Fugit irreparabile tempus
The story of life.
One of subjects of which I often speak:
Time is our most precious resource. Once it is gone, it is gone. Consume it wisely.
The concept seems lost on the young as they surely have a lifetime to experience and accomplish. Few warn us that life often goes by so quickly that youth slips away, all while waiting for something to happen. My advice? Don’t wait for it to happen. MAKE it happen! Live aggressively! Take control! It is your life. You are responsible for your successes and your failures. Concept: personal accountability. We are all too quick to blame others for our shortcomings. Too bad we aren’t as quick to credit others for our triumphs. It’s human nature but is doesn’t preclude us from being better. Remember, those who do not evolve become extinct.
Once people reach their fifties, they often recognize that the life ahead is shorter that the life past. It is not a bad or sad realization. Certain things do take on greater significance…what will I leave behind? Others take on less significance…gotta update the website. When one is busy doing, one seldom has the time to write about it. I do not take the time to update this site very often. It is also why I have no time for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et al. I simply choose to not spend my time in that way. I strive to invest my time, not spend it. I have accomplished wonderful things in my life and I am so focused in continuing that path. There is much to accomplish. My mind is working constantly on ideas for projects. Some are in the works.
The time you have taken to read this will never again be. Go DO something!
Elucidations 2014
1. Read your teacher's writings, blogs, articles, syllabus,
etc. If you don't understand something or disagree, ask and discuss...you will
learn something. You and your family are paying a lot of money for this
knowledge. Be curious.
2. As a student, you are at the bottom of the food chain.
Learn from those above you. As a student you don't know enough to know what you
don't know. As you learn more you understand what more there is to learn.
3. If you are not consistently placing in the top 2 or 3 at
your school auditions, why would you expect to win a professional audition?
Your study is not necessarily to prepare you to win an audition, it is to make
you a musician of such quality that employers will want to hire you for your
expertise.
4. The path to excellence is well worn. Stay on the path.
You are not different. You have not found a new way. There are no "million
dollar ideas,” but only "million dollar executions.” Hard work
outdistances talent. There are no shortcuts.
5. Turn your phone and other distractions off during your
practice. What you are trying to accomplish requires all of your focus. Don’t
get sucked-in to mediocrity
6. Invest your time. Don't spend your time. Quality of
practice is more important than quantity of practice. The ideal is a large
quantity of quality practice.
7. Live aggressively and use each day to its fullest. You
will never get it back.
8. Be curious, be interested, seek knowledge and progress.
Apathy may seem "cool" but it only leads to mediocrity. Be proud to
be good. Don't pretend it's not important.
9. Be the best you can be. You are cheating yourself by
doing anything less than your absolute best. Don’t be upset with the results
you don’t get with the work you don’t do. Remember…the world needs ditch
diggers too.
10. Be a doer, not a talker. Don’t pretend too be something
you are not. Become great so that you do not have to pretend.
Audience Etiquette
I go to a lot of concerts. I play a lot of concerts and I am
astounded at the disregard that audience members show the performers and fellow
audience members. Why do audience members always seem to cough at the quietest
moment of the performance. Why do they cough wildly between movements? Why do
people insist on opening their cellophane wrappers as slowly as possible? Why
do some audience members insist on being the first to applaud after a quiet
ending that should inspire contemplation? Why do audience members walk out
during the applause? Do they really save that much time, to be so disrespectful
to the performers?
10 Commandments for Audience Members
1.Thou shall plan to arrive in a timely fashion, so as to
not disrupt the listening experience of others.
2.Thou shall possess cough drops and dutifully unwrap them
prior to the beginning of the performance.
3.Thou shall turn off cell phone upon entering auditorium.
4.Thou shall exhibit self-control by not coughing or
sneezing during the softest passages.
5.Thou shalt not be the first to applaud.
6.Thou shalt not depart whilst applause is still occurring.
7.Thou shalt not slumber in the front row.
8.Thou shall grant a standing ovation only to performances
that merit thus.
9.Thou shall never photograph or audio/video record the
performance by unauthorized means.
10. Thou shall understand and appreciate the effort that
went into the performance and relish being present during the recreation of
great art.
Sitting in my Teacher's Chair
It has happened. Over and over.
It first happened in 1992.
Then, again in 2004 and every year since.
