Perfection

    Many of you have been reading my blog for awhile, a few times I have spoken about what music means to me.  In the sidebar of the blog there is a little description of the purpose of the blog, "the quest for the perfect sound, 160 dbs."  The volume is a little humor.  Seriously the quest for the perfect sound, I think most artist are on a life long goal of something they can call perfection.
    I woke up this morning and started listening to yesterday's library finds.  Blue Highway a blue grass band was first up in my computer.  While I was waiting for my old piece of junk to start up I read the CD Jacket.  I know the job of the jacket is to sell the CD, however I think the writer of the jacket made some great points about music in general.

"As a member in good standing of the Church of Bluegrass,

I believe that perfection is attainable in this life.  It's rarely

encountered, granted-just often enough to keep faith alive.

But when one does find perfection, in a band or a recording,

it's hallelujah, people, and crank up the volume."

    If you talk to professional musicians of the highest caliber, you will find when they talk about why the chose music you will encounter vocabulary like, divine, sublime, ethereal, etc.  They talk about early experiences while listening to music or early performance with phrases like "the music just spoke to me."  They are talking perfection.  You will encounter people that talk about the rush of performing.  Musicians all talk about music in different ways, but the fact of the matter is we were all touched by music and we are all looking to recreate that feeling of "perfection."

    Perfection means different things for different people.  I would direct you to previous blogs about technique and musicality.  But, discussion is usually confusing.  The only way to really know what I am talking about is to experience it.  That means listen, go to concerts, practice yourself, it means being a part of the quest for the perfect sound.  Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on Nature he discusses how useless language is to describe Nature, because that language has nothing to do with Nature.  The same thing goes for discussing perfect performances, words cheapen the experience.

     Jon Hartley Fox, the writer of Blue Highway's CD jacket for the CD Marble town has more insight.

It sounds odd to say of a band that has been around for 

ten years, recorded six critically acclaimed albums,  earned

a Grammy nomination, topped the charts in Bluegrass Unlimited 

and won a combined 11 group and individual IBMA awards, 

but I think Marbletown will be the album that takes 

Blue Highway to that proverbial higher level.

     I know lots of young musicians that have grown frustrated with playing in ensembles.  But look at this band 10 years of playing together, 10 years.  That's a long time, and I am sure most of them had a great deal of experience before they formed a band.  The quest for the perfect sound is a life long goal.  Patients is a quality that youth lack, but I think it is necessary to be a great musician.

