists. As such, every teacher has their pet projects and have the mindset of 'Oh, this won't inconvenience folks too much!'. The problem is that when every teacher in a department is doing this it becomes completely overwhelming for both teachers and students. This isn't something exclusive to any grade level or department....it happens everywhere unless folks remain diligent and keep things in balance. The most important thing for any music teacher (or any teacher of any subject) to remember is the end game which is 100%....

BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDENT .

There is no ensemble, no project, no agenda that should EVER come before this. So, what does this have to do with my professor and practicing? Everything.

You see, paramount to the continued growth and development of the student is the continued growth and development of the TEACHER. You MUST continue down the path of your own growth and education as a musician (or in whatever subject you teach) to truly serve your students and ensure you can give them the best version of yourself. Schedule practice time daily. Continue with score study. Transcribe solos. Do whatever you can to be the best musician you can. You owe it to those who trust you to teach them.


No excuses.
Practice
Get Better
Go And Make Your Students Better.

No Witty Title- Common Musical Terms That Young Musicians Might Not Know.

 I hate not knowing...and normally I'm not afraid to ask...BUT..

When I returned to school in my 40s I was already scared out of my wits. Often it kept me from asking questions that made me feel dumb. The question usually would revolve around a musical term someone would throw out that I didn't know. I have no doubt that incoming freshmen go through similar things. Therefore, I thought I'd post some common musical terms and their definitions. Now, you'll know....and knowing is half the battle....G.I. JOOOEEEEEEEEE!!!! (but I digress...)


Appoggiatura-  A grace note performed the prior to the note of the melody and landing on the beat.
Cadenza- A musical term referring to a chord sequence that brings an end to a musical phrase.
Dominant- The fifth note of a scale (or the fifth chord of a key).
Enharmonic-  Two notes that differ in name but refer to the same pitch. For example, C sharp and D flat.
Giocoso- Playfully.
Hemiola- A rhythmic pattern of syncopated beats with two beats in the time of three or three beats in the time of two.
Leading Tone- The seventh tone of a scale which LEADS to the tonic.
Mediant- The third note of a scale.
Ostinato-  a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, usually at the same pitch.The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in itself.
Sempre- Always.
Senza- Without.
Subdominant- The forth note of a scale (or forth chord of a key).
Submediant- The sixth note of a scale (or sixth chord of a key).
Supertonic- The Second note of a scale.
Tutti- All together.

More terms to come!

When is Hard, Hard? When is Extended Really Extended?

Greetings from the home stretch of my pedagogy degree!

It's been a while since I've posted a new blog. Sorry about that! A senior recital and graduate school auditions temporarily took priority of my life. Now, they are successfully completed and I'm back to practicing and pondering about why we do what we do?


So....why do we do some of the things we do?

I'm actually referring to 'we' as teachers here and not as players. There are some things that I've even caught myself doing and realized that I was simply continuing a cycle of something I was taught at some point in my life. Here are a couple examples.

1: Why do we continue, as teachers, band directors, whatever, to propel the notion that one key is harder than another in reference to scales? I have students who are 100% convinced that B, C#, and F# are the devil. Why do they believe this? Why did I use to believe it? Well, it's likely they saw a bunch of ink on the page (in the form of sharps or flats) and it LOOKED harder. Understandable, right? However, that's where a teacher, at some point, failed them. Each major or minor scale is tonic, seven scale tones, and tonic again. The PERCEPTION might be that they are harder but that isn't matched by reality....except for the one we've slowly created over the years.
    A good example is Ferling's 48 Famous Studies. Anyone who has worked through that book knows full well that etude 48 is in no way more difficult than etude 1. However, because of the way the book is laid out, the student sees the C#s and F#s in the back; making them appear far more ominous than they actually are.
   The point I'm trying to make here is that we often shoot ourselves in the proverbial foot by making certain things appear harder than they really are or, at the very least, not dispelling the myth of their difficulty. Fair enough? Fundamentals should be presented as just that. Db is no more difficult, finger wise, than F. It's all perception.

2: At what point does saxophone advance (in regards to what's possible) that we stop using the term 'extended technique' for technique which is no longer really 'extended'. The world now has high school students playing literature which regularly carries them into the altissimo register and. truthfully, it's rare to find saxophone music being published today which DOESN'T have altissimo? Is this something which now needs to be presented at an earlier age? Do we not need to begin looking at voicing exercises for students much earlier in their playing careers? What about double tonging? It's common place for brass players within three years of beginning the instrument. It's less common in saxophonists but would it not be useful in not only solo lit but wind ensemble lit? The point is that perhaps it's time to reconsider hurdles to leap in the progress of a saxophone student because they just keep getting better. The bar is continually being raised as far as the skill of player at every level. In my opinion, that bar should also continually be raised in the teacher's studio, as well.


Thoughts? Comments?

No, It Isn't Going to Sound Like the Recording....and That's FINE!

I'm about four weeks out from a recital....it's about to get real!