When I was a student, the thing I wanted most was to do what
my teacher was doing…play in an orchestra. The thing I REALLY wanted most was
to do exactly what he was doing…by sitting in his chair. This feeling began
when I was 18 and studying with Warren Baker in Oregon. “Bake” was the
principal trombone in the Oregon Symphony and there was nothing I wanted more
than to do what he did.
10 years later, I was. When Bake took time off for a hip
replacement, I got to play his job for many weeks…time has erased just how
many. I was thrilled to do it and thought I had “arrived.”
The next time this feeling hit me was in 2004 when I started
working with the Chicago Symphony. When I sat in Frank Crisafulli’s chair, I
saw what he saw for over 50 years. It is an awesome experience…and I never use
that word lightly.
During my weeks with the New York Philharmonic, I only play
principal trombone and again I am sitting in my hero’s chair…an awesome
responsibility.
When I played the Tomasi Concerto as a student at Indiana,
little did I know that I would return to the same stage to play the Rouse
Concerto 15 years later, as a faculty member.
The room in which I teach at Northwestern is not Mr.
Crisafulli’s old studio. Barbara Butler teaches in his studio. I have taught in
her studio one or twice and the first time I just sat there for several minutes
in silence to listen to what the walls had to say. The same room that was
pivotal in my career. The walls had a lot to say.
It has been an amazing journey and I look forward to what
comes next.
Leadpipe Blues
A friend and former student of mine has revealed a troubling
habit. No, not drugs or Internet porn (at least not that he tells me…) but a
habit equally as potentially destructive:
Cleaning his trombone the wrong way! Oh, no!! Really????
Poor guy.
Cleaning a trombone is not complicated, when following some
simple guidelines regarding respect for the softness of the metal, which is
easily dented and/or scratched; respect for the small screws, which are easily
lost and/or the heads twisted off and respect for the valve structure, workings
and tolerance.
This may seem trivial but there is one aspect to cleaning
the instrument that while seemingly benign, can damage a very delicate part and
greatly impact how it plays. When cleaning the mouthpipe side of the inner
slide, NEVER use a cleaning rod to pull a cloth back toward the mouthpipe.
Doing so can damage the end of the leadpipe (especially older, more fragile
ones) by having the cloth catch on the super-thin end of the pipe. The leadpipe
is most commonly made of brass, which is a very soft alloy to begin with. The
end of the leadpipe is necessarily very thin to make a smooth transition from
the mouthpiece to the nickel inner tube. It is very easily damaged. A snake
with a swatch of cloth over the end, run through in the direction of the air
and pulled out the other end is the safest way to clean this tube. This can be
done on each of the inner tubes. When using the cleaning rod on the outer slide,
make sure you use a cloth so that the rod does not come in contact with the
brass. The cleaning rod must be used with respect because its compositional
material is likely harder than that of the leadipie and outer slides and can
mar the delicate brass, if not used carefully.
If you have a removable leadpipe, take it out and then go
ahead and use the cleaning rod to clean the inner slide tibes. Clean the
leadpipe gently, being careful to not damage the thin end. I’m not kidding,
once it is damaged, it is ruined. Respect.
This discussion then lead to another, about the different
types of leadpipes and how they attach to the handslide.
There are a few different ways leadpipes can be attached to
the trombone:
Hands down, for me, I prefer a soldered leadpipe. Being
soldered, it is more a part of the instrument and I also cannot mess around
with other pipes in hopes of finding something “better.”
Get rid of the variables. Get to the practice room.
Find It Yourself
Several times each year, potential students ask, “What can
you tell me about the trombone studio at IU?”
While I am happy that young players have an interest in the
trombone area at the Jacobs School of Music, I am discouraged by their lack of
motivation to find the information, which can easily be found online, through
the JSoM website. Mind you, these are likely the same people who have their
nose buried in their “devices” all day and can find any obscure detail on the
Internet in order to impress their friends. Somehow it doesn’t seem to occur to
them to use that same process to find out about where they might want to
further their study.
Being a successful musician is all about being inquisitive.
One of the most basic first steps is researching where you want to study.
Unfortunately, I find that too many students want success to
be handed to them instead of working harder than the next person to achieve it.
Here is a warning to prospective students: I won’t hand it
to you. I expect you to work for it.
Proverb:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to
fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
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