My experience with Skype Lessons

[Dark Knight]

I have spent the first 6 years of my comeback focused solely on reading rhythms, timing, singing through music to hear it in my head before I play it. All the number one priority required to play in music with others. But, the time had come to this about range and I was hitting a wall. I have posted in this forum before under “play like a kid”. I decided to try to discover “the knack” by playing with the trumpet as I did when I was kid. Just have fun. This past year I tried octave slurs to learn how to move my tongue. Playing around, I found a slur pattern which taught me to learn how to “ratchet” the back end of my tongue and trill with ease. I thought “wow” this was what “the knack” must feel like. I think that playing with my own routine and really focusing on a feel rather than looking at exercises and getting paralyzed by what I see on page really helped.

Coincidentally, I read a post by John Mohan the used the phrase that the high range is there waiting to be discovered, or the knack is there waiting to be discovered. I thought that now would be the perfect time to take lessons on how to play in the upper register. I was extremely reluctant. Hard to figure out why. Maybe it could be the feeling of disloyalty to the wonderful teacher that I have. But, listening to Trumpet Teacher Talk (https://trumpetteachertalk.com/), I came to understand that people can have teachers that work on different aspects of playing. And, in the end, I discovered that they are saying the exact same things about developing range and playing. So, I am doing everything my current teacher has asked me to do and it is perfectly compatible.

I am a former bodybuilder and my personality needs a very explicit routine to “contain and guide the effort”. Skype lessons with John Mohan is the best decision I have made in trying to get the next level. I responded immediately. While I could hit a high C, I could “not” play a controlled arpeggio to high C. After the third week, I can play the arpeggio to high C, C#, and D, and I am learning to control the arpeggios to Eb and above. Tonguing this high above the stave was simply unimaginable until now. Right before the summer break, my teacher said “play an arpeggio to high C”. I could not do it all! Then, he said, “well you should be doing lots of those every day.” John Mohan has laid out a systematic routine towards that end.

I am a certified strength and conditioning specialist and have given great thought to why John’s routine has been so effective. John very carefully chose the progression of exercises, the number of exercises, with a strict work-to-rest ratio that is entirely consistent with the basic principles of muscle physiology and motor learning used to training athletes. First, the gradual progression in intensity and duration with a strict work-to-rest ratio develops strength. The exercises are simple, so that foundational coordination patterns can be learned and established. He has said that he likes IRONS for the simple flexibility patterns. I so badly wish I had started out this way, as I would be much further along by now. I am only doing Groups 5,6,7, and 8. I have resisted the urge to take them higher. During this time, I am actually REALLY learning how to coordinate the air and tongue so they are smooth, fluid and sound musical. The simplicity and repetitiveness is a perfect motor learning paradigm to develop this skill. I know, and look forward to moving on to the other groups in due time. Without John’s guidance, I know 100% that I would plough onto the more advanced Groups, playing them by brute force because I could, and by NOT technique. All I would learn to do is strain. I have modified a phrase from my old professor that has bounced around for years and not unique to me: “Practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent. Perfect practice, makes perfect permanent.”

There are two unintentional lessons that I have learned. First, I have learned where the time commitment bar is if I want to take my playing to the next level. I totally underestimated the how much time is required to make the progress I want. Sounds naïve, I guess. You have to be willing to commit to the process to make progress. The second lesson is probably the most important and qualitative. Claude Gordon breathing is an essential component and woven into every aspect of the program. I noticed similarities (not identical) to yoga breathing. The Claude Gordon breathing accidently turned trumpet practice into a mindful meditation exercise that clears my brain and helps me to TOTALLY focus on what I am doing. I have a hectic schedule with numerous professional responsibilities so my “monkey mind” is always thinking about work. Claude Gordon breathing has made trumpet practice like a mindful meditation where I close my eyes, play the exercises from memory, relax and connect a kinesthetic sense with a nice sound. I am also forced to slow down and not get sloppy. Extending from this, is the awareness of how much tension I hold in the neck and shoulders when I play, and I am trying to “unlearn” this pattern.

The final principle is specificity of training. The pencil exercise, the Bud Brisbois M.P. exercise, and lip buzzing were a waste of time as “the only” means to increase range. These things were not the missing element at my specific level of development. They may have other uses, but I have stopped these auxiliary exercises, and spent way more time developing strength by practicing and learning technique. (As a side note, I can easily see that using those auxiliary exercises without the guidance of a teacher could also lead to “over-training”.)

