The Tao of Trumpet-John Ellis

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THE TAO OF TRUMPET, AND OTHER (SLIGHTLY) EASTERN THOUGHTS ON OUR WESTERN INSTRUMENT

John Ellis, DMA

The Crane School of Music





We are all striving to perform at our best. We often assume that just spending time in the practice room will guarantee success, but it is much more involved, and yet at the same time, easier. This involves becoming better aware of how we function and learn. Then we need to understand how to tap into the potential that each of us has to perform to our best. But before we can do that, we must learn about ourselves and how we work. We will focus on three areas: Awareness, how to practice, and consequently how to perform our best .



AWARENESS: Knowing ourselves and how we learn


Awareness is the beginning of all learning. Learning is a response to a demand to grow - to do something you couldn't do before. The process of learning therefore naturally involves errors. Errors aren't the problem; ignoring or misunderstanding them is. In order to correct an error, you must first be fully aware of it; then it's inevitably going to be corrected.

True awareness is a sensitivity of the mind and body arrived at through sensory feedback , mental clarity, and emotional intuition. If it were merely an intellectual affair, then babies couldn't learn. If awareness is obstructed or weak, learning does not take place - or if it does, it is random and haphazard. It is important, of course, to be aware of our strengths as well as weaknesses . As you become aware of your strengths, you will find confidence, inspiration, motivation, and satisfaction. Yet it is only awareness of weaknesses that allows you to strengthen your foundation and consistently improve; therefore, we are going to focus on awareness of error. One sure sign of growing awareness is that you feel as if you are getting worse. Awareness is literally a disillusioning process, because it cuts through illusion; it entails a momentary drop in self-esteem, a dent in our self-image. No one really likes to look at his weaknesses, so we all have a tendency to resist awareness.



Whole-Body Awareness
One of the aspects of peak performance we must understand is that we must be aware of not just our physical errors, but also emotional and mental errors, the three centers of our selves.

Growth of awareness is subtle. Imagine a sculptor beginning to work on a large, rough piece of stone. First you determine your goal, then begin the process of chipping away at the stone, then finally the polishing. An example of gross awareness is noticing that you sometimes fall down accidentally. An example of subtle awareness is the diver who must pay close attention to the position of his hands and fingers even during a triple summersault. We can say that a beginner is someone who has not refined his awareness of errors relative to a particular skill. In this sense, we are all beginners, for no matter what we've accomplished, there are always new refinements we haven't yet developed, something to polish.



Now let's apply this understanding of awareness to our how we prepare for a performance.

Preparation is the key to success, and involves development of the whole body: Mental, Emotional and Physical .



Mental

Mindful Practice
Knowing what you are doing while you are doing it is the essence of mental discipline. This I call mindful practice. There is nothing unusual or mystical about being mindful. All it involves is paying attention to your experience from moment to moment. The problem is that usually our mind is paying attention to the past or the future; something that happened in class today or something that is going to happen tonight or tomorrow. Consequently, in any moment we may be only partially aware of what is actually occurring in the present. We find that we are really not “home”, or just partially awake. The present is the only time that we have to know anything. It is the only time we have to perceive, to learn, to act, and to change. This is the way that you must practice the trumpet. Being aware of each nuance, listening to your body, your lips, and your air. Listen to yourself! You need to pay attention to your experience from moment to moment.



Illusory self-concept

Our progress in life tends to be consistent with our expectations. If we think we are bad at something, we will be. Your level of achievement will rise with your self-concept. When you were very young, you were free to learn, open to anything. As you grew, however, you began to get impressions that you were “good” at some things and “bad” at others because you were praised and blamed, or because you misunderstood the situation. Try to keep a positive self-image.



Fear of failure

Failure is an integral part of the learning process. In order to learn, you must see what's failing, and clearly take it into account. Most of us, when still young, were taught to fear failure, especially public failure, and to avoid it at all costs. Fear of failure produces a vicious circle, and results in the occurrence of what was most feared. It works this way: Fear produces tension. Tension constricts the blood flow, slows the reflexes, produces shallow breathing, results in general contraction of opposing muscle groups, and can even affect eyesight. You need to make peace with failure. It is not your enemy. You have to use it, to appreciate failure. Try failing on purpose. Laugh at failure.



