Your Reputation Is Based On Dealing With Just A Few

I have always maintained that 95% of the music business makes it incredibly easy to be kind and courteous to them at all times.

Unfortunately, our reputations are not based on how we deal with the 95%. Our reputations are based almost exclusively on how we interact with the 5%.

The people who are easiest to work with in the business get along with everyone all of the time. They get along with the considerate people and the not so considerate people. You won't win any points for dealing well with them. Everyone does.

It's the people who always have opinions about every rehearsal or gig that they then offer up to the room unsolicited. It is the people who don't pitch in to fix a crisis that might arise on a gig because it is not specifically their job to do so. It is the people who criticize others while not worrying about their own playing or behavior.

How we deal with these people is what our reputations are based on. Fair or unfair, this is reality. I find this is a good thing for me to keep in mind when I'm debating whether to let someone know they are in the 5%, no matter how tempting that might be at any given moment.

So when you encounter someone in the 5%, if possible, view it as an opportunity to solidify your reputation as someone firmly in the 95%.

David Zerkel: Monday YouTube Fix

David Zerkel is one of the best tuba players in the world as you can hear from this clip.

Phrasing for days...

We were lucky enough to interview David for The Brass Junkies podcast which you can listen to via Soundcloud below the clip.

Also be sure to check out this set of quotes from one of David Zerkel's recent master classes. He is truly a master teacher.

David Zerkel Master Class at George Mason University

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Enjoy this clip of Astor Piazzolla's "Oblivion" for tuba and piano!

Live performance of Astor Piazzolla's Oblivion. Arrangement by Greg Anderson. David Zerkel, tuba, Allison Blumenthal, piano. July 2015.

Let The Ideas Out

"If you have enough bad ideas you will have absolutely no trouble having enough good ideas. What people who create do is they let the ideas out. they sit and they do the work and the ideas come. Good ideas, bad ideas."

—Seth Godin from Leap First

Seth Godin was not talking about the practice room in the above comment but he might as well have been.

It is imperative that we "let the ideas out" when we are in the practice room.

Of course we need to focus on a daily basis on range, dynamics, articulations, releases, slurs and everything in between. This is the homework that every great musician on any instrument has done in spades.

But no one really cares if you are only a great technician on your instrument. Sure, you'll probably have a career of some kind (if you are truly a great technician and not just a good one) but you won't have one that is very rewarding or that has much impact on the world.

The ideas are what affect others. The ideas are why we all got into this crazy business in the first place. And the key to having great ideas is to have lots of ideas.

Ideas are why some people prefer Phil Smith, some prefer Chris Martin, and some prefer Thomas Hooten. It sure isn't because Phil can slur better than Chris or Thomas can. They slur equally well.

Yet all three of them play with enough clear ideas and storytelling in their playing that it is quite easy to prefer one over the other two. And that's what it's all about.

And the only way to ever approach the quality and clarity of the ideas of any of those three trumpet players is by letting the ideas out. The good ones and the bad ones.

That's exactly what they did.

No One Cares About the Facts

As musicians we get caught up all the time in getting all of the facts right. Sometimes, in the moment, it is all we care about.

The problem is that most people don't really care. Or at the least only care when the facts aren't correct. But they are rarely a value add.

"Don't just tell me the facts. Tell me a story."

—Seth Godin from All Marketers Are Liars

The above Seth Godin quote has absolutely nothing to do with music. He was talking about marketing. But this quote could have come from any number of world-renowned music teachers.

The problem with focusing on the facts in an audition is that so many people will show up able to play all of the facts correctly that you are going to be in trouble. And the number of people who can do that is greater than ever and getting larger all the time.

There will be a few people at that audition who can deliver all of the facts (impeccable rhythm, pitch, phrasing, articulation, etc.) but will also be able to use those facts to tell a musical story so compelling and so remarkable that they force the committee to consider them for the job.

The same goes for conductors and trios and composers.

So whether you are hoping to someday replace Joe Alessi in the New York Philharmonic or are sitting in a high school band, always go for the story.

The notes on the page are a car. Drive your audience somewhere interesting. Somewhere they have to go back to. That's what it's all about.

The Brass Junkies: Colin Williams of the New York Philharmonic

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I had the pleasure of interviewing an old friend recently in Colin Williams. Colin is the Associate Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic and was my section mate many, many years ago in the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Colin's career has brought him from the San Antonio Symphony to the Atlanta Symphony and most recently to his current employer, the New York Philharmonic. His approach to trombone playing and to music in general is fantastic and he has an incredible way with words.

