The teachers

Every musician is in some way a combination, among other things, of the ideas they glean from their teachers. I've been very fortunate to have three excellent principal teachers who I studied with in high school, undergrad, and grad school. This is a little bit about what I picked up from each of them along the way. It helps explain a lot of how I teach and mentor my own students in the here and now.

Growing up in Lubbock, TX there wasn't much of an emphasis on private lessons like there tends to be in the major Texas areas like DFW, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Even though I was doing well on trombone in junior high and had studied piano privately for many years, it never crossed my mind that there were people who taught trombone lessons. My sophomore year I finally started private lessons with Brent Luna, who is currently a band director somewhere in TX. When he graduated from Texas Tech, he recommended Christan Griego, who was also a student at Texas Tech at the time and is now the head of research and development for Edwards and creator of his own extensive line of brass mouthpieces.

Christan was and still is a work horse. He was putting himself through college by teaching lessons in Lubbock. Not an easy task. He was also constantly trying to figure out how to make trombones work better. Taking them apart and reassembling, making tools to use for cleaning, fiddling with mouthpieces. In lessons we spent a lot of time in the Arban book, and some of the ideas I first learned from him in high school, I still use with my students today. Now Christan is sort of an entrepreneurial role model. He is always willing to help with insight on the business side of things and was the person who brought me into the Edwards brand. Just in the last 6 years, he has designed trombones for Joe Alessi, James Markey, and Ian Bousfield. That's pretty amazing! He found his niche and stuck with it, making the absolute most out of his opportunities from early in school until now.

After graduating high school, I stayed in Lubbock to attend Texas Tech where I studied with Don Lucas, currently Professor of Trombone at Boston University, and previous president of the ITA. Don is a larger than life personality who helped me discover the expressive side of music more than anyone else I have encountered. I was rather reserved and cautious in high school, and that led to a serious issues with performance anxiety. I learned how trombone could be an outlet for the part of my personality that I kept pretty well hidden. Expressing more of a full array of emotions and ideas through music allowed me to develop that side of myself personally and socially. With Don music was always the primary goal. Technique was definitely a regular part of our lessons, but it was there to serve the music. Breathing was there to serve the music, etc. He also exposed me to a great deal of less standard trombone solo repertoire, constantly commissioned new works, some of which I have added to my recital list, and showed an uncompromising approach to leading trombone choir and preparing quartets. He will always be a mentor as a world class soloist and professor.

Then for my masters degree, after three years away from serious trombone study, I attended SMU specifically to study with John Kitzman, principal trombone of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. I knew from a long time back that I wanted to perform in an orchestra professionally. Anytime there was an opportunity to do so growing up, youth orchestra, festivals and camps, at TTU, I auditioned and was fortunate to play a lot of great orchestral rep as a student. John was a so good at communicating the style of orchestral playing, the details of each excerpt, and how to prepare them for auditions. He was intense and passionate about playing things in such a way that they honor the intentions of the composer to the best of our knowledge. I had to let go of a lot of my own personal thoughts about the music and try to play things correctly and precisely. This provided a proper foundation for approaching orchestral rep in context, and then learning how to add the personal touch within that context. John also was very gracious in providing opportunities to play with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as a sub and extra player. Sitting on the Meyerson in the middle of a world class orchestra performing the greatest pieces ever written under renowned conductors will remain one my most cherished musical experiences. There is no better classroom than this. What an amazing gift, both in musical exposure, and in building confidence as a performer.

When I look at where I am in my career, I can see how I got hooked on each of these aspects of music from my various teachers: solo and orchestral playing, pedagogy and studio development, and entrepreneurship and hard work. Now I am honestly not sure where I want to focus my energy! I love  playing in orchestras, teaching at a university, and operating a small business on the side, and while I am not nearly at the level in each of them as my teachers, I get to do all three! If I did this for the rest of my career, I can say that I would be a satisfied musician. But I don't see them letting up on their ends, so I definitely can't let up either.

Green with musicians' envy

Whenever I watch a world class professional perform, my first instinct after my brain kicks in and the sense of awe and wonder starts to die down is envy. Why do they get all of that talent and success? Why didn't that happen to me? It's not a flattering state of mind. Envy and comparison always lead to negative and useless thoughts that build on each other then grow into feelings of inadequacy and discontent. They have what I want! Why can't I have it, too? Kind of pathetic when I step back a bit.