In short, taking Skype lessons with a teacher who has really thought about these things will be the best investment of your trumpet career, if you are having difficulty in this area. John would be the first to admit that he is not the only one who can do this. He has, himself, promoted Pops McLaughlin, amongst others. Don’t waste money on M.P. safaris, buying book after book, maybe abstain from alcohol for a while to save up. I love single malts but I love playing above the stave now, even more. The price of a Skype lesson is reasonable and I believe that if you are having difficulty, you really need the “personal” guidance of someone with a plan.

There is no need to bang your head against the wall in frustration anymore.

DK
_________________
I learn from my mistakes. I can repeat them perfectly every time.

[John Mohan]

Thank you very much for that glowing review!

It's interesting to me that I've had far more science and health science people as students than what exists per capita in the general population. I have or have had as long-term students a Physician, a Physical Therapist (who also has an EE degree and worked as an Electrical Engineer for 20 years), a Physicist, two other Electrical Engineers, two Mechanical Engineers, an Aerospace Engineer (yes, literally a Rocket Scientist), a Computer Engineer, and two Nurses (one an ER Nurse and the other a Critical Care Unit Nurse), and these are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I have to think this lends merit to the logical nature of what and how Claude Gordon taught me to practice, perform and teach.

Best wishes,

John Mohan
_________________
Trumpet Player, Clinician & Teacher
1st Trpt for Cats, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Evita, Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Grease, The Producers, Addams Family, In the Heights, etc.
Ex LA Studio Musician
16 Year Claude Gordon Student

[trumpetteacher1]

" I have to think this lends merit to the logical nature of what and how Claude Gordon taught me to practice, perform and teach. "

The fact that you have reached this conclusion speaks volumes about who you are, and the bias which rules your life.

I started a book a while back, addressing the origins of bias in the trumpet community. People are very happy with their bias, and seem oblivious to how it can lead them to overly narrow conclusions.

Why does one person go on an endless mouthpiece safari, while another sticks with one his whole career?

Why does one player buy a horn primarily because his hero or teacher played one, versus buying a horn because it is easier to play?

Why does one player only seek advice from a great player, while another seeks a clarity of understanding which can come from any source?

Why does one players seek the comfort of the "tried and true," while another finds value by seeking innovation and newer approaches?

Why is one player primarily attracted to a wind-based approach, while another prefers a sound-based approach; and yet another puts the greatest value on timing, while still another prefers to select from a variety of different techniques?

There are obviously dozens of other examples.

Why do the same people keep lining up on opposite sides of pedagogy issues, with each side claiming that they have the superior or more logical approach?

Hope to get it done eventually, but not any time soon.

Jeff

[John Mohan]

[okeyjeff]

[John Mohan]

[trumpetteacher1]

This was not an attack. It does not require a defense.

Your bias transcends any specific connection to Claude Gordon.

I gave multiple examples of bias in human perspective. If you can't recognize that people are consistently biased one way or another, you are not paying attention.

When you infer that Claude Gordon material is logical because so many medical-type people are attracted to it, it infers that only medical-type people are logical. People with a different bias will most certainly disagree.

Jeff

[Dark Knight]

I will offer what I believe is a connection between these ideas. I have been teaching university students for almost 20 years. Thousands, may be even 10 plus thousands of students by now.

My job depends on strategizing around the different combination and permutations of learners in the class room for very difficult subjects. If i had only one way or "approach" to teaching, I would only be reaching a specific kind of learner.

I have been studying the parallels between trumpet pedagogy and how I teach university students. The schools or "approaches" to trumpet pedagogy speak to specific ways in a student learns. I am "not" saying that they fail with others kinds of learners; they can still be successful. But, there are some that really grove on a specific approach. In my specific case, I am really grooving with the approach because it suites my personality, which needs this kind of structure. However, I have another teacher who has a whole different approach that resembles Judith Saxton (http://trumpetteachertalk.libsyn.com/). It has worked wonders and taken me far, and I will continue that important part.

If you listen to all the lectures on trumpet teacher talk, you will find that most all of these teachers were themselves influenced by multiple great teachers with different approaches that they integrate to their own whole. There is one lecture (I forget the specific one) where there were two teachers at the same school, one that focused more on a physical approach and one that focused on a musical sound approach, and they exchanged the "same" students back and forth depending on what that student "needed" at the time. A perfect symbiosis.

My outsiders' observation is this that the trumpet is very physically demanding but has to become seemly effortless as the musical mind takes over. Some students have an incredible musical mind up front and need more physical approach as they progress, and vice versa. Over time, I can only hope it all evens out but seems a never ending struggle to keep improving.

DK
_________________
I learn from my mistakes. I can repeat them perfectly every time.

[scottfsmith]

Well put, Dark Night.

