"The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others."
~ Don Shula
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
What I'm practicing, part two.......Fundamental work is never done!
I'm baaaaack!
Sorry for the long layoff here at Resounding Trumpeter. My last post was the beginning of a very busy summer of concerts, masterclasses, auditions and interviews, as well as some much needed mountain time in Colorado. But I can happily say, that because of the previously mentioned events, I was offered, and accepted a full-time appointment on the faculty at the University of New Mexico! I had an outstanding first semester as a full-time teacher. Working with the fine students and faculty of UNM was incredibly rewarding. It was a fantastic semester of growth for my students and I'm very, very proud of all of them! It was also an incredibly busy semester of concerts including the debut of The Enchantment Brass, my second performance of the evil Zwilich Concerto, the re-forming of the New Mexico Philharmonic and trips to NJ, PA and England with the professional trumpet ensemble, Tromba Mundi(more on the EB, NMP and TM later).
Now that things have settled down a bit, I thought I'd get back into blogging. I know I have cliffhanger that I need to resolve in "The Audition Blogs", and I assure you, Part Two is forthcoming. But, I'd like to return to the "What I'm Practicing" franchise first.
As usual, I have a long list of repertoire that I have to prepare for this semester. The difference is, however, that this year it's based much more in the solo and chamber realms and not just the orchestral. Works by Sibelius, Stravinsky, Pakhmutova, Böhme, Ewazen, Mussorgsky, among others, are on my stand right now, all of which are tremendously different! Which of course means that books by Chicowicz, Clarke, Schlossberg, Stamp, and Arban are also on my stand, as well!
The works by Sibelius, Pakhmuhtova and Mussorgsky require great power and endurance. Yet, the works by Stravinsky, Böhme and Ewazen call for immaculate touch and technique. Which means, I basically need to practice EVERYTHING!
Which gets me to the point of this particular blog. The practicing of ALL fundamentals never stops! As I've gotten more and more varied forms of work, I've had to practice more and more fundamentals. The skills needed for all types of repertoire need to be there on demand! Don't be fooled into thinking that if you get a orchestral job, you won't need to be a great technician. Or if you get a quintet job you won't need to play high or loud. All gigs require all the fundamentals. Most importantly, please know that just because you've won a job, that doesn't mean you get to STOP practicing fundamentals! I spend more time practicing the basics of trumpet playing now than I ever did in school, mostly because I'm trying to KEEP my job!
I've accepted that I'm never going to stop needing to practice basics........and that I'm probably going to wear out a few more Arban, Clarke and Schlossberg books in the process! ;)
Ok, off to warm-up and practice some articulation. Today's exercises for articulation: Stamp and Gekker!
- JM
Sorry for the long layoff here at Resounding Trumpeter. My last post was the beginning of a very busy summer of concerts, masterclasses, auditions and interviews, as well as some much needed mountain time in Colorado. But I can happily say, that because of the previously mentioned events, I was offered, and accepted a full-time appointment on the faculty at the University of New Mexico! I had an outstanding first semester as a full-time teacher. Working with the fine students and faculty of UNM was incredibly rewarding. It was a fantastic semester of growth for my students and I'm very, very proud of all of them! It was also an incredibly busy semester of concerts including the debut of The Enchantment Brass, my second performance of the evil Zwilich Concerto, the re-forming of the New Mexico Philharmonic and trips to NJ, PA and England with the professional trumpet ensemble, Tromba Mundi(more on the EB, NMP and TM later).
Now that things have settled down a bit, I thought I'd get back into blogging. I know I have cliffhanger that I need to resolve in "The Audition Blogs", and I assure you, Part Two is forthcoming. But, I'd like to return to the "What I'm Practicing" franchise first.
As usual, I have a long list of repertoire that I have to prepare for this semester. The difference is, however, that this year it's based much more in the solo and chamber realms and not just the orchestral. Works by Sibelius, Stravinsky, Pakhmutova, Böhme, Ewazen, Mussorgsky, among others, are on my stand right now, all of which are tremendously different! Which of course means that books by Chicowicz, Clarke, Schlossberg, Stamp, and Arban are also on my stand, as well!
The works by Sibelius, Pakhmuhtova and Mussorgsky require great power and endurance. Yet, the works by Stravinsky, Böhme and Ewazen call for immaculate touch and technique. Which means, I basically need to practice EVERYTHING!
Which gets me to the point of this particular blog. The practicing of ALL fundamentals never stops! As I've gotten more and more varied forms of work, I've had to practice more and more fundamentals. The skills needed for all types of repertoire need to be there on demand! Don't be fooled into thinking that if you get a orchestral job, you won't need to be a great technician. Or if you get a quintet job you won't need to play high or loud. All gigs require all the fundamentals. Most importantly, please know that just because you've won a job, that doesn't mean you get to STOP practicing fundamentals! I spend more time practicing the basics of trumpet playing now than I ever did in school, mostly because I'm trying to KEEP my job!
I've accepted that I'm never going to stop needing to practice basics........and that I'm probably going to wear out a few more Arban, Clarke and Schlossberg books in the process! ;)
Ok, off to warm-up and practice some articulation. Today's exercises for articulation: Stamp and Gekker!