In moments like these, perspective is essential. A lot of that perspective develops with the acquisition of information. The more I know about the performer, and the more I get to know them personally, the more human and normal they, and the less of a trombone lottery winner they become.

So whenever I start to feel the urges of the green monster, I look for the artist's biography. At some point this musician did not know what the trombone was. At some point they had no understanding of classical music. Over time they developed their skills and abilities. Influential people came into their lives and fostered their talent and efforts. Something about the trombone grabbed a hold of them. They never let go, started to have success, continued consistent progress through diligence and hard work, and now they are living the dream.

When I was a student, it was not so bad to look at the top professionals and say I hope to have that someday. This is not envy as much as it is merely dreaming. In this case the biography is even more useful, as it can give us a road map of how to get from here (being a student) to there (an accomplished professional). For all of you students reading this, use the stories of your trombone role models to show you what you need to be doing right now to get on the path towards success.  The sooner you realize what it takes to be successful, the better your decision to pursue performance (or to move on to something else) will be.

There are a lot of music performance degrees floating around with players who didn't really know what it took to be successful, or knew but didn't realize how serious it was to be single-mindedly intense about music.  I was one of those 'floaters' after my bachelors degree. I didn't really understand until I began my masters degree and started to get super serious about being a professional. In my opinion, I am still playing catch up because of how late I came to the game with my full attention. In future posts I will share the events that led me to choose music as a profession, discuss how things developed into my present state of trombone affairs, and look to my ambitions for the future in music.

This is my blog after all. I must be the center of attention.

Paul Pollard Masterclass Summary

The Woodlands Trombone Choir, made of up local high school students and directed by Jason Harvey, was treated to a day long event featuring Paul Pollard, Bass Trombone with The Metropolitan Opera. SHSU and TWTC are partnering up this semester for a few concerts as we both prepare programs for TMEA, so I made it a priority to bring the studio down to take part in the festivities.

Below is a summary of my observations and Paul's tenets for teaching.

Paul described five main points for successful trombone playing. First are his points and then some observations I made in relation to these points.

1. Air - Taking in a big breath and blowing a big breath back out

- An Intek (?) Spirometer was used to demonstrate if a full air stream was actually being used. This looks like a very worthwhile tool in developing breath support.

-  Be careful that big breaths are not distracting, overly loud, and perhaps contrived (that is to show that we are taking a big breath)

- Slower inhales can help us feel more relaxed when starting a phrase, while quick breaths can lead to tension.

2. Buzz the right pitch inside the mouthpiece

- Good pitch is essential and can be developed through matching pitch on the mouthpiece

- Anything we are learning to play, we can practice by buzzing the mouthpiece and matching pitch

- What if you practiced buzzing long tones and slurs with the piano 5-10 minutes every day for two weeks.  What's the worst that could happen? You get tired while developed a much stronger sense of pitch? 

- The embouchure and air are partners in the sound making process. If one of them isn't pulling its weight, the other has to pick up the slack until it gets too tired and wants to quit.

- Whenever you buzz, make sure it is meaningful and purposeful

3. Be as relaxed as possible

- Every trombonist has to come to terms with unnecessary tension and movement in their playing

- The goal is to make playing as natural as possible with as little physical movement as necessary

- Any tension or negative movements must be overcome with methodical positive habit forming practice

- Simplify the act of trombone playing

4. Make sure that the necessary moving parts of the body, the right arm and the tongue, are in the right place.

- Learn exactly where each of the notes in each position goes

- It is uncomfortable to play the right note in the wrong position. Even if a position is slightly off, it becomes less comfortable to play that note, and easier to miss it.

- When the slide is in the right place, it works in harmony with the air and buzz to make the best sound

- Regarding tongue placement, every pitch has a place inside of the mouth where the tongue gets the best response. Higher notes are higher on the teeth or roof of the mouth, while lower notes progressively get closer to and eventually are tongued between the teeth.

- Repetitive articulation practice is key to finding that spot for each pitch

5. As trombonists, we must also strive to become better artists and musicians each and every day

- listen to the great masters of other instruments

- Read new books about our instrument and music in general

- Within the music, if something repeats it must be different in some way

- Practice over expanding your dynamic range in solos and etudes to get out of the box

Here are some practice ideas he mentioned:

- Use a metronome daily. It acts like a leader to the tongue, buzz, air, and slide, coordinating them to achieve a unified purpose.

- Use a tuner everyday with long tones to constantly reinforce playing each pitch in the exact correct position and learning where to put the slide for that note each time.

