Motivation?

MarkD · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:12 pm Post subject: Motivation?

I started my comeback during the pandemic after a 40 year “break”, having last played in high school.

I’ve worked with a private instructor and have developed a good warmup and practice routine and generally sound better (I think) and have more confidence than I did in school.

I’ve started and stopped my comeback several times due to lack of motivation. Not due to playing difficulties or not wanting to practice scales, etc., but because I’m not sure why I decided to comeback.

At first I thought playing for my own pleasure was a good reason and I thought I might join a community band or occasionally fill in with a church choir around Christmas or Easter.

I haven’t joined anything yet and was hoping some of you could share your reasons for coming back? What’s it like playing in a community band or something similar? In high school we would regularly be asked to play with a church choir at Christmas and Easter services and I enjoyed that a lot. Don’t know how to get back into that as I don’t currently belong to a church.

Any motivational insight would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

kehaulani · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:41 pm Post subject:

O.K. this is just personal, but I make music because I cannot not make music. If you're like me, you know what I'm talking about. If not, then you won't. Maybe something else takes your passion.

But I got my greatest joy playing in ensembles.

If you're not sure about them, attend a rehearsal and get accustomed to the vibe and musical level. No need to jump in sight-unseen. Give it a try, you might like it.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
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Adams F-1 Flghn

ebolton · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:41 pm Post subject:

I like having a challenge, and I'm at a pretty stable point of life and I don't get a lot of challenges now. As a side benefit, I casually mentioned I was playing again to my doctor and she was thrilled; she said words to the effect that exercising the brain circuits would help keep them from deteriorating.
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-Ed

cheiden · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:51 pm Post subject:

After my comeback I found my way into a number of community big bands that play weekly and mostly for fun. That led to...
- an opportunity to do children's musical theater that I've continued to do for decades
- a short stint with a salsa band
- a community college and their jazz bands where I played for years
- my first private lessons that led to a community of players resulting in church gigs and eventually a symphony
- An invitation to attend a brass chamber music workshop that I've attended several times
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MarkD · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:50 pm Post subject:

MarkD · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:51 pm Post subject:

MarkD · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:54 pm Post subject:

Vega-Lux · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: Motivation?

MarkD · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:54 pm Post subject: Re: Motivation?

stuartissimo · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 12:30 am Post subject:

What kind of music do you like? What kind of music would you like to be able to play? Maybe that would help you determine what kind of music ensemble to seek out.
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Dayton · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 12:52 am Post subject:

Join a community ensemble. You'll have goals to work toward (rehearsals and performances), people who count on you, and will be part of a group united by a love of music and a desire to share it with their community. If you can't find motivation in that, then it might well be time to reassess. Good luck!

Croquethed · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 4:26 am Post subject:

Find that intensely personal reason which makes Kehaulani's statement about not making music being a non-starter in your life your polestar.

For me, it was stumbling upon a classic blues riff (I received absolutely zero theory in HS band, just "read the note, play the note"), then studying up on the blues scales, both minor and major keys. That opened up all kinds of play-by-ear potential, from Smoke On The Water to Peter and the Wolf.

I never did join a community band, because I had enough of sheet music standards in high school. My public "performances" are just noodling in the local park or up at the nearby elementary school, which has a sheltered tiled entranceway and acoustics to die for. People out on their daily walks stop and thank me.

The other good thing about being a comebacker with the trumpet instead of an instrument you can pick up and put down and still put out a passable sound is the discipline involved. If you stop playing for any length of time, your chops go. So it's a great feedback loop; you play every day and do your fundamentals to keep your skills up and because you have the horn in your hands more often, you're able to stay pretty constant with figuring out new songs and advancing your repertoire andn knowledge.

When I started the comeback in 2013, all I wanted to do was get good enough to play Jingle Bells, Auld Lang Syne, The Star-Spangled Banner, and Taps. And lo and behold, the horn has become my absolute indispensable activity every day.

MarkD · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 7:19 am Post subject:

MarkD · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 7:24 am Post subject:

MarkD · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 7:40 am Post subject:

GeorgeB · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:14 am Post subject:

My comeback is a long story that I have posted here often so I won't bore everyone. I'll make it short.
I played trumpet with my own small 5 piece band from 1953-1965 I quit for personal reasons.
In 2012 I suffered a huge loss in my life. I thought about playing again off and on but it took until 2016 before I realized I needed to fill my empty life and music was the medicine. So I picked up the trumpet at age 79 and after a few short months I was playing with the local Horizons band. But I needed something more demanding and joined a top notch community brass and reed band. That's where I am today. Lets just say that playing the trumpet again was my salvation.
George
_________________
GeorgeB
1960s King Super 20 Silversonic
2016 Manchester Brass Custom
1938-39 Olds Recording
1942 Buescher 400 Bb trumpet
1952 Selmer Paris 21 B
1999 Conn Vintage One B flat trumpet
2020 Getzen 490 Bb
1962 Conn Victor 5A cornet

kehaulani · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:16 am Post subject:

If there is a New Horizon Concert Band in your area, that might be something you would like to look into.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

GeorgeB · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:18 am Post subject:

I would second that.
George
_________________
GeorgeB
1960s King Super 20 Silversonic
2016 Manchester Brass Custom
1938-39 Olds Recording
1942 Buescher 400 Bb trumpet
1952 Selmer Paris 21 B
1999 Conn Vintage One B flat trumpet
2020 Getzen 490 Bb
1962 Conn Victor 5A cornet

MarkD · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 2:54 pm Post subject:

MarkD · Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 2:57 pm Post subject: