Greetings from the Teacher:
Happy Holidays to all! I have some time off to work on a brief (light) version of the studio newsletter this week....so, here it is. Enjoy your vacation. Sleep! When you feel rested and get bored being lazy, take out your horn and practice a bit. This time off might be a good time to completely clean out your horn.
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Student Notes:
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Teacher Thoughts:
working in a section
My recent performance experiences with the Ukiah symphony and in a few scattered church performances provided me with some interesting information that I think is worth passing along as a general teaching and learning tool. All of the students enrolled at North Bay Trumpet Studio play in "sections". I think our usual habit when playing in a section (especially when we begin to develop a sense of musicality) is to look at those around us and criticize what they are doing wrong. Unfortunately, this does not usually have the result we desire (for what we perceive as errors to be corrected). What if we changed how we viewed and reacted in this situation? What if we looked at the difficulties and shortcomings in our section not a function of someone else's problems but as our own issue (how we are reacting to this problem)?. In other words, there is the possibility that the problem with this situation is not with the other person, but possibly with our response to it. What if we were to look beyond the surface issue (of playing out of tune for example) and considered that the underlying cause of the problem could be tightness in that person due to their discomfort with their abilities?
The shift in perspective that might occur if we allow ourselves this possibility is that we might avoid the potential conflict set up by our directly pointing out a problem and that person's insecurity. I am not sure, but the usual uncomfortable feelings that exist within a section are possibly due to self-consciousness, discomfort, misunderstanding, miscommunication, and the resulting conflicts that arise from these issues. What if we choose not to react to our own dissatisfaction with someone else's abilities? What would happen? I happened to try this approach in several cases recently. Rather than judge other players and say something or actively try to correct what I thought might be their problems, I decided to remain silent and play my part to the best of my ability. In other words, rather than verbalizing anything, I thought about what I was doing first. I actively thought about my own intonation and sense of rhythm. What happened was most interesting. At the end of rehearsal, I made the light suggestion that I would feel better, if the opportunity arose, if we went over a few things as a section before the next rehearsal. Surprisingly, not only was my suggestion well received, the sectional went better than I would have hoped. This resulted in a better overall performance. When rhythm became an issue in performance, I stuck to my part and thought about myself as I had done before. But, because of the time we had spent together and the comforting atmosphere, the player who was rushing was able to listen to my subdivision and felt comfortable enough to follow me instead of pull away from the section with resentment and defiance. Furthermore, before I left, one of the players asked me for a lesson (even when I had said nothing to that person about teaching).
My idea is, that since I had not set up a conflict by pointing out anyone's weaknesses (which would possibly make them feel uncomfortable, defensive, argumentative, and shut down to any suggestion-musical or otherwise), I allowed the (weaker) player(s) the space to feel more comfortable about themselves and less intimidated about playing with someone they did not know well who might hear their shortcomings. By suspending comment and sticking to my own business as a first priority, they felt comfortable sitting next to me as a player and person. When my suggestion came (lightly, openly, and placed on my own possible insecurity about rhythm rather than theirs) the other players seemed open. By validating their feeling of self-importance and not trying to steal it from them, they felt comfortable and non-threatened. It is possible that an non-threatedned and validated person is open to suggestion and possible (small) changes. I have a sense that this method may have a wider application than just the scenario described above. Could this have a personal application? What would happen if we were practicing and we made the choice not to tighten as we approached the high note (as is our usual subconscious impulse)? What if we stopped and made the choice to suspend our reaction? What might happen next? What are we talking about here? Could this be called conscious trumpet (or section) playing? What a welcome and refreshing change this might be for all of us from what we normally encounter in our own playing and practice. The ability to play with others (and alone) without the knots of physical and mental tension that normally sabotage our practice time, rehearsals, performances, and communications. If you feel comfortable enough to do so, you might want to give this approach a try. I have the idea you may find that if you make the choice to suspend reaction and leave space for the solutions to conflict to come (in other words, if you choose time over reactions), you may find some good stuff becomes available to you.
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