Dream School

   Recently, I have been thinking about returning to school.  My education only ended at the on August 22 at the end of Aspen.  I have had a full three months with zero classwork, no lessons, and no ensembles.  In these three months I have been practicing lots, thinking more, teaching some, and performing even less.  Most of my time has been devoted to the Denver Public Library and to Hulu.  I am living in Denver and spending most of my time inside.  I have been lucky enough to make all of my money through teaching and through performing, but not lucky enough to buy a pair of boots to go with the skis I received as a gift.  I am doing better than I thought I would be, but not well enough to eat as much as I want.
   I have been doing lots of listening, to CDs, on youtube, to my students, myself, and the performances I have stored in my head.  Every time I listen I want to perform more.  I want to be playing with other people everyday.  I spent the last six years of my education playing with great people, great musicians, and great ensembles. Most students take that for granted, and most students do not know how to participate as well as they should.
   Most of this blog has been devoted to the digestion of 24 years of living, 18 years of classroom learning, 6 years of music school, and 4 years of teaching.  This break I imagined lasting between one and three years, before I return to school to get my DMA.  I wanted this break so I could make the most of a DMA program and contribute to a better music school.  There are a few factors I will look for in a program that I did not necessarily think about when I picked my previous two schools.  And I will look and listen to the entire program before I make any decision.
   On my TED Talk outing for the day I came across this lecture on a Green School Dream.  John Hardy is an environmental activist and is working to develop a green culture that will be sustainable across the centuries.  The school they have built I would have loved to attend.  Basically the kids go to school outside and in between lessons they help with the farming, building, cook, and everything that goes into the life cycle of living.  Andrew Dalton, the principle of the green school, and the staff have developed a dream school for children from 25 countries.
    This started my mind on thinking about Music School Dream.  What would I want in my dream music school?  What would such a school look like?  Who would be there?  Who would teach there? Then the daunting task of finding such a school and inserting myself into it.  I wonder if my colleagues ever took the time to really ask these questions.  Or if the deans I know have tried to make there dreams a reality.
    In my mind Music School Dream, is somewhere where music happens, consistently.  Students should be performing everyday, working with faculty everyday, they should be making music.  Think about the time spent in class at music school not discussing music.  Think about the classes where music is never mentioned.  Now think about the classes where zero singing or playing happens.  In current music schools, music is discussed but rarely happens.  A singing dialogue should be developed.
    There would be a lot less judging involved.  People would be free to practice and perform whatever they like.  Criticism would be helpful and specific.  Students would teach each other willingly and in a positive manor.
   Collaboration would flow from the walls.  Different instrument groupings would experiment with different sounds.  Composers would found new sound scapes and would incorporate new and old music.  Experimentation would happen all over the place, including coffee shops, stripe malls, and downtown.
   Teachers would not be shy about teaching a student of a different instrument or even of a different genre.  Teachers would also be active in the practicing process, knock on a door and help fix a phrase.  Studios would be located in central practice areas with large windows.  Pianist would be at every lesson.  Chamber groups would show up for spontaneous coachings.
    I guess the key, MUSIC WOULD BE HAPPENING.  Music school has become a very rigid endeavor.  There are very strict rules about how a school functions and what defines success.  But do these rules evolve out of music?  A lot my teachers say things like the sound is the most important thing, or the music should determine everything.  Well why not everything.

No Asshole

   I recently started listening to Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast.  This is basically a lecture series out of Stanford that is directed at MBA students.  Their most recent lecturer was Bob Sutton. Mr. Sutton is a teacher at Stanford and a prolific author about modern business.   His lecture was supposed to be on his book, "Good Boss, Bad Boss."  But he ended up talking about his book "No Asshole Rule."
   I was listening to this while I was writing this morning.  I have been thinking about my education and how to grow on that education now that I am not in school.  I happened to be writing about my behavior in classroom classes, instead of thinking about my "musical" education.  I was taken back a few times as I sort of listened to Bob's lecture.  I was an asshole in the classroom.  According to him I would make a bad colleague if I behaved the way I acted in the classroom.
   I realized very early in my education that in ensembles, working with colleagues is key.  We have all heard conductors say the ensemble is only as good as its weakest link.  Ensemble playing is about working with others.  However, we have all sat in rehearsal wishing other players had prepared their part better.  We have all also blown up at people at least every once in awhile.
   The leadership dynamic in professional and student ensembles is incredibly interesting.  In Bobs lecture he points about the toxic tandem, bosses tend to not pay much attention to their underlings.  In other words bosses tend to be assholes.  We have all seen first trumpet players not work well with their sections or trombone sections that do not speak to each other.  Again, this is because musicians do not work well with others.
   Music lends itself to the development of an ego.  Music has been about individuals for centuries, ever since composers started taking credit for their work, and has been about virtuosos since Paganini.  We also like to hear people who sound confident.  However to be a good colleague we need to keep these egos in check.  Don't be an Asshole.

Conversation with Will: Direction

    Today I had another lengthy conversation with Will Timmons.  Will and I attended undergrad and graduate school together and have been friends for nearly seven years.  We are both aspiring pedagogues and players and we are both trying to figure out ways of being better trombone players and better teachers.  Today's topic, direction, not in music but in the approach to the horn and to learning.