Destructive self-criticism

If babies carried around the same tendency toward self-criticism that adults do, they would never learn to walk. Can you see a baby learning to walk, falling and stomping the floor, “Damn! Screwed up again!” Babies are free of self-criticism. They treat failure the same as success; they just keep practicing. There are only three causes of error in the world:

Negative or unconscious habit patterns
Lack of information or experience
The fact that no one is perfect all the time


There are two kinds of criticism:

Constructive : “You were a little too high on that one; try swinging lower”
Destructive : “That's all wrong. Boy are you dumb!”




We use criticism to punish ourselves. People who criticize themselves share a belief that if they punish themselves in this way, they will improve. Just the opposite is true. Be constructive. Maintain an attitude of unconditional self-worth, free from self-criticism.



One-pointed attention

There is tremendous power in total attention to the matter at hand. That is when the athlete is “in the zone”. Michael Jordan used to say that when he was in the zone the hoop looked so big there was no way he could miss. For most of us, most of the time, our attention is diffused, distracted by thoughts that arise at the moment, our minds half on what we're doing, half on thoughts about what we're doing, or on daydreaming at random. One pointed attention frees us from any thought of self-concept, criticism, or fear.



Emotional

Emotional energy is called motivation. You have to have the energy of motivation in order to move, improve and succeed. Motivation is the key to training . Fear, sorrow and anger are the three primary emotional obstructions. They create tension. How do we break this? Try this exercise: Tense-Shake-Breath-Relax





Physical

This can be summed up in two phrases: Commitment, self-discipline . We have to be disciplined enough to be consistent about our routine; even when we don't want to, are too tired, or for what ever reason. If we are present with our practice, then if we have a bad day we can accept that as it is.



Practice

How we practice is so important in determining how we perform. Let's discuss some important aspects to practicing for peak performance.



Never repeat the same error twice : every time you let yourself practice a movement incorrectly, you're increasing your ability to do it wrong.

Pay attention to practice. Practice doesn't make perfect; only perfect practice makes perfect.



Proper learning technique consists not only of attempting the correct pattern, but avoiding the incorrect one . While practicing, remain fully aware in your mind and body of every attempt.



Practice is a little like gambling; you have to know when to quit. When you find that you can consistently repeat the correct pattern, only then should you begin to do many repetitions for endurance and stabilization. Take the time to learn it right and you'll save time.

Use visualization or mental practice. It is free of error and you can perform brilliantly.

Slow things down : slow motion practice makes us aware of what we are doing.

Break down the problem into parts: i.e. rhythm, melody, etc...

Use imitation: Listening is so important.

Some other thoughts:

Develop a routine and stick to it.
Be consistent about the time of day you practice
Break your routine up as much as you can, i.e. three 45-minute sessions.


Performance
This is the moment of truth. Let's discuss how to prepare for the performance.

Physical preparation
Physical preperation; overload and cut back. Be able to play more that you would be expected to play in a performance. This also tends to give a psychological feeling of confidence.

Emotional preparation
Emotional: You should be nervous. It is natural. Your body is responding to an appropriate psychophysical preparation for a unique demand. Adrenaline is released into the bloodstream. This makes the heart beat faster and your breathing mechanisms are stimulated. If your mind is filled with negative motivation, then you will experience the jitters as fear, weakness, or even paralysis. If you work on positive motivation, then you'll experience these nerves as excitement and anticipation.



We tend to perform in competition as we do in practice . Sometimes you'll be a little shaky, but usually you'll do better. With a realistic approach, you'll be free of illusory expectations of sudden miraculous improvement - and equally free of unrealistic fears of bombing out. You'll understand that results are in direct proportion to preparation. Practice with the same mental focus and determination as if you were performing; perform with a relaxed and easy going attitude as if you were practicing.



Understanding these concepts will lead to a positive and enjoyable performing experience.