The Summerglen Files

Greetings, Summerglen friends! Recently, I’ve been playing a bunch of church and theatre gigs around town. It’s been fun performing at different places and meeting new people, but unfortunately, I’ve noticed several of my gigmates indulging in some not-so-good habits, like coming to the dress rehearsal without a pencil, and even worse, without their music prepared. What’s even more unfortunate is, these bad habits are quite common–even for veteran musicians!
When an individual musician walks onto a gig unprepared, or neglects to practice common courtesy at the venue, that doesn’t just mean he won’t get called back next time. It can also diminish the credibility of ALL musicians, and discourage people from treating us (and paying us) like the trained professionals we are. So, our Trombone Tips for today and next week will both focus on good habits that gigging musicians should cultivate. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in creativity and education, here’s a highly enlightening and entertaining way to spend the next 20 minutes. In this video, creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson discusses creativity and the educational system–and hits the nail right on the head! His perspective on creativity really rings true with my experience in school, both as a student and as a teacher, and hearing this talk gave me that energy that comes only from being super-inspired. Enjoy!

Uh-oh, I’m late on the trombone tips again! Unfortunately, it’s for a good reason–allergy season has started up, and I’ve been down for the count all week! Next week’s tips will most definitely be about playing through the pollen…uck. Enjoy this week’s tip!

I’ve been keeping a journal of my trombone practice for over ten years, and it’s really enhanced my practice experience! Here’s a video on how to get started with your own practice journal. Enjoy!