    First and foremost a desire to get better is necessary to getting better.  This may seem simple, but they way we often practice does not lend itself to progression.  In my undergrad, Dr. Edwards was huge on a concept he calls Sing Buzz Play.  And I believe this is a great way to refine playing the trombone, playing the tune on the piano gives the ear an accurate model, singing helps get your voice get in alignment, buzz gets your lips get in alignment, and playing gets your trombone in alignment.  Altogether a great concept, however, I rarely incorporated this tool in my practice.  I say rarely but it was probably a few times a week. As I get older this concept is dominating my practice. 
     In my younger days repetition dominated,  I need to be able to play all my etudes, solo rep, and excerpts with the right notes consistently.  So I used the quarter game, start slow and play exercises three times right before increasing the speed on the metronome.  I still use this to increase consistency.  But, we have all heard "Practice makes permanent."  This can lead to playing consistently out of tune, with a bad sound, and weak articulation.  Now, I use several different tools like the above one to improve the concepts of my playing rather than just speeding up what I am already doing.  Proper practice may take longer to get through material but it increases good habits as apposed to fast habits.
      The other desire to get better is mostly mental.  Becoming a professional trombonist is daunting.  Students these days have hundreds of perfect recordings to listen to, most of us develop an inferiority complex.  I have seen this manifest itself in a couple ways, the first is giving up, the second is not practicing seriously because perfection is unattainable (giving up), the third is not performing (giving up).  By this last one I mean, when students do perform more often then not a question comes out of their horn instead of a statement.  We have all heard people sound really timid because they are seeking praise or help instead of presenting the music. I think the best way to battle all of these is simple to have fun and strive for clear musical ideas.  This is mostly an internal direction, being honest with where you are going.

      The second topic we discussed was direction from teachers.  We have all had teachers that prescribe curtain procedures and then counter act the prescription through a different behavior. Or teachers that assign a huge task with little guidance along the way.  Both of these behaviors are incredibly frustrating and send a mix message to the student that often in turn is frustrating and sends a mixed message to the teacher.  However, I do not think either behavior is intentional.
      Lets take a look at the first behavior in the context of sing buzz play.  The act of polishing a phrase takes a lot of time and if you use practice techniques like sing buzz play, varying rhythms and style to work on slide technique or even slowly speeding up a passage you might have very little to show for it at the end of the day.  We have all had teachers that encourage polishing one measure or phrase at a time.  The issue, how many of you have ever had a teacher assign one phrase for a weeks practice?  In my experience one etude, one solo, and a couple excerpts was a light week.  In the quest to get great fast we burn through music instead of polishing and working slowly.  Of course a balance in necessary.
      Another great way to practice is the use of patterns.  How many of you play your scales everyday?  Already this eliminates most music students.  Now how many of you actually apply these to the music you are learning?  Most of us play etudes but do we know why? Brad Edwards wrote is dissertation on etudes that work on different key areas, styles, etc.  If you look at an etude and evaluate the key areas then practice the corresponding scales and arpeggios the technique within the etude will be easier.  Its like practicing the words in the right language before translating a passage of literature.
    Now the second behavior, a huge assignment without much guidance.  In high school we were all asked to read, sometime very large books, at the end of which we were encouraged to discuss passages and themes within the book.  On the SAT test takers are encouraged to read the questions then read the passage to help direct their comprehension. If in high school a teacher layed out a unit before reading, extracting the material would be a little easier.  What if a miner started digging in a mountain before he knew what meneral he was looking for?  We would end up with a lot of dirt that needed sifting! In music the student, weather they currently take from someone or are continuing to teach themselves, needs to know why they are playing an etude, solo, or excerpt.  What is this teaching me about style, pitch, rhythm?  What am I showing, style, pitch, rhythm, articulation, direction etc.  Can you answer this about every phrase of your recital or audition?

    I would like everyone to benifit from this ensight.  These are just observations I have made about my own education.  My approach could have been a lot better while I was in school, and I hope I am honest with myself and the direction I take now that I am a working musician.  I do not mean to call out any of my former teachers and I used Brad Edwards as the example mostly because I was using the sing buzz play method today.  I also know that he is a good sport and will not take this to seriously, although I hope his face turns really red when he reads this last paragraph.  Hopefully I will also give my students lots of direction, of course my students are in high school and need lots of direction.  The tricky part is knowing when to take off the training wheels, we do not need lots of musicians that need exact directions of when to apply curtain practice techniques, styles, articulations, etc. 