I was taking a nearly completely musical sound approach up until this summer when I decided to try some lessons with someone working on the physical side. I have been stunned at how fast I have been able to progress my overall playing ability, it was the right thing for me at the time. Free buzzing in particular was the ticket for me, I was using too many non-lip-area muscles (as my teacher pointed out) and it was seriously screwing me up. Those neck/chin/etc muscles don't help in free buzzing so it has helped wean me from using them. Just in the last week or so I have extended my free buzz to the bottom of the bass clef and that has helped focus my muscles even more. This is from someone who thought free buzzing was an odd useless curiosity a few months ago.
_________________
Thane Standard Large Bb / Monette Unity B6-7M mpc
Lots of vintage trumpets and mouthpieces

[John Mohan]

I think this is becoming a great thread - great thoughts and info here. In particular, what was written about how a professor using just one teaching approach will only be able to reach a certain group of his students is thought provoking. I think because I do pull aspects of how and what Bill Adam taught, and also the ways of the "Chicago School", mixed with a bit of Vacchiano, I do reach more students than I would if I taught a strictly Claude Gordon diet, but I admit what and how I teach might not be perfectly suited for all. I do think the CG material combined with Adam and Chicago School can and does reach at least a plurality of students well, if not a majority. In reality, what Claude taught is very closely related to what the others taught. All the great teachers create routines consisting of material from all the great trumpet books and methods (Clarke, Arban, St Jacome, Colin, Irons, Walter Smith, Gordon, Maggio, etc.) and organize the student's practice routine.

Best wishes,

John

[trumpetteacher1]

[John Mohan]

[oxleyk]

[Grits Burgh]

Ah, yes. How do we know and how do we know that we know?

Epistemology – the dismal science.

“Bias” is a loaded term. Nobody wants to be thought of as biased any more than than they wish to be thought of as racist. But in the context of trumpet pedagogy, bias, properly understood, is not a bad thing at all. Bias in this context simply means a preference for some approach over competing approaches. Presuming that such preferences have been arrived at by some more or less systematic or experiential means, the resulting “bias” could just as easily be defined as “professional opinion,” “experience” or “preference,” all terms that come with less baggage than “bias”.

The world is infinitely complex. In order to deal with that complexity, most (all?) people employ heuristics to some extent. That's not a bad approach. For example, when deciding on a mouthpiece, when faced with the seemingly endless choices, I decided to start with a 3C. I could have chosen to try every available mouthpiece (in fact, I did start out doing just that), but that approach would consume an enormous amount of time and money – two things that a poor old man does not have in abundance. The alternative was to adopt some criteria, some basic rules to simply the decision process. Lacking personal experience, the first rule that I adopted was to avoid extremes. That rule imposed a “bias” against very large and very small mouthpieces. Was that a bad bias?

Obviously, the better rules that you adopt, the better decision that you make.

It seems to me that there is a trend today for people to use labels as a substitute for thought. People think themselves to be “open minded” by virtue of the fact that they fancy that they make no value judgements – except perhaps for their disdain of people who do make value judgments. To refrain from making any value judgements at all, to refuse to commit to any truth is essentially nihilism. I personally don't recommend it.

A heuristic approach assumes the risk of not finding the absolute best solution. That is the tradeoff that you make for the sake of expediency and simplicity.

Try it. You'll like it.

Warm regards,
Grits
_________________
Bach Stradivarius 37 (1971)
Schilke HC 1
Getzen 3810 C Cornet
King Master Bb Cornet (1945)
B&S 3145 Challenger I Series Flugelhorn
Life is short; buy every horn you want and die happy.

[lexluther]

Thanks Grits, my brain hurts now😀
_________________
Bb - Schilke B6, SB4-MG Soloiste
Bb - Yamaha 8310Z II, 25th Anniversary Xeno
C - Yamaha Artist Chicago Xeno
Flugel - Getzen Custom Reserve 4895
Eb/D - Yamaha 6610
Cornet - Bach Strad 184ML

[John Mohan]

[John Mohan]

[cheiden]

[Grits Burgh]

oxleyk. I very much enjoyed your "5 stages of grief" post.

[razeontherock]

There is some very worthwhile stuff in this thread. First of all, the OP: congrats on your success! And at least as much, for taking the steps to get a lesson in the first place. Nice choice of teacher, btw.

Mr Smiley's comment about getting beyond managing bias and finding a way to lessen the grip of polarity in our society, is a primary direction I have consciously tried to influence the world in, for the last 10 years or so. I had not heard of Jeff writing a book on that topic, but I bet I'll like it. (Maybe not as much as my practice session tonight; I was overdue for a good one)