Discouragement :/

[xxaleckzandurrex]

Hey,

Long story short..

I've been playing french horn most of my life and i started moving more towards the trumpet over the past couple years because i liked it more. My embouchure never really felt "right" but i always found a way to compensate and i got by as a pretty good trumpet player. I was always known to everyone as a great trumpet player. I say this with no ego at all by the way.

For as long as i've been playing i've always seen a wall though. I always knew that it would get to a point where what i wanted to do with the horn would be limited by my faulty technique. I finally decided 2 months ago to do something about this since i knew that the wall was close.

Point is i've read books, ive tried different techniques but i just haven't seen much progress. It's getting to the point where my head is in the way and trumpet playing is becoming more than just a physical problem but a mental one. I've really never felt so low before. Something that i used to love has become something that only leaves me frustrated and questioning why i even decided to try and make this a career even though music is all i know and the only thing that i love.

At the same time, there's just all these expectations from people and teachers that just want me to play this or do that and when i try to explain it to them they just have no sympathy for the problem that i'm trying to overcome. My confidence has completely been shot and it's getting hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Especially now, when it seems like there's nothing but opportunity being thrown at me. All this opportunity that i just have to reject because of the situation i'm in.


It's scary to even whip out my trumpet in front of anyone now when before that's all i wanted to do.

I might sound a little dramatic, but i really care about making music and playing trumpet is a dream of mine that seems to be getting out of reach

Yeah i'm young; only 20 years old and i'm relatively new to trumpet but not to music in general, and even though there was alot of faults in my playing before i'm starting to wish that i never started this change at all.

[JonathanM]

I had that happen with my golf game a few years ago. I started overthinking my grip, of all things, and became so uncomfortable that I haven't played since. No great loss; golf was not a strong point of my life.

I'm sure many will echo this but a really good teacher should be able to help you; especially one who specializes in difficulties. Many of the more advanced players here at TH also teach via Skype, etc.

When I've hit walls in the past I've focused on long tones, basic scale work and gradually worked myself back into shape. Discouragement is just another facet of life that we all face - don't let it overwhelm you; there are options at your disposal.
_________________
Jonathan Milam
Bb Stradivarius 37, Olds Super
Olds Special Cornet
King Trombone
Yamaha Flute
Yamaha MO8 Keyboard

Mouthpieces: Marcinkiewicz, Curry, Kanstul, Bach

[abontrumpet]

Hey!

You're not alone and hopefully some good will come from you turning to trumpetherald.

Where you are is normal. There are going to be people suggesting this and that and telling you to focus on this or that and it is important that you keep your head about you and in this state of discouragement to be able to discern what will help and what will hurt.

In order to not add to the many things going through your mind I will offer the advice of just letting all that negative talk in your head go.

Keep it simple. More often than not, when people hit a peak in their development, or plateau, it is because they are not dedicating themselves to their fundamentals. Let's say you do fundamentals...what do you do? Slow it down. Long tones, slow flow studies, beautiful lip slurs, and great tonguing exercises. You're doing those things? Can you do them better? With a better sound? With conviction?

When in this frantic mood we have to remember to keep our mental focus and simply try to sound the best we can. There is something on my professors wall that says something to the affect of: "What's the worst that could happen if we try our best?"

Forget what ever anybody else thinks and remember that progress is unique to everybody. Do not feel rushed to get there right now...just enjoy the progress you will begin to make through a dedication to your sound, fundamentals, and great mental focus. Enjoy yourself again! Don't worry what people expect or think...one day you'll have your day again. Do not put any emotional attachment to your progress...there is no "bad" or "good" there is just the here and now and it is what it is in that moment. That doesn't mean be complacent...but strive for your absolute best and if you don't achieve it, remember there is tomorrow.

Get your head out of the technical and stay in the creative. If you're going to read anything I suggest reading: Psycho cybernetics and the inner game of tennis.

The obvious thing is to also get with a private teacher that will hopefully guide your success. Being in Miami there are a ton of great trumpet players that you could probably get in touch with.

[jazzykendall]

Long story short not even a month ago I was in the exact same position you were in. I've just finished up a contract on a cruise ship and I had completely fried my chops. As a general background to my personality, I'm typically a rather confident person. Not arrogant, but confident in my abilities on the trumpet. I know Im' not a Bergeron, or Ingram, or Hargrove (yet), but I know/knew that I was/am more than capable of performing the duties required to me for the gigs. UNTIL this last contract. There could be an endless amount of reasons/ excuses for why my playing went literally down the crapper, but the point is, is that because (at least in my mind) chose to not acknowledge the faults in my playing because I was able to do the jobs offered that it led me to the point where the chops said "NO Sir, NO mas." And I'm not gonna lie I was scared out of my mind. So scared that I had no clue where to begin, I had begun looking at the "easy" alternatives of guitar, or piano, or something like that. Then I realized that this is not a permanent end all be all situation. I realized that I have the choice to acknowledge that I have some fundamental problems, address them, and work on them in between contracts. I did. I had been using Claude Gordon's SA on my last contract and things had been feeling really good before falling off the cliff Wile E. Coyote style (cue whistling to the beautiful Looney Toons "Poof".) I decided that since it was feeling good before, it can feel good again and I should take lessons from someone who was well versed in the method. I took one lesson with Jeff Purtle, one lesson and he changed just a few things about the practice routine order and almost immediately things felt better. Now before that I did walk away from the horn. I knew that I was getting psyched out by it and that I wasn't mentally ready to get back to it.