But the truly stunning part of his story is the playing related injury he suffered and his recovery from that. He is incredibly generous and forthcoming about this aspect of his career and it is one of the most inspirational tales you will ever hear in the music business.

It took him five years to be fully recovered and he had to completely relearn how to play the trombone. Oh and for what it's worth he won the New York Philharmonic audition during that five year recovery process!

Seriously, you have to hear this story. It will convince you that no matter you are facing, you can overcome it. Thank you Colin for being so open about your journey!

And he tells a pretty hilarious story of me being a jackass in youth orchestra that you'll have no trouble believing.

Links:

Colin's Page at NY Phil 

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer of FredBrass.

Lorenzo Iosco: Monday YouTube Fix

This is how you bass clarinet!

Phenomenal performance of Gaspare Tirincanti's Clarinettologia by Lorezo Iosco.

Enjoy!

Clarinettologia by Gaspare Tirincanti Lorenzo Antonio Iosco - Bass Clarinet -- San Marco D'Alunzio (Italy) 06 February 2016

Joan Sutherland: Monday YouTube Fix

Here is a clip of one of the all-time great sopranos, Joan Sutherland, performing the "Vissi d'arte" aria from the Act 2 of Puccini's opera "Tosca".

The tone and control she maintains when singing in the extreme high register, all while turning a beautiful phrase, is what all instrumentalists strive for. Truly incredible stuff.

And I love the subtlety of her vibrato. (At least subtle compared to a lot of other sopranos singing in that register!)

Enjoy!

Joan Sutherland sings TOSCA Vissi d'arte

Warren Deck Master Class Quotes (Part 2 of 2)

Here is part two of my quotes from a master class by former Principal Tuba of the New York Philharmonic, Warren Deck. These quotes are from his class at the 2015 Northeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at Ithaca College.

It was a phenomenal class. The quotes below about the window especially blew my mind. Really opened my eyes to exactly what I am trying to play and teach.

You can find part one here.

• I like to play a game with myself when I listen to music. It's called 'how much can I hear? How much can I notice? That's why I like to listen in community. I like to listen with 3 or 4 people. 
• The higher the quality of your musical mind, the higher the quality of what's going to come out of your instrument. 
• Keep the instrument full of air. 
• I'm going to urge you to listen to records and try to dig one level deeper. What can you hear? Every day try to hear something you haven't heard before. 
• Listen to the great players. Listen to how they make the magic. 
• The air only knows one thing: the shape of my phrase. 
• I want to hear the music as if I never have to breath ever. 
• I'm going to throw in an extra breath to see whether I can do it without changing the shape of the phrase. 
• The way air misses notes is dynamically. Air can miss notes. But oftentimes we missed it with our embouchure. 
• The bow doesn't need to know about changing the pitch. 
• Teach your embouchure to sing that tune accurately. 
• Separate the art from the craft. Our art is how well we can conceive of it. Our craft is how well we can play it. 
• The art is a scene and the craft is the window. If we show someone our scene, how much dirt is on the window? 
• The reason we clean the window is because we have an exact idea of how we want to sound. 
• Ronnie Romm said that flying a plane was the most musical thing he ever did. 
• I'm driving a car and my listener is my passenger. What kind of ride am I giving them?

The Brass Junkies: Fernando Deddos

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Lance and I recently had the honor of chatting with our dear friend Fernando Deddos for The Brass Junkies podcast. We met Fernando in May of 2010 when we attended the Tatui Brass Festival in Tatui, Brazil.

Fernando performed a recital that left both of our jaws on the floor. And then it turns out that he is one of the kindest, most giving human beings I've ever met in my four decades. He is a world class euphonium player, composer, and teacher.

He is breaking ground for the euphonium in his native country of Brazil and is leaving a mark on the musical world like few people his age have done. I count myself lucky to be able to call him a friend.

You'll love this episode! We talk about traditional Brazilian music, barbecue, and a whole bunch of brass.

Links:

Website
SoundCloud
Potenza Music
Eufonium Brasileiro

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation athttps://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass.

Harry Connick Jr: Monday YouTube Fix

Harry Connick Jr. is a genius. This is a famous clip for a reason. He is performing for a live studio audience in France. The crowd is really enjoying it and clapping along.

The problem is they are enthusiastically clapping on 1 and 3 with no end in sight.

But Harry has a plan. He slips a 5/4 bar in at the 0:39 mark so smoothly that no one even notices.

Brilliant.

Harry's playing with rhythm