Upcoming Performances

     Last month after I posted my schedule I actually acquired more commitments.  I played my first gig in Denver with the Slide Rule Trombone Choir.  This was fun, great for my career, and great for my stomach.  We were fed at the gig!  One of trombonists with the choir happened to be the conductor of the Rocky Mountain Brassworks Brassband.  RMB is the brassband in town.  Last week Doug emailed and asked if I would sub with the band and play a solo. 
      The solo....Frosty the Snowman!  I glanced over the solo and immediately took the gig.  The piece is the Sandy Smith arrangment for bass trombone or E flat bass solo with brass band.  The piece is fun, although has its challenging moments, running through a few variations and spanning three and half octaves.  This performance will be my solo debut! The first solo I played on trombone in 10th grade happened to be Frosty the Snowman.

December 11  St. Andrews United Methodist Church 4pm
December 11  Broomfield Auditorium, Rocky Mountain Brassworks Christmas Concert 7pm
December 12  Slide Rule Trombone Choir, Highlands Ranch
December 12  St Andrews United Methodist Church 2pm
December 16  EL Wright Middle School
December 17  Summit Parkway Middle School
December 19  St Johns, Columbia, SC
December 19  First Baptist, Camden, SC

     I am really looking forward to the second week in December.  As you can see I am doing a fair amount of playing as well as teaching.  I have a few more teaching engagements in Denver before I head back east.  I cannot wait for my solo debut and busy and short visit to Columbia, SC.

Locker Room Jargon

     A few days ago I had the chance to catch up with my friend Marc Williams from LA.  If you remember from my posts while I was in LA, Marc and I had a discussion about brass playing and masculinity.  This conversation was weighing heavily on Marc and needed to clarify.  If you remember he finds it annoying that brass players constantly talk about how loud something is, instead of how musical a piece can be.  In his mind this degrades music from an art form to a locker discussion.  I want to share with you some outtakes from the conversation to help shed some light on the discussion.

Marc: I really dislike when music and music-making is talked about like a sport, being a big sports fan, I now all those cliches and hear them all the time it has no place in music that was what I was referring to and it isn't just brass players was unable to encapsulate it when you were here but that's the essence. I mean, of course there is physical strength that is exerted in everything one does but music-making isn't working outside on a construction project or at the gym with the other jocks lifting weights; it isn't a primitive act it's a skilled activity and we shouldn't demean all of the hard work we put in to make it a sport.

Me:  so we should talk about music like the high art it is?

Marc:  I'm not even making a value judgment on what is high or not high art, I am saying it is not sport. That's all, simple calculus, actually.

Me:  I am trying to think about ways music is a sport, but just to be playful. What about Ives, with two bands playing at the same time?

 

Marc:  Maybe a mental sport. Define sport or sportish. I am talking about the language associated with working out at the gym. Working out at the gym is one thing, playing Strauss is another

 

Me:  Dude, I lifted so much weight, it was awesome! But after the advent of programmatic music there are aspects of sports/battles that composers want to convey. Who would Shosti be without WWII?

 

Marc:  But you're talking about the substance of a story added to the music not the actual music-making.

So during 1812, it is somehow okay to talk about music in that way but not Schumann 4?

Me:  I have definitely heard conductors ask for more uniform volume because "this is war." At that point I think music becomes a little oppressive and shear volume does take over, but in the context of good pitch and articulation but only in isolated moments in the rep. I would not think that for Brahms or Schumann...ever.

Marc:  But as a skilled musician, you should take the metaphor of 'this is war' and create something musical out of it, still in control of what you can do.

 

Me:  I think control is what we are getting at here. The object is in performance to be in control, however, that means sometimes pushing the boundaries in practice and sometimes in rehearsal.