-  Practice solos in a bopped style with the metronome under tempo. These are very short clear notes. This is useful to coordinating the troops for a precise and clear front of the note with the best sound in time.

- Practice using rhythmic breathing. Exhale away from the horn as though playing while tonguing the notes in time. Repeat this and add moving the right arm to simulate slide movements. Repeat again using the slide and blowing through the horn without the buzz.  This gets the feeling of massive amounts of air moving through the lips and then easily can translate to playing with more air at the beginning of each note.

All in all it was very encouraging to hear someone who shares so many of my ideas teach them in different ways. It can be refreshing for students who have heard the same thing so many times out of my mouth hear it again in a new and interesting way. It is also helpful to me to hear new ideas of how to communicate the most fundamental concepts.

Paul is a fantastic soloist and teacher who has also reached the top of the game in orchestral playing. His biography is also interesting as he did not motor through a conservatory and then find himself in the perfect job. Rather he pursued three degrees at state universities, played for several years in regional orchestras, then overseas, and eventually worked his way into the Metropolitan Opera.  Just a slow methodical grind to the top of the trombone world. Definitely a great role model for the next generation.

   

The First Show

The first concert with the Austin Symphony this year was as a contracted orchestra for a touring show, "A Salute to Vienna." Since most of us can't make it to Vienna to hear the Vienna Philharmonic perform its iconic New Year's Eve extravaganza, this production brings the show to us, using local orchestras to accompany Viennese dancers and opera singers.

In the ASO we rarely perform anything by the Strauss family, outside of the tone poems of Richard Strauss who is actually not related in any way other than being a composer in Germany with the same last name 40 years later. Since this music really is foreign to the orchestra, it was a refreshing and fun experience. The conductor was helpful in pointing out useful stylistic changes, the dancers were excellent, and the singers sang beautifully.  It was a little bit of a schticky show, but that is the Viennese way on New Year's Eve. Many many brief waltzes, polkas, marches, and arias from Viennese opera in homage to the motherland.

The most interesting part to me was to hear the musical language that directly influenced Wagner, Mahler, and Richard Strauss. These composers took the witty and clever music from the J. Strausses and turned it into epic soundscapes and legendary tales. Mahler regularly takes marches, waltzes and polkas and shapes into large form symphonic movements. Richard Strauss brings in these elements as regular cameos in his tone poems and operas.

I was fortunate to play principal for a change, as Brenda took the show off. One of my frustrating issues in the orchestra is with cacking notes after a breath, or chipping one of a repeated series of eighth notes. The music for us was mainly boom-chick off beats, so I took the time to concentrate on keeping the embouchure set during the breath, and not allowing for jaw movement on repeated notes separated by rests. Everything should feel like a long tone after all.

With only two rehearsals, there was no time to really know the music, so we just read and followed the conductor.  Lapses in concentration would lead to mistakes, but fortunately the trombone parts were not often so important that mistakes would be noticeable, but that really is no excuse to be lazy.  Plus I know whether or not I was concentrating, and that is hopefully enough motivation to stay in the moment.  The orchestra did much better in the concert than in rehearsals.  I think after having a long run of Nutcrackers, we were still in a daze. But the adrenaline that comes with a live performance is usually enough to snap us out of it. When you work every weekend for two solid months, you often have to ration your mental energy. It seems pretty common to save it for the concert. Guilty as charged!

The Spring 2014 Calendar

Before we get further into my quest and plans for the next phase in the journey, here is a list of events and concerts for the Spring Semester. I plan to include my thoughts and observations on these performances as they take place in future posts.







January
1/5 at 2pm - A Salute to Vienna with ASO
1/10-11 at 8pm - ASO Subscription Series featuring Peer Gynt and a recording project of piano solo works with orchestra by Edwards Burlingame Hill
1/21-24 - Education concerts with ASO at several area High Schools

February
2/7-8 at 8pm - Brahms Symphony No. 2 with ASO (very excited about this one!)
2/9 at 4pm - SHSU Trombone Choir with The Woodlands Trombone Choir, Jason Harvey - director, in the Woodlands. Location TBA
2/10 at 7:30pm - SHSU Trombone with the The Woodlands Trombone Choir at SHSU
2./12-15 - Edwards House Texas at TMEA
2/15 at 1:30pm - SHSU Trombone Choir at TMEA
2/22 at 8pm - Gershwin Pops with ASO
2/25 3-6pm - Guest Artist Masterclass and Recital featuring Ilan Morgenstern, Bass Trombone with the San Antonio Symphony at SHSU

