Confidence as a Byprodct of Preparedness

“Confidence doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a result of hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.”

—Roger Staubach

Whether an athlete or a musician, confidence is a byproduct of knowing deep down that you've done absolutely everything you could to be prepared for whatever task is in front of you. 

The Difference Between Good and Great

"The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail."

-Charles R. Swindoll 

Teaching. Conducting. Performing. Public speaking. This applies to everything we do.

Sam Pilafian on the Importance of Pushing Limits in the Practice Room

"If we over-train via the literature like method and etude books, we're going to know more than we need to know in order to be able to cover the parts that are put in front of us."

-Sam Pilafian

The above quote was taken from Sam's fantastic interview in A Band Director's Guide to Everything Tuba: A Collection of Interviews with the Experts.  It is a good reminder to us all that we have to encounter everything we'd ever need to do on stage (and then some!) in the practice room in order to be truly prepared.

The best bands perform full run throughs of pieces and entire programs when they are mentally and physically exhausted, yet hold themselves to the same high standards.  The people most prepared to win an audition have played the excerpts during their preparations in every possible order including the worst ones for their chops.

Anyone who makes performing look easy has a secret.  It is easy compared to what they made themselves do in the practice room.

Charlie Parker on Sharing Your Experiences Musically

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.

-Charlie Parker

This is why I insist that my students "have a life" separate from their horns.  You can't play a song about getting your heart broken if you've never had a broken heart.  You can't convey being scared or giddy if you've never experienced those things yourself.

If what's coming out of your bell is not your experience, your thoughts, and your wisdom, chances are you won't be compensated too much for it.

Jeff Scott on Being a Superstar

"How expressive can you be in the moment? Take that moment and be a superstar."

-Jeff Scott from Imami Winds while coaching a chamber group

This advice goes for anyone in a chamber music setting at all times, not just the melody.  The best chamber groups in the world have each member seizing every moment and being a superstar at all times.

Mingus on Creativity

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity."

-Charles Mingus

Great words to live by for any artist.

Weeding Out the Unnecessary

"All good teaching is a simplifying process, a weeding out of what is unnecessary or distracting."

— Arnold Jacobs (@JacobsQuotes) November 24, 2014

This is a good thing for me to remember in the new year.  It is hard to weed out what is unnecessary or distracting for a student when I am using a lot of words.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to say more with fewer words when I'm teaching.

The Relationship of Attention Spans and Long Notes

"People have short attention spans, Google Generation.  On the long notes I'm going to insist that you keep us with you."

-David Zerkel

Long notes are just as vital to the musical story you are trying to tell as the short ones.  There is a way to play long notes such that not only your audience but also the people playing along with you know exactly where you are headed musically, where you are coming from musically, and exactly when that note is going to end.

Keep us (the audience and your fellow performers) with you on the long notes at all costs.

(Click here for more great quotes from David Zerkel.)

David Zerkel Master Class Quotes (Part 3 of 3)

Here is the final installment of quotes from David Zerkel's recent master class for my students at George Mason University.  His wisdom immediately permeated my teaching and practicing.  Good stuff!

Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

Enjoy!
 

• "Breathing is like investing money. In order to make money, you have to invest money. You have to invest lots of air."
   
• "When we're presenting our interpretation, I believe that articulation is one of the most negotiable."
   
• "The practice room is the ideal place to try things out."
   
• "Can you give me a little more pitch on the double tongue stuff?"
   
• "I really recommend doing offline practicing when you're practicing double tonguing."
   
• "The lip trill fairy can visit you in a short amount of time if you do a little bit of work. If you practice the Arban's exercise (quarters->eights->16ths->etc) religiously for two weeks, the lip trill fairy will pay you a visit."
   
• "As you're working on your double tongue always aim for the 5th note."
   
• "As you play music that is less melodically oriented, rhythm becomes more important.  You need to make the rhythmic aspect of this melody important."
   
• "What you're selling melodically here is time."
   
• "One of the main problems with the tuba as an instrument is clarity. Musical clarity, articulation clarity, pitch clarity."
   
• "You sound like a bird singing in a cage that is covered with a blanket."
   
• "I need you to be a more active and windy participant so you can play clearer."
   
• "We have to work three times as hard as any other brass instrument to play as cleanly as they play. -Dave Bragunier"
   
• "You can't evaluate your playing at the bell. You have to evaluate what it sounds like in the hall."
   
• "Your best sound is not always the right sound.  You listen to Youngblood Brass Band. If you played in a lesson with the sound that Nat plays with you'd get punched in the throat and told to never come back."
   
• "I want you to offend me with how short you play. I want you to make me puke."
   
• "The place that you want to get with your playing is to where you are uncomfortable with how far you've gone."
   
• "You never know how much is loving someone too much until you've done it. In life, you never know where the edge is until you've stepped off of it."
   
• "You need to be closer to the line."
   
• "The beginning of Strauss 1 is Belushi jumping into a room."
   
• "In the upper register, work on your spin being a little faster, a little more tightly wound.  Move more air with a quicker spin."
   
• "The higher you get on the tuba, the darker and less distinct it gets. I call it the Woo Register because it sounds like someone is wooing (with their hands cupped over their mouth.)"
   
• "Make sure you can maintain a sense of rhythmic urgency without a metronome going."
   
• "Sound is everything. If you don't sound good, nothing else matters."
   
• "If it sounds good, it is good. -Duke Ellington"
   
• "One of the most compelling things we can do is sell people on rhythm."

Happiness Is Simplicity

"Misery is complexity. Happiness is simplicity."

-Lester Levenson

The above quote reminds me of one of my favorite Joe Alessi quotes:

"To play a brass instrument well is an incredibly simple process.  To play a brass instrument poorly is an incredibly complex process."

-Joe Alessi

Even if you are successfully playing something, is it possible to do so with less effort or with a streamlined approach? With this approach, even the best performers and band directors can always improve what they are doing.

How can you make what you are doing more simple?