What to Do When Things Go Wrong

[rhodf]

After much reading and practicing and lessons with Mr Adam and his students and really struggling to improve, I think I might be getting close to understanding what I need to do when things go wrong. Hopefully, the long time Adam students can chime in and let me know if I am getting this right.

One of the first things I learned from Mr. Adam and his students is that it is all about the sound. The physical will take care of itself if you have energized air and your head in the sound. This concept gets repeated over and over by Adam students. I found that trying to to put this approach into practice, however, is much more difficult.

My typical practice session goes something like this. If I am really focused I will have my head in the sound and will imagine the best trumpet sound that I can imagine in my minds ear playing the G in the staff which is my first note of the day. Some days I am not so focused and just blindly blow and correct afterwards which is really off track. Even on my best days, however, I will get two or three notes into my long tone study and the sound will be wrong. It will be fuzzy or out of tune or I will frack the start of the note. This is true even when I am hearing the sound before I play it, although in fairness many times it is because my mind has wandered. It is what comes next where I think my main problem and lack of progress stems from. I try to fix it. My mind says something like the following:
Blow more air
Blow less air
Tighten your chops a bit
Bring your chops together
Spin the air through the sound
You can substitute many other technical thoughts that all race through my mind at that moment. I try one of these things and sometimes it works and that note is good, so I try that same approach on the next note and so on. Sometimes it doesn't so I go through all of the different tricks I know to try to get the sound better. I use more air or I breathe deeper or I tighten my corners or I relax my chops in the middle, etc, etc, etc. Where is the focus? It is not on the sound anymore, but on all of the technical instructions going on inside my head.

What has occurred to me, which is probably obvious to many on this forum, is that I have to stop fixing the notes. First off, I need to make sure I hear the note, every note, before I play it. Second of all, when a mistake occurs in practice, I need to stop, hear the note in my mind as clearly as I can, maybe sing the note and then try playing it again. If it still isn't working then hear the note and try playing it again. Don't try to make the note or fix the note or change the air or fix your embouchure. Just hear the note and try again. If the note won't speak or doesn't sound good try coming at the note or phrase in a different musical context. For example, slur the note instead of tonging or descend instead of ascending or pull out an Arban exercise or song with a similar phrase or play it down a step. The key is to hear and play, hear and play. Never to consciously fix anything by trying to change your playing mechanism in any way. The only thing you consciously change between attempts is refocusing on hearing what you want to play as clearly as you can. Try a few times and work with it. If it doesn't work today, revisit it tomorrow and try again. This approach requires a HUGE amount of patience and trust but is what I really think I should be doing as I practice.

I am going to dedicate myself to this approach this week and see how things improve.

For those more familiar with Mr. Adam's approach, if you know of additional thoughts or concepts that would help to clarify and illustrate what Mr Adam would have us do when things go wrong, please elaborate.

Thanks,

[Nonsense Eliminator]

I think you're on the right track. When you're playing routine, just keep your head in the sound. As I see it, the point is not to play every note perfectly; the point is to make a perfect effort. Eventually the effort and the result will become more and more aligned. The point is to get the conscious mind out of the way. So if you're constantly deliberately adjusting how you're playing, there's a good chance you're just making it more difficult for your subconscious to sort things out -- i.e., you're basically missing the point of the whole exercise.

Don't apologize for this or feel sheepish about it. It's not a destination, it's a process, and I still struggle with it. As you say, it's about trust and patience, and it's not like you can just magically turn on "trust." As you do it more, you will have more success with it, and it will become easier to trust it.

Likewise -- don't think about what you're doing or how it feels when it works great, either!
_________________
Richard Sandals
NBO

[trpthrld]

I have lots of days when the first sound on the pipe is exactly what I hear and want it to be. And more than likely, the rest of the sounds in my routine, practice and performance that day are just like I want them to be.

And there are days when the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. sounds in my routine are nowhere near what I hear or want them to be. BUT...I know from experience, practice and mostly patience and trust in myself that later on, at some point in either my routine or practice, everything will come together.

On those days I might take it a little easier, I might add in a few more minutes of rest between exercises, might have a few more sips of tea or water, play a few more hands of solitaire on my 'puter...anything that will keep my mind from working against me or making me rush.

I do what I call "Oh, yeah"s where I go down a checklist - posture, breath, exhale, etc., and usually I'll find some little thing that I wasn't doing right (hence, the "Oh, yeah - I need to do that this way instead of that way"). I'll do the needed tweak and usually get to go on my merry way with everyone (my horn & me) being a happy couple.

The absolute worst thing you can do is start forcing things and fighting yourself. Whenever you do that, the little hole at the bottom of the cup of your mouthpiece only gets smaller and smaller and smaller.
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=146827&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER--

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[Billy B]

The Inner Game of Tennis

You must observe your playing as the referee would; without judgment.
The shot is either in or out, not good or bad.
_________________
Bill Bergren