Every year, I hear all kinds of people knocking the month of January. Some say that, now that all the decorations are put away and holiday festivities are wrapped up, January feels dull and bleak and depressing. Others complain that it’s too cold, or that there’s nothing to do. But I think that poor January has gotten a bad rap–because by taking a different perspective on this season’s chilly calm, it’s possible to turn January into a monthlong creative and musical retreat!

I get into this creativity-friendly perspective simply by turning around the wintery subjects I’m tempted to whine about. For example, if my first thought is, “Man, it’s too cold outside to do anything!!” I spin that thought around until it says, “But it’s super-warm indoors. What are some things I can do inside?” (And for a musician, this question has some awesome answers: practice, compose, arrange, harmonize, study, improvise, jam, experiment…and the list goes on!)

Here are 3 more typical January complaints, and how to turn them around to give you a creative boost:

1. “I’m SOOO tired!” – January is quite a dark and gray month in many parts of the country, so it can be a nightmare trying to get out of bed in the morning…or at all. Sometimes it may feel like all we want to do is sleep! But what if we looked at this urge to hibernate as a good thing?

Extra sleep can feel luxurious, especially when we lay aside our worries about what we think we “should” be doing and just rest. When we allow ourselves small luxuries like lazy, carefree relaxation, we contribute to the health of our Inner Artist. And when our Inner Artist is strong and happy, our creative ideas flow more easily!

2. “I’m SO bored; there’s nothing to do!” – After the craziness of the holiday season, adjusting to the calm of January can be very difficult. One great way to turn this complaint around is to view a sparse schedule as a golden opportunity to pursue those things we never seem to have time for. For many freelance musicians, January is a time when nobody’s calling us to play their music. So, we can turn it into a chance to make OUR music! When we start feeling bored or stuck, we can use it as a signal to sit down and work on music we’re passionate about.

3. “Everything looks so depressing, now that all the Christmas lights are down.” – It can be a real drag taking down all the pretty holiday decorations we put up last month. But who says that decorations are only a December thing? We can also have great fun decorating for January! Each year, I make January fun by doing up Summerglen in calm, meditative winter stuff. I only decorate for January once a year, so it’s a special thing that I look forward to. And…changing up our environment can stimulate our brains, bringing us new ideas to bring into our musical lives.

So, how will you make this month a fun and musical time? Best wishes, and happy January!

When I was in high school, my trombone teacher had an endless supply of laments about the weak state of my lungs (and tone). Unfortunately for both of us, his instructions to “breathe deeper” and “fill up my lungs” lesson after lesson weren’t exactly getting results. But what DID get results was the day he got fed up with my wimpy long tones, threw up his hands and said, “Put down your horn and take a lap around the block!”

This was perhaps one of the best trombone lessons I ever had, simply because it taught me what filling the lungs and supporting the tone really means. When you run, you’re asking your body to do some hard work–and your body needs lots of oxygen to get that work done. Your lungs expand, you breathe more deeply, and you naturally support your breath a little more than normal. Over time, this exercise beefs up your lungs, and helps you understand exactly what your lungs feel like when they’re full. And knowing how to fill your lungs is one of the keys to playing trombone beautifully.

Breathing exercises and running, even though they don’t involve the horn at all, have been some of the most effective things I’ve done to become a better trombonist. I started out with some wimpy lungs, but after years of exercise, they’ve become powerful and strong (and my tone has followed suit!) The greatest thing about this is that YOU can beef up your lungs, too. Just put down your horn and take a lap around the block.

1. First of all, never underestimate the power of REST. Playing a brass instrument can be physically taxing; after all, playing involves both aerobic exercise and strength training! If your body is exhausted from fighting off some nasty bug, rest can be the best kind of practice there is.

2. Listen. If you’re well enough to sit up, but playing still makes your head feel like it’s going to explode, listening can be a great way to grow musically on a sick day. Try checking out some new artists, working on some transcribing, or even listening more deeply to old favorites.

3. Small doses of practice, large doses of water and down time. If you’re at the point where you can practice, make sure to work smarter, not harder. Try structuring your practice in 10-minute sessions, each with a specific goal in mind–and give yourself breaks for water and rest in between. Never underestimate the impact of 10 minutes of focused practice!

4. Clean your horn. I unfortunately learned this lesson the hard way. Make sure to clean your trombone with soap, hot water, and a snake frequently when you’re sick…because it’s no fun to breathe in the germs that are living in your mouthpiece and slide! If you need some help with cleaning your slide, check out my slide cleaning video on the Summerglen Music resources page.

If you have any great tips for making the most of a sick day as a brass player, please feel free to share them in the comments. Until next time, I wish you good health!

practicing – IN!!
rehearsing – out
performing – out
stretching my legs and listening to guns n’ roses – in
planning and brainstorming – in
creating a routine and following it – in
occaisionally breaking my routine- very in
business networking – out
teaching – in with ideas, out with energy
book signings – out, out, and more out
playing around with the website – in
hearing live music – in
giving presentations – out
making random lists…IN

So, what are some activities that fill up your creative bank account? What are some things that make you expend your creative energy? And even more important…how can you go about achieving balance each day?

Fall is an absolutely gorgeous time in Mt. Airy, so if you’re anywhere near the NC mountains, you should totally check it out. Here are three of our favorite spots that we visited this weekend:

1. The Downtown Cinema on Saturday mornings – If you’re a musician, or anyone who enjoys music, you’ve gotta go check out the amazing bluegrass and old time music here. For early risers, there’s a jam session from 9-10:30am, and then from 11am-1:30ish, they do a live radio broadcast with some excellent mountain musicians. Must hear, must hear, must hear!!