I read a lot. Lately I've been reading a lot of books on various teaching of Buddhism. One of the main aspects of life that I've come across in the various readings is that you just have to be aware of a situation acknowledge the situation and then let it go. You can't dwell on it. You can't think about this negative playing, this what is going on I just don't know what to do situation. You have to accept where you are, then ask yourself how you get from where you are to where you want to be. There is nothing wrong with where you are. Its ok. Perfectly ok. This is just your body/ the horn sayin "hey man, you really need to address this over here, its just not working the way your doing it." That's fine. Again, its ok. The trumpet world could some of the most renowned trumpet players to ever grace this world who have had to walk away from the horn. It happens. But you know what happened to those great trumpet players, they came back with the awareness of the problems they may have had, and they addressed them and they got back to the point to where they were inspiring countless generations of trumpet players.


I feel like I may have been rambling for a while so I'll leave it at that. For what its worth I'm only 25. There is another thread I started when I was still on the ship in the Claude Gordon forum talking about my trumpet playing woes. If things aren't going well playing wise I think of two pieces of advice I've come across from my teachers. One from my professor "If things aren't going well, walk away, clear your mind, and come back when you're mentally ready to get to work," "Hit it hard and wish it well,” and
“Big Breath, Chest Up.”

Know you're a capable musican, a capable performer, a capable, trumpet player, and have the confidence that you can and will do the things necessary to get over this "wall" and I promise you that you will. You have to believe. Just believe and you'll put yourself in the position to make it so.

I would say "best of luck" but there is no luck, just desire to get to where you want to be.

Kendall
_________________
Kendall

Kanstul ZKT 1601
Kanstul ZKF 1525

[abontrumpet]

Great post Kendall

[Turkle]

HBO once put on a special called "Talking Funny" that featured the 4 funniest people alive today, Ricky Jervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Louis C.K. talking about comedy. One question that came up was how bad their first stand-up was and why they kept at it. Louis C.K. had an answer that really stuck with me.

He said that, like all comedians, he completely bombed his first time up there, and it was the worst. But he kept at it because he didn't "want to be good at comedy," he wanted to be a comedian. Nothing could stop him, because even though he was awful, he was a comedian, and he kept working at it, and now he's known as "a comedian's comedian."

If you're focused on "playing the trumpet," it'll never happen. If you're focused on being a trumpet player, then nothing can get in your way. Since you're not new to music, you know that everybody gets out there and gives it everything they've got. Even the greats clammed a note or two, but they kept at it, because they didn't learn to play the trumpet, they learned to be trumpet players.

I hope this post makes sense. If you think playing the trumpet is about learning the technical stuff, then of course you're discouraged - the trumpet is an incredibly difficult beast to (never) master. But if you're a trumpet player, you know that there will never ever ever ever be an end to the obstacles that must be overcome, and every mistake will, instead of a cause for discouragement, will rather be an announcement to you that you are a trumpet player that works on his/her craft, and you now have something to work on, and a definite way to improve yourself and the world you live in, which is a cause for joy.
_________________
2008 Yamaha 8310zs
1962 Connstellation 38B
1964 Connstellation 38A
1994 Bach Stradivarius Bb L bore, 25 bell
1972 Bach Stradivarius C trumpet, CML 239
19?? Yamaha YFH-231 flugelhorn
Curry 3. Mouthpieces

[Billy B]

Spend a week here.

http://www.shelllakeartscenter.org/?q=node/23
_________________
Bill Bergren
Obstacles are what appear when you take your eye off of the goal.
www.synergyjazz.org

[Jonny Boy]

I Second Billy B!

For many years I've felt uncomfortable playing. I've been aware that I'm using way to much effort but there just seamed like no other alternative. It was either work hard or make no sound. I had the chance to spend a week recently with Bob Baca and from the first note of the first lesson I could tell things were going to be ok! The problem I have had is due to a build up of playing too loud a lot of the time. This was creating a lot of tension in my playing and way too much muscle. No amount of internet forum advise could have come close to what he showed me. Now I'm playing much easier, know how to practice smarter and how to avoid the problems associated with playing in loud bands.

Good luck

Jon

[starkadder]

Contrary to what you may have heard elsewhere, a trumpet serves only two purposes:

1) collect spit
2) crush your ego

Mine is good at both!

[Pete Anderson]

[percivalthehappyboy]

[connicalman]