- JM
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Audition Blogs, Part One, Coda
So, nobody won.
Again, *sigh*
How does one deal with that info? After the large number of auditions, all the amazing trumpet players that were turned away and a couple of great trumpeters in the finals, a winner still could not be chosen. Doesn't it just make you mad?
To me, the answer, as you could probably guess, is no.
I don't know what factors lead to this decision. Maybe the finalists played badly. Maybe the conductor overruled the committee. Again, who knows? But I find it hard to get mad without the knowledge of really happened.
I repeat, though, it wasn't personal, it was business.
The bottom line is, that there will most likely be another opportunity to audition for the job, which is a good thing. What's to be upset about?
As you're beginning to understand, I believe that auditions are not worth getting so worked up about. Hard work is required, the ability to stay focused is important and a certain killer-instinct is necessary. But beating yourself up over audition preparation or results is not helpful. Yes, I've gotten angry with myself over how I might have played at an audition, but I've always been successful in letting it go and moving on to the next one.
That's because I never took it personally!
You can only control ONE thing in auditions and that is.......................................
....................to be the topic in Part Two of The Audition Blogs!
See ya soon!
JM
Again, *sigh*
How does one deal with that info? After the large number of auditions, all the amazing trumpet players that were turned away and a couple of great trumpeters in the finals, a winner still could not be chosen. Doesn't it just make you mad?
To me, the answer, as you could probably guess, is no.
I don't know what factors lead to this decision. Maybe the finalists played badly. Maybe the conductor overruled the committee. Again, who knows? But I find it hard to get mad without the knowledge of really happened.
I repeat, though, it wasn't personal, it was business.
The bottom line is, that there will most likely be another opportunity to audition for the job, which is a good thing. What's to be upset about?
As you're beginning to understand, I believe that auditions are not worth getting so worked up about. Hard work is required, the ability to stay focused is important and a certain killer-instinct is necessary. But beating yourself up over audition preparation or results is not helpful. Yes, I've gotten angry with myself over how I might have played at an audition, but I've always been successful in letting it go and moving on to the next one.
That's because I never took it personally!
You can only control ONE thing in auditions and that is.......................................
....................to be the topic in Part Two of The Audition Blogs!
See ya soon!
JM
Monday, June 6, 2011
"It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business." The Audition Blogs, Part One
I took an orchestral audition yesterday. I felt great about how I prepared. I had a great warm-up that morning. I feel like I played great in the actual audition.....
......I still didn't advance.
*sigh*
That's the way auditions are sometimes, though. This is not the first time I've felt great about how I performed on an audition and still didn't win or even advance. It is something that you just have to accept about the process of auditioning.
I'll admit, I was a little miffed for about 10 minutes after they announced the results. Who wouldn't be, especially after a good performance? But I remembered very soon after, while driving away, a line from my favorite movie, The Godfather; "It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business."
That's good food for thought for anyone taking auditions these days. When one doesn't make the cut, try to remember that line, because it's very true in the auditioning business. Audition committees have a very difficult job to do and they're just trying to find the best player on that day. If something about your playing is not quite up to the desired level, the audition is over for you.
But it's not a personal attack on you. To walk away mad at the committee, or the proctor, or the audition staff is, in my opinion, foolish. In most cases, everyone involved in the audition is rooting for everyone to play well. Speaking from experience, sitting on a committee and listening to bad audition after bad audition is a soul-squashing venture. An audition where the majority of players played well would be a dream!
So when things don't go your way, look inside first. Was it really that good of an audition? Did you achieve the things you wanted musically? Or did you just get all the right notes and rhythms? Was it in tune? There are a myriad of things that could be the cause for your dismissal. Thinking back to my audition yesterday, I really felt all the good things were there. But, I did miss, slightly, an entrance on one of the excerpts. Was that enough to get me cut? Maybe. But maybe I also didn't have the right sound for this orchestra. Or the right stylistic approach. Who knows?
But none of the reasons are personal. To take the results of an audition personally can be very deflating and just make the process all the more difficult. Frankly, when this happens to me, it fires me up for the next audition. I did the right things in preparation and application. There just wasn't a match between me and this particular committee. Someday I'll get another match. And it's gonna feel great!
I do a realistic assessment of what I did after each audition, regardless of the results. It IS possible to have a great experience and NOT win or advance. Conversely, it's possible to not play your best and still have a great result. I've experienced both and this audition was the former. I'm definitely on the right track with what I'm doing to prepare for the auditions. My knowledge of the required excerpts is clear and my faith in my own abilities is high. It's just a matter of time before something works out in my favor!
I'm going to walk away and forget this one. Dwelling on the negative is also a soul-squashing thing that only brings bitterness and resentment. And it sure is hard to be an artist when those are the dominating features of your attitude. I like to think of each undesired result as another chance to do even BETTER the next time around.
Besides, it wasn't a negative experience. All I did was not win the job, which puts me in the good company of several other fantastic players who were also at the audition. And you know what? It isn't so terrible.
More on that in Part Two of "The Audition Blogs."
Stay tuned!
Ok, I gotta go practice for the next audition!
JM
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