2. The 308 Bistro – Located in the Old North State Winery in downtown Mt. Airy, the 308 Bistro offers excellent food at musician-friendly prices. The restaurant is run by Twyla from the Maxwell House Bed and Breakfast, another of our favorite Mount Airy spots!

3. Utt’s Campground – Utt’s is actually located just up the mountain from Mt. Airy, in Fancy Gap, VA. It’s beautiful, quiet, and only $16 per night for tent camping! We especially enjoyed the walking trail, and getting the chance to meet the various cats and puppies that share the mountain with the campers.

So, that’s all for now. We’re back in Raleigh, doing various Summerglen things; but even though we’re home, the benefits of running away to the mountains still linger. This week has been calm and relaxing, and it’s been easy to think of ideas and work on projects. We’ll have to go back more often…and when we do, we’ll definitely be back to share more cool finds with you!

2. but there’s no reason to beat yourself up if you get a little off-balance. Just keep on keeping on.

And above all:
3. Where there’s an active schedule, success is somewhere nearby. Either the success made you busy, or all your hard work is soon gonna pay off.

Practicing in preparation for a big show has always been easy, and walking onto the stage and looking out into a crowded hall is child’s play. But walking off the stage and returning to the quiet of everyday life is downright brutal. No matter how great the performance, I second-guess myself, and worry, and obsess about what people thought–all pointless activities, because they’re about something that I can never go back and change!

With a show, this is OK. I’d rather get the shakes after I’m done than have my nerves affect my performance on stage. But with writing, there’s so much obsessive and perfectionistic “stuff” I can still do. So far I’ve changed my book’s font twice, added an index and taken it out and added it back again, and fretted that the book is too simple and considered scrapping the whole thing.

I firmly believe that we all have an Inner Critic, an entity in our minds that seeks to “protect” us by keeping us from taking risks, even healthy and beneficial ones. When my project is complete, whether the last note has been played or the final word has been written, that’s when my Critic kicks into gear, showering me with “what ifs” and doubts. The Critic can be quite convincing, but here are some ways that I’ve found to move past its warnings and get things done:

1. Tell on the Critic – Stinking thinking shrivels in the light of day. Often, telling others about the Critic’s warnings makes them smaller and less worrisome.

2. Use Affirmations – Positive affirmations are often the exact opposite of what the Critic tells us, and they’re often more truthful as well! Instead of latching on to worries that the book is too simple, I can turn the worry into an affirmation, “My book is open and accessible to everyone who wants to be more creative.” (Which, in reality, is exactly what I set out to do!)

3. Feelings Aren’t Facts – By acknowledging this simple truth, walking through uncertainty or worry becomes much easier.

4. Will this matter in 5 years? -This came from one of the wise women in my last workshop. When feeling overwhelmed, ask yourself if the situation you’re worried about will matter in 5 days, 5 months, 5 years, etc. This takes just a second to do, but can bring a refreshing shift in your perspective!

Ahh, I’m feeling better already!

This morning after a church gig, I was on the receiving end of some unsolicited advice from a decidedly rude audience member. With an air of condescension in his voice, this man gave me an impromptu “lesson” on how to properly lead off a piece of music. Infuriating! I didn’t know this man from Adam, and hadn’t asked him for his opinion on anything.

A problem I often run into as a musician has to do with the way I look. I weigh 100 pounds soaking wet, and if I wear the right outfit, I can easily pass for an eighth grader. On gigs, I’m regularly asked what grade I’m in, and when I play clubs, the bouncers suspiciously eye the birthdate on my driver’s license. Looking like a kid can be fun, but sometimes it becomes a source of frustration simply because it invites unwanted criticism. Often this advice is well-intended, but it stems from assumptions that I am young, green, and hungry for someone’s “words of wisdom”.

After encountering this particular fellow’s “words of wisdom,” I was hot with anger, embarassment, and resentment. For a moment I thought, “Forget this! I should just quit playing! After all, everyone has something rotten to say about what I do!” This is very common, because having some stranger come up and arrogantly critique you is super-disheartening. However, when we work through this frustration and embarassment, we can become stronger both as performers and as people.

As I calmed down and thought it out, I realized that there was much to learn from this guy:

1. It’s easy to naysay from the sidelines. When you’re not out there with a horn on your face, doing your thing and taking risks, it’s easy to make snide comments about those who are. If you are out there doing, what’s the use of listening to someone who’s merely sitting?

2. Some people are just waiting for you to make mistakes! The element of my performance that the man criticized happened during the warm-up, before the service even began. Despite all the great stuff I played during the service, this guy held on tightly to those couple of clinkers I played an hour earlier. Some people are overgrown schoolyard bullies, only feeling good about themselves when they knock others down. We, however, have a choice today, whether we stay down or get back up and keep going.

3. People make misguided assumptions. I would bet you two bucks that I became the target of criticism because I look like a young student. In reality, though, I was one of the only professional musicians in the group. This was a wake-up call to me; I don’t like being judged by my cover, so I should be careful not to judge others by theirs. When I’m tempted to judge others, I must realize that I probably don’t have enough information to do so! I must even give today’s critic the benefit of the doubt–he was probably honestly trying to help.

One of the most beautiful things about life is that no matter how bad an experience may feel, we can almost always find a jewel of understanding hidden somewhere inside. Even though unwanted advice can hurt at first, we have the opportunity to use it to strengthen ourselves in the long run.

What are some ways you deal with critics? Have you ever had a bad review become a source of strength?