Your Best Advice Ever

EdMann · Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:13 pm Post subject:

to never ask how you did. Someone will tell you...

ed

ThunderTurkey · Regular Member Joined: 21 Dec 2011 Posts: 23

Several years ago, I played a pops concert featuring Liza Minelli.
During the afternoon rehearsal on Saturday, she spent most of her
alotted time arguing with and carping at her pianist. Near the end of
her segment of the rehearsal, she stomped off the stage in a huff.
Shortly after, before things quieted down for the orchestra's rehearsal
time, she returned to the stage left wing. In a very husky stage whisper,
she said to her pianist "Don't f*** up!!" I've take this bon mot to heart
ever since.

AverageJoe · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:09 am Post subject:

Practice makes PERMANENT.
_________________
"Every time I hear you play, you sound better than the next..."

FrankM · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:19 am Post subject:

On splitting tuning 'A' "Blow the bloody thing Frank!"

BFlinch83 · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:02 am Post subject:

Trevor Wye in his wonderful method on flute tone says,

"Possession of the instrument is not enough."

I've made posters of this and have hung them around my band room at school!

Chris OHara · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:15 am Post subject:

spitvalve · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:18 am Post subject:

The best advice I ever got came to me in a dream when I was seventeen. I dreamed I had a lesson with Maynard (what high-school trumpeter in the '70s didn't have this dream?), and he said "you're playing like you're afraid of your horn."

Fear is the enemy.
_________________
Bryan Fields
----------------
http://www.bryanwfields.com
http://bardofthenuthouse.com

trombino · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:28 am Post subject:

Heard many times in lessons: "Who the hell is going to pay you to sound like that"? Wm. Vacchiano

Decades later I still think about what I sound like at all times.

roynj · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Oct 2002 Posts: 1583

Show up twenty minutes early. Best advice i ever got.

PhxHorn · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject:

Best advice I've received over the last five years was on the Reinhardt Forum, and I'll reproduce it right here:

Following this advice can up your endurance by a good 20%.

irith · Heavyweight Member Joined: 14 Sep 2008 Posts: 790

Tempo > rhythm > notes.
_________________
Trumpets.
Mouthpieces.
I have some.

Dan O'Donnell · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 1912

I couldn't just pick one so...here are several great pieces of advice I received from several professionals over many years...

"Blow the leadpipe."

"Blow air IMMEDIATELY after you finished taking a breath."

"Relax...Tension is a Trumpet players worst enemy."

"Some people due to their physical features (teeth lips etc.) will never be able to (or need to) play double C's, so stop trying and just enjoy playing nice sounding music."

"Be proud of being an amateur Trumpet player. In today's small and limited market for professional Trumpet players there are many amateurs today who could easily play professionally back when there was a larger demand."

"Jam the valves down."

"Play equipment that makes it easier for you to play the music you play."

"There are (3) forms of working out...warm-up to get ready to play...maintenance to keep yourself in shape...practice to get better at playing. You know when you are practicing when you sound bad because you are working on something you haven't learned to do yet.""

"If you think too much about the physics of playing you will get paralysis through analysis."

"Playing a simpler piece beautifully is much better than playing a more difficult piece horribly."

"Tone quality is the most important aspect of playing the Trumpet. Who wants to hear someone play fast, loud and high with a bad sound?"

"Enjoy being an amateur and playing the music you like for enjoyment. Being a professional forces you to play things that you don't enjoy."

"You must know your tongue placement when playing. Higher the arch the easier to play higher notes...the lower the tongue the better the sound of lower notes."

"Don't minimize the practicing of pedal tones. They help to open things up like clearing the clouds when looking outside as you play higher notes."

"Having a large oral cavity helps to produce a warmer tone quality."

There are many others however these are just a few that provided me with "ah ha" moments.

_________________
God Bless,
Dan O'Donnell

"Praise Him with the sound of the Trumpet:..."
Psalms 150:3

trombahonker · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:29 am Post subject:

Do what you love.

amigomatt · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:36 am Post subject:

I can't count the amount of times I see someone hack through something, try again, still making slips, try again, improve slightly, try again and so on until finally, they nail it.. Whoa, they've cracked it? No, they've played it correctly once out of twenty times!

I piece of advice I regularly give to my students is don't practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong. It's good practice to work towards being able to nail problematic passages 5 times in a row...

Another related piece of advice is too make things more difficult than they already are, for instance, practising a particularly troublesome passage higher, faster, slower, louder or quieter than you ever need to do it. This also helps performance anxiety when knowing that the real deal has become more a walk in the park for yourself!

Try the Arban studies on Eb or D trumpet, for instance. Sure-fire range and endurance builder!

Matt
_________________
Kanstul 1500A
Bach Strad LB25 43 leadpipe (modified)
Stomvi Master C
Schilke P 5-4 piccolo
Bach flugel
Yamaha D/Eb
Stork mouthpieces
http://northernhorn.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/northernhorn
http://uk.youtube.com/user/amigomatt

Dale Proctor · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:03 am Post subject:

A few years ago, our brass band was conducted by James Watson, and we accompanied Philip Smith on a couple solo pieces. What an honor and great (and terrifying) experience! Anyway, someone took notes during the rehearsal, and below are some of these great men's comments.

James Watson

"Dynamics create color. Highlight all dynamics in your music. Play what is written."

"On each descending run – crescendo."

"Play Proper Note Lengths – lose the staccatos."

“We all need the same inner time”

On your mental perspective for playing – “ physically relaxed, and mentally sharp”

“Every note needs a beginning, a middle, and an end”

“Adrenaline will make you play (or conduct) louder and faster, not better”

“Concentration and preparation will make you play better”

“Every time the third valve goes down, lean into the note with more support”

“Don’t breathe on 8th note rests. You’ll go to hell”

“Precision and dynamic contrast makes the music”

“If it’s too quiet, it will sound scared”

“Let’s do it one more time for luck”

“No short 8th notes”

“Breathing is the key. Breathe out to get the heart rate down and the mind focused”

On being a musician, “Play all sorts of music”

“It’s an old fashioned thing, which not many use anymore, called rhythm”

“In the music world, you give the guy what he asks for, or you hit the door!”

“If you don’t blow, it won’t go”

“There are no off-beats. Everything leads to the next (beat)”

“If you play centered, a good octave will cut through concrete”

Philip Smith

“The whole piece is about the groove”

“Sit on the tempo”

“Don’t breathe on the 8th note rests”

“When you play lower, play louder”

“In a sequence of notes, don’t play the last one short”

“When you play on a main beat, lean into it”
_________________
Olde Towne Brass
www.otbrass.com

Brass Band of Huntsville
www.brassbandofhuntsville.com

"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away ." - Sir Thomas Beecham

MikeyMike · Heavyweight Member Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 1579

Never leave your case lying around open if you own a cat.
_________________
By the way, on this corner right here, I stabbed a bum.

mcgovnor · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:42 pm Post subject: well

Actress and voice coach, Dorothy Uris.. 1969.."Give up this music thing..come with me to NYU Drama, that's your gift.

JonathanM · Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:51 pm Post subject:

bg · Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:41 am Post subject:

"When you've had a hard playing day, and you wake up the next morning, put the mouthpiece on your lip, and it feels terrible, that's good; you know you have it in the right place." - Vincent DiMartino
_________________
Brad Goode
www.bradgoode.com