   One of the pieces on my recital is a 'bucket list' piece for me; The Dahl Saxophone Concerto. I first heard the Dahl when I was 18. The recording is a fabulous one with Don Sinta performing with the U. Michigan Wind Ensemble. It is a classic saxophone recording and needs to be re-released. I say this with no hyperbole....I have probably listened to the recording 500 times or more in my life. It's had an impact as I hear a lot of my interpretations mimicking those done by 'The Don'. However, such familiarity with that recording has caused me some problems. I will play a phrase and think 'Crap, the recording sounded much better'. Well, of course it did!

   I need to keep two things in mind (and those of you who go through this do as well). One, Donald J. Sinta is one of the greatest saxophonists ever to pick up the instrument; regardless of genre. The man is a straight up virtuoso. Second, I have no idea how many takes were needed to put this recording together, how many times they spliced in phrases to make them cleaner, and how the recording was put together. There are no perfect performances and had I ever heard him play the thing live I bet he would have had a small gaffe or two. He's great, not perfect.
   I once heard of a famous trumpet player who put out a CD with an equally famous conductor conducting an equally famous wind ensemble. I'm not listing the name because I've never confirmed what I heard to be true. According to what I heard, the recording (which is FLAWLESS) was recorded as little as two measures at a time. Perfection comes much easier when it only needs to be perfect for two measures....just saying...

  What's the moral here? Use recordings for inspiration, interpretive ideas, and getting wonderful sounds in your ear. They shouldn't be, however, the reference for how your live performance should sound. If you treat them as such, you will ALWAYS fall short and never be happy with a great but imperfect performance. Remember that the audience doesn't have a score in front of them. Give performances that make up for imperfection with passion and inspiration. Great doesn't mean perfect.

Ok, back to practicing.

Ye Olde Music Major and the Self Fulfilling Prophecy

That's kinda cool....it sounds Harry Potterish...


   Greetings from college where I'm preparing a senior recital. Two of the pieces, the Ingolf Dahl Concerto and Youshimatsu's Fuzzy Bird Sonata both have very rapid, heavily articulated passages and the Youshimastu has slap tonging as well. This has made me cringe a bit all summer because I'm not very skilled at slap tonging and rapid articulation is an area where I could use some improvement. More on this in a minute (I had another one of my self reflective moments in my lesson this morning).

   I gave a lesson yesterday to a ninth grade student named Abigail. Abigail is one of my favorites because she has a great attitude and a rare work ethic. She works HARD. I decided that since she was going to see Ferling etudes for the next four years of our all region band auditions, I might as well get her started on the etudes. She's ready. She'll learn and grow from working on them. As I opened the book for the first time I watch her eyes get very large. I said "What's wrong?" to which she replied "So many 16th notes!". I asked her what was so bad about 16th notes and she said what most young students would say- "They're FAST!!".
   I explained to Abigail that the 16th note is a measurement of rhythm, not time. She didn't get it at first until I had her play the first two measures of Ferling #2 at 35 beats per minute. I asked her if they were still fast and she said 'well, no.'. At that tempo she (of course) had little difficulty making it through the first few systems of the etude.
   You see, there's a self fulfilling prophecy here. If we begin work on a passage thinking "Oh man, this is going to be HARD!", we'll be right....100% of the time. If we say 'Ok, let's begin slowly and work this out.', it might take a bit of time but it's so much easier than banging our heads against the proverbial wall because we believed something was hard going in.
    Back to my articulation issues- you see, it isn't just younger students who go through this. In my situation, I simply have to remind myself that there are just techniques that I haven't mastered....yet. Slow, diligent, and consistent work will correct that.

Go in to the practice room with the confidence that if you start slowly, practice in a matter that is smart and consistent and be content with the fact that progress takes time....then NOTHING is impossible.

Be Smart.
Be Confident.
Get it done.

Leggo my Ego.....the Eternal Battle to Control our Egos...

   I went to the gym tonight....for the first time in probably six months.


   This is not a big deal to many people but in a former life, I earned a degree in exercise science and was a college strength coach (true story). Now, I'm a chubby guy in my 40s back on a college campus and using a fitness facility while surrounded by 20 year old guys who have crazy things like 'metabolisms' and 'testosterone'. Sound scary? It shouldn't be, but it is. It's terrifying.
    Even when I first came back to school and was going regularly I was only doing things like heavy squats and deadlifts. I justified this by claiming to myself that I was doing 'functional' movements and wasn't playing around with 'cutesy' exercises. Of course, with my ever present self reflection I can tell you that I picked those exercises so that the young uns would see me throwing around heavy weights. It was all about EGO.


This is a struggle that we as musicians go through daily, and not for the reasons you might think.


   You see, on one end, the ego is a fabulous thing for musicians. It drives us. It is what puts us on stage even when our knees are knocking. It makes us try to learn things that we haven't done before so we can so things we haven't done before......


.......and then it gets in our way....


    You remember fundamentals? Oh yeah, those darned things.....scales, long tones, articulation studies. You're too advanced for those, right? You already learned your scales. Why bother with those?That's beginner stuff! That's for middle schoolers! That's time you could be spending learning high level literature, transcribing Dexter Gordon solos, learning to be the next Brecker, except...


Those boring old fundamentals are just too darned critical to your success to ignore. That's why Casals practiced  them into his 90s. That's why Heifitz did them. THAT.....is why they should be the basis for every single thing you do in the practice room.

Get your metronome and tuner
Get your pencil
Get your ego out of the way
Get it done