A Call to Action by Marty Hackleman

"You've got to start thinking outside the box. When you have a problem (with your playing) really admit it and address it. You have to be honest about it. You are only as strong as the weakest link in your playing."

-Marty Hackleman

That's how you end up playing your instrument as well as Marty Hackleman plays his.

Maya Angelou on Freelancing

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou

— Daily Zen (@dailyzen) April 14, 2015

With an attitude like that, I think Maya would make a great freelance musician.

Warren Deck on the Little Things

Warren Deck: “The difference between a good player and a great player is not a couple of big things. It’s often 100 little things.”

— Andrew Hitz (@HitzTuba) April 10, 2015

Yes one thousand times over! The difference between someone who advances at an audition and someone who doesn't is almost never missed notes or missed rhythms.  It is 100 little things that make the music simply sound "right."

Excruciating attention to detail is the key to success in the music business.

Do It Right The First Time

“Short cuts make long delays.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

In the practice room, you will save an awful lot of time by practicing something slowly and correctly the first time.  Whenever we learn a passage with a wrong note or wrong rhythm, it takes a lot longer to unlearn the mistake than it ever would have taken to learn it right in the first place.

The ability to have the in the moment intelligence to know that practicing something slowly and correctly is always the correct path rather than seeking instant gratification is what separates great practicers from everyone else.

Short cuts never pay off in the practice room.

Practicing Wisdom from Picasso

“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

-Pablo Picasso

There were a few people at Northwestern who always sounded good when I walked past their practice rooms back in the day.  They were doing it wrong and are no longer in the music business.

Regularly attack what you can not do and you will be amazed at the rate of progress.

It's a People Problem

"Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face, especially if you're in business." 

-Dale Carnegie

There are far more great players today than there are paying jobs.  The ability to successfully navigate the business side of music has never been more important.  And by far the most difficult aspect of that is dealing with people.

Your reputation, both your musical one and your professional one, always precedes you.  Those who are kind, even to those who sometimes make that difficult, tend to get called a lot.  Sure, some people who are rarely kind get work, but they do so in spite of that fact.

With the current level of competition for even just quality freelance gigs, you don't want to be giving anyone a reason to not hire you, especially after putting in thousands of hours of work on the horn.

That Anxiety Ain't Helping

"No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen."

-Alan Watts

Anxiety about a concert, a job interview, or anything else is never going to help make it go any better.  I always find that when my mind wanders and starts to act against my best interests that it helps for me to focus on things that I can control.

Two things that I can't control: the past and the future.  Even if I know deep down that I should have prepared more for something, worrying about that now will not help anything.  Even if I am being reasonable in expecting bad news in the near future, worrying about that will always distract me from taking the next positive step.

For some it is meditation, for some it is prayer, for others it is listening to their favorite music.  Find whatever it is that gets you focused on the here and now and you will be amazed at how it puts you in the best possible position to succeed.

My tuba backstage next to some taiko drums before a Boston Brass performance in the mountain town of Yuzawa in the Niigata Prefecture of Japan.

Practice Room Advice from John Wooden

"Don't activity with achievement."

-John Wooden

The above quote is the problem with practicing for time (like practice records that only note time spent.) Our goal in the practice room should not be activity, but achievement.

Every one of us can get more done in a super-focused 30-minute practice session than in a distracted 60-minute one. So hide the clock, write down exactly what you are trying to achieve in any given practice session, and don't get up until it's done.

It's The Little Things

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

-John Wooden

John Wooden may have been a basketball coach but he sure knew the secret to success in music.  The difference between a superior rating and an excellent rating at assessment is the little details.  The difference between your average professional musician and the greatest in the world is the little details.  The difference between having a great lesson and a pretty good lesson is the little details.

Because the little things make the big things happen.

The Definition of Maturity

“Maturing is realizing how many things don’t require your comment.”

-Rachel Wolchin

Great advice for a business as small as the music business.