Performance (endurance/anxiety)

[Trumpetlover]

When I am in a situation where I have to
perform I notice that I play differently. My chops just don't feel the same. Many times this results in not having the confidence in my playing that I do when I'm practicing. Is this just a mental attitude weakness or is there something that may be happening when I get nervous that contributes to my playing differently?

[TossedSalad]

I would seek out as many performance opportunities as possible.

The more you perform, the easier it gets.

No matter what, try to have fun and have the attitude "this is how I sound today."

Physically speaking - it important to constantly be aware of your breathing, shallow breaths seem to go "hand in hand" with being nervous and when the breathing gets shallow, the "air/embouchure equation" becomes unbalanced and your chops end up doing more work than they have to.

Live performances are tough - nobody plays perfectly. The most important thing is that you are aware of your weaknesses and have "a plan" to improve and also have the "desire" to improve.

TossedSalad

[ This Message was edited by: tossedsalad on 2003-06-02 16:50 ]

[DaveH]

Yes, I think that the stress and nervousness and tension that tends to come with public performance can very definitely have an impact on how you play. Excessive nervousness can degrade your performance because it interferes with the abilities that you have under normal, unstressful circumstances.

I think it is quite possible for the psychological effects of stress to manifest themselves as limiting/handicapping factors on your optimum performance.

So, it is important to find ways to reduce the level of stress and nervousness you experience. The best way I know to do this is to perform as much as possible so that you get comfortable with the situation. The issue is fear of the unknown - how will I play, will I play well, will I miss notes, forget parts, have bad tone, my performance not be accepted for some reason by the audience?? So, you need to perform as much as possible to rid yourself of the fear of the unknown. You need to get to the point where the results are not unknown - you have done it many times before and this time is no different. When you can truly say that to yourself because of previous successful experience, you are well on the way to defeating the fear and your performance will not be affected or degraded by nervousness...

Confidence comes from successful experience - the more you experience success, the more you will be confident and be able to relax and allow you normal abilities to come into play, and the less you will experience any difference between how you play in public and how you play under more relaxed conditions.

[ This Message was edited by: DaveH on 2003-06-02 17:26 ]

[scream]

Hi Trumpetlover,

Great valid points here. However, here is another take to your problem. When I was on the road in the eighties, I would have a great warmup. When I got on stage, something in my setup or approach would change and I would have problems getting up to high C. I wasn't nervous (I was playing six nights a week...those were the days), I just wasn't marrying my sensations in warmup to the stage. It was at this time that I had started taking lessons with Doc and things (the kind of music I was playing...high, fast and loud) were changing me from a downstream player to an upstream player. I could concentrate in my warmup but I had to do the job when on stage: I had to think about the music. Over time, I was able to carry those new reflexes I was gaining throughout the night, able to perform without worrying about the mechanics....and worry about making music. In reality, it all settled down rather quickly once I realized what my tendancies were. In my case I wasn't keeping my "legs" on stage (e-mail me off line about legs if you have any questions). YOUR PROBLEM MAY BE DIFFERENT. I just used this as an example, not a fix.

I hope this gives you something to consider in working out your conundrum.......
_________________
Paul Garrett
Sandy Springs, GA

The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
Hubert H. Humphrey
US politician (1911 - 1978)

[Mr.Hollywood]

Every one of these guys gave you first class advice. I have nothing to add except you might want to have a couple of drinks to "loosen you up". I'm not saying get "smashed" just enough to relax you a little and take the "edge" off .

Just make sure you do it responsibly


Chris

[BeboppinFool]

Hey, folks . . . just checkin' in from the riverboat.

What I read in the original post above sounds like it could be "multiple embouchures." I remember when Doc first talked to me about that; he said that lots of guys tongue one way, and then have to shift gears to slur. Or they'll play low one way and have to shift gears to play high another way. Or (and I'm thinking this could be the big one here) they play soft on one setting and then shift gears to play loud.

The greatest thing for eliminating multiple embouchures for me has been the Track Routine.

Our original poster will have to contact one of you Reinhardt students who are now teachers to get some help with that, if he decides that's what the problem is.

Hey, somebody had to steer this topic back toward Reinhardt, right?

Rich
_________________
Puttin’ On The Ritz

[Wilktone]

Hi, Trumpet Lover.

I think I will be seeing you tonight at Community Band, so I'll try to take a look at what you're doing and see if I notice anything.

What Rich says may be true. Since I haven't had a chance to watch you play for a month now, I can't say for certain, but having seen you're playing in our lessons all last academic year, you do occassionally switch gears "midstream," so to speak.

What about your tendency to raise the horn angle when you inhale? Are you still doing that? Remember, you risk crashing the mouthpiece down on your lips every time you make an initial attack. Could this be causing some of your problems?

Keep plugging away at the Pivot System materials you have daily (touching on everything, if you don't have the time to run through everything completely) and work on fixing no more than two corrections at a time. Over time the way you practice will become subconsciously the way you perform.

Plus, don't get so worked up when you play in front of people. You have a tendency to do this (Remember how nervous you got before Recital Hour performances and Jury Exams, and how much you were complimented on your improvements?) instead of enjoying the performance/rehearsal. Allow yourself to feel a little nervous and then go ahead and blow. You'll play very well.

Dave W. (or "Doc" Wilken to Trumpet Lover).

[Wilktone]

I got the opportunity to watch Trumpet Lover play in a community concert band last night and have a couple observations to report that may help others give some more specific suggestions.

While watching TL play from three seats away I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked as if he was reversing his pivot type from type 2 (which he should be, as an embouchure type IV) to a type 1 (which he shouldn't be doing). To be certain, I asked him to play a little bit of the Pivot Stabilizer for me during the break. TL dutifully exaggerated the angle change while doing this, and his pivot seemed fine, but on a whim I asked him to try a little without the angle change. Sure enough, he was changing his pivot to a type 1 when he didn't use the angle change. Since I didn't see an exaggerated angle change when he was just playing, I suspect that my observations watching him rehearse may be accurate.

I suggested that TL be sure to play the Pivot Stabilizer (continue the angle change on this one) and Track Routine (NO angle change, keep the horn angle consistent on this one) daily. I hope that others can let us know if this sounds good and if there are others suggetions for TL.

Dave W.
_________________
wilktone.com

[TossedSalad]

[DSR]

TossedSalad,

It's really quite simple, actually.

-Brendan

[Wilktone]

[Mr.Hollywood]

Nice going Dave!!!!!!!!!!


Chris