March
3/1 at 8pm - Yehudi Menuhin festival with ASO
3/3 at 7:30pm - Solo bass and tenor trombone Recital at SHSU with Dr. Kaju Lee - piano
3/21 4-8pm - Guest Artist Masterclass and Recital featuring Timothy Smith, 2nd Trombone with the Buffalo Philharmonic at SHSU.
3/24-26 - Baltimore Symphony Principal Trombone Audition

April
4/4-5 at 8pm - Dvorak Symphony No. 7 with ASO
4/20 - Easter at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Houston, TX
4/22 - SHSU Trombone Choir Concert

May
5/9-11 7:30pm or 2pm - Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty with Ballet Austin
5/16-17 at 8pm - Also Sprach Zarathustra with ASO
5/19-23 - ASO Young People's Concerts
5/25-26 - Nashville Symphony Principal Trombone Audition

June
6/8-9 at 8pm - Musical Mystery Tour with ASO
6/15-29 - Teaching at The MasterWorks Festival in Winona Lake, Indiana

July
7/4 at 8pm - 4th of July with ASO
7/29-8/12 - Teaching at The Crescendo Summer Institute in Saraspatak, Hungary.

The Quest

As a kid I was completely addicted to video games.  Whenever I was glued to the console, it was a chore for my parents to pull me away for dinner or to go to bed.  Holidays and summers were spent working through the most recent game in the Final Fantasy series, solving puzzles, developing my characters' skills and abilities, and reading the cheats and walk-throughs to get me through the next small step in the game.

I'm not so sure that I learned much, other than some problem solving skills (and of course to save my progress as often as possible!), from the hours engulfed in the slowly developing fantasy story lines, battling bizarre monsters, and getting dusted off repeatedly by a level boss with spells and minions that I wasn't prepared to face.  But it sure was fun!!

I doubt I am the first person to use role playing games as a metaphor for life and career, but that won't stop me from taking it at as far as I can before it breaks down. My guess is that a great number of young musicians and especially trombonists can identify with this metaphor. I don't play video games anymore, but I would not be surprised if they serve as a distraction from your professional quest, even if only a small one.  My hope is that these thoughts and stories are useful and of some value to the aspiring musician.  If it's even a bit entertaining, that would be a nice bonus. If you think that might be the case for you, read on!

I've always had the idea for a blog based around the development of my musical career, but now seemed like the best time to start because I am ready to do the work to get to the next level myself. Putting my thoughts down in writing for public viewing may provide some keen insight to aspiring musicians, but it will definitely keep me accountable in staying true to my plans as I divulge the day to day progress in my own quest.

The goal

Everybody loves music. Listening to it, dancing to it, singing it, playing it. In one way or another, music speaks to all of us. But we have chosen to make music our career. We eat, drink, sleep, and breathe music, and at some point in our lives it became painfully clear that we had to pursue music as a career. We feel it deeply within our souls, as if the creator Himself placed that specific desire into our hearts.

So now what? What's the point?

For me, the goal is to develop a career in music that allows me and my family to be financially stable while constantly providing interesting and fulfilling musical challenges.  Maybe your goal looks something like this. Fortunately that doesn't have to mean the same thing for everyone, but we can get to that later.

So what do we do?

We go to college and pursue music degrees. We practice like crazy to improve. We spend tons of money on tuition, lessons, instruments, music, auditions, festivals, and conferences. And then like magic we fall safely into a productive and stable career.  If that sounds like you, congratulations!! You may now stop reading. Of course we all know that it is rarely that simple. And even when it does happen that way, it is never easy.

Developing a career in music is a long, often tedious process that takes place over the course of decades for many of us. We start out young and green and work slowly and diligently, learning new skills, building a foundation of experiences, progressing through the ranks in our musical circles, hopefully to achieve our goals in meaningful and inspiring ways after years of hard work and dedication. Some people burn out and move on to something else. Some people achieve that goal only to find they were on the wrong path. All of that is completely fine, just another step in a different adventure. Hopefully we make some progress and can see our goals on the horizon. But the best part about being a musician is that the quest is never completely over, even when we achieve our goals.  There is always the next level.

That's where I'm headed. Maybe we can help each other pick up a few experience points, learn a trick or two, and get closer to leveling up.