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A blog about performing music, teaching music and the business of music.
Filtering by Category: Quote
"I always wanted to play something different than the way most trumpet players played." -Miles Davis
The single most marketable commodity in the music business is originality.
Sand Beach at Acadia National Park © 2014 Andrew Hitz
"People with a low tolerance for risk, whose behavior is guided by fear, have a low propensity for success." -Keith Ferrazzi from Never Eat Alone
Whether trying to become a band director or start a new chamber ensemble, the music business, like every other business, generally rewards those who take risks. And taking risks involves getting out of your comfort zone.
Are you taking enough risks today to succeed?
The sunsetting over Sebec Lake in Maine.
© 2014 Andrew Hitz
On my Facebook page recently, I posted the following quote:
"Playing soft with the same intensity as loud is difficult to master."
-Dan Neville
I think it's a great quote that puts a spotlight on the importance of playing softly. But as usual, one of my mentors, Rex Martin, came in and put it in even better words. The comment he left on that status was priceless:
"Not particularly difficult at all, but pretty time consuming."
-Rex Martin
Reminds me of the JJ Johnson quote from one of last month's Monday YouTube Fix's about taking shortcuts when learning an instrument. Spoiler Alert: JJ couldn't find any.
"I can only draw what I see.” -Claude Monet
And we can only play what we can hear.
"The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all." -Pablo Casals
This should be the ultimate goal of any performer and one that takes years of discipline to achieve.
"You need to know what you know and you don't know and how to partner with people with different strengths." -David Cutler (The Savvy Musician)
You will never read a sentence that sums up how to proceed on any new business venture better than that one above. When starting any kind of an arts initiative, don't simply go for the most talented players, dancers, singers, or actors. Read the above sentence until you have it memorized and then go from there.
Trust me. You'll thank Dr. Cutler later if you do.
(This quote was from the fabulous 2013 Savvy Musician In Action Retreat at the University of South Carolina.)
"Self-assessment leads to action, and lacks meaning without it." -Peter Drucker
Mr. Drucker, the father of modern management, nails the essence of improving as a musician with this quote. And he was not in any way discussing music.
Without self-assessment there can be no real improvement on any task. But equally important, once you gain the knowledge that self-assessment offers, if you don't take action, you might as well have skipped the assessment in the first place.
Are there any weaknesses in your playing that you've acknowledged yet failed to take action to resolve? If so, what are you waiting for?
(Spotted by Sean Reusch)
"Be able to play a love song with and without vibrato." -Arnold Jacobs (via @JacobsQuotes)
Vibrato is one of the best tools we have at our disposal as musical storytellers, but it can frequently be either overused or predictable. As Mr. Jacobs stated above, it is very important to be able to play something like a love song without any vibrato at all.
A great exercise is to record a love song or melody with the vibrato, then without. If you have the ability to make the second version just as convincing as the first, you will have gone a long way towards conveying a clear story to your audience once you add it back into the equation.
Be sure to use vibrato as an enhancement, not as a music crutch.
(A fantastic performance a year ago by Harry Watters inspired me to write this blog post with lots of thoughts on vibrato.)
"The man who grasps an opportunity as it is paraded before him, nine times out of ten makes a success; but the man who makes his own opportunities is, barring an accident, a sure-fire success!" -Dale Carnegie
These words were uttered many decades ago and had nothing to do with the music business but could not be more true today. Most music schools are churning out graduates without teaching them how to make their own opportunities in the music business. And if you take a look around, the vast majority of people "making it" in the music business these days are the ones that are doing just that.
What have you done today in an attempt to create an opportunity for yourself?