 

Marc:  But locker room talk about music cheapens it is the extra wrinkle I am throwing in. I am talking about the expanded lexicon that borrows from a locker room.

 

Me:  I guess as an instrumentalist sometimes I see the practice room as a gym.  I need to push myself in order to be the best in performance. However, I agree music making is different from practicing technique

and the art of music should be elevated above technique.

 

Marc:  Exactly

 

Me:  But the line especially for young musicians can be a little fuzzy some times. I guess that is the mark of a mature musician.

 

    Sometimes I think taking the locker room jargon out of the conversation is a little difficult because of the atmosphere surrounding the activity.  In high school a high level of competition is formed in order to motivate musicians.  This can be good and can be bad.  I remember a young member of my high school marching band being excited at the possibility of being labeled a Virginia State Honor Band (superior at marching and concert festivals).  When I asked him, "Why, would you be happy with that?"  He got really mad at me until, I told him the activity for me, at that level, was about progress.

   Of course my friends can tell you I have pushed the volume spectrum on a lot of concerts.  And throughout my undergraduate and master degree there was a great deal of talk about "manning up" and pushing through either exhaustion or pushing volume or speed.   We did everything we could to talk about music in macho terms.  Only, after maturing a little and only in small doses would we talk about making music in a singing style, or work on ensemble musicality.  I will do my best to limit my use of locker room jargon from now on.

Best Album Ever.

     Throughout my live I have had many conversations with friends, family and professional musicians. Inevitably, what music I listen to comes up a lot.  This is actually more interesting than you would think.  I used to answer anything besides rap and country.  Most people assume I listen to a fair amount of classical music, which I do, however I listen to a very diverse collection.  Yesterday I listened to, solo mandolin, blue grass, punk rock, ska, meatloaf, the Beatles, Tenacious D and an entire Puccini opera.  I think its less of a question of what I listen to and more of a question of what I do not listen it.  Every time I visit the library I check out 8-10 CDs mostly of people/genres I have never heard before.   With so much music out is there a best Album ever?

      
         I have asked his question to several people.  The first was Matt Guilford of the National Symphony.  Mr. Guilford gave me my first bass trombone lesson shortly after my sophomore year of college.  After the lesson I conducted a short interview in which I asked what his favorite album was....the answer, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin.  He did ask if he had to pick a classical album but I said no and was shocked by the answer.

        The first time I heard someone describe a CD as the "best album ever," it was a friend of mine, Cannon Fulmer.  Cannon is not a trained musician but he did play trombone in the marching band for 5 or 6 years.  Cannon does not have a huge CD collection or listen to music constantly but he had his favorite.  He has a box set of Chili Peppers Albums, Blood Sugar Magik, Californiacation, and Stadium Arcadium.

     Finally a classical album.  The first time I was exposed to an overwhelming music collection was after the Black Sea Tour I participated in, in 2007.  On my way out of New York I stopped in Queens at the Dunn's house.  Scott and Trish were the conductor and principle flute player on tour.  Their tiny (by my country standards) apartment had several bookcases full of music.  I spent several hours look through there collection and talking about music.  When I was leaving, Scott handed me this CD simply stating, "This is the best recording ever made."  My friends know it well now.  The Symphony is deeply moving and Lenny B. with Chicago is rare enough to make this CD special.  There are parts of some the best brass playing ever.  I think in the quest for 160 dbs, Charley Vernon might be the closest.  Usually I listen to the last 5 minutes laughing.
      There are some incredible recordings out there, pop, classical, or otherwise.  I have not made up my mind but I do go through obsessive phases, San Fransisco's Symphony Fantastic, Detroit's Copland 3, Cincinnati's Rodeo, Bat Out of Hell, Queen's Greatest Hits, and Flogging Molly's Swagger just to name a few.  I think the point is I listen to an ultra diverse collection of music almost without rest.  Listening is the best way to develop style, phrasing, and consistent beat (okay maybe dancing would be better) but listening is just an insane amount of fun.  What are some of your favorite Albums?