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.

January is one of my favorite times of the year. For one thing, I totally dig chilly weather, and January is one of the only times it gets cold here in North Carolina. But even more than the nip in the air, I love the quiet, reflective vibe that permeates the days this time of year. For someone who sends music out into the world for a living, this time of year gives me a chance to quiet down, pull all my energy back inward, and put some new ideas in the pot to simmer.

2009 was a year full of firsts for me: I wrote my first book, went on my first book tour, ran my first full year of creativity workshops, started my first after-school band, and teched my first marching band. It was a wild, exciting ride, because every day brought unexpected scenarios, new lessons, and fresh understanding. But at the same time, all these firsts were very exhausting. After all, when you’re blazing new trails, you’ve got to be at least a little bit outside of your comfort zone. I’d say I spent 90% of last year outside my comfort zone. Waaaaay outside–and it took its toll on my body and mind.

So, my sole resolution in 2010 is to rest in my comfort zone. I’m going to sit and practice all day, and teach trombone, and read about trombones, and listen to my favorite recordings, and hang out with my family, and generally enjoy myself. I know from experience that this resolution is going to be really, really hard to keep. But I have a feeling that some of my best work yet may come from this year of chilling out. Because really, my best songs seem to get written when I’m putzing around, doing nothing!

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?

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?

Usually, this situation would result in some seriously sore shoulders, because that’s where I tend to hold tension in my body. But to my surprise, my shoulders are LOOSE, and they feel GOOD! And the difference is yoga.

Every day this week, I’ve been doing a little bit of yoga with a DVD called AM/PM Yoga for Beginners. It’s just been for a few minutes a day, but it’s made a big difference in my playing, (and has helped me sleep better!) The Puppy Pose seems tailor-made for trombone players, because it squeezes out the tension that likes to collect in the shoulders and upper back. There’s also a neck stretch on the PM side of the DVD that feels soooooo good, and helps to relax another tense area–the sides of the neck. And all the while, you’re doing breathing exercises. PERFECT for trombonists!

What is really amazing is the difference I feel already, after just a few days of setting aside 20 minutes for yoga. Today’s show was taxing, but you couldn’t tell from the nice feeling in my shoulders! I’d like to make yoga a habit, and maybe add that nice Puppy Pose to my warm-up. After all, dogs and ‘bones do go together!

Playing a brass instrument requires well-developed musculature in the face, and keeping those muscles at their best requires consistent effort. A week without practice means that you’re going to lose something you’ve worked hard for, simply because you haven’t been keeping the muscles toned. This week, I lost 3 or 4 notes off the top of my high range, lost some endurance, and my reponse has suffered. (So instead of being able to produce a tone with a clean beginning, air comes out first, like “Phhhh-wah.” And I can’t even Phwah for long before getting tired. Guh.)

So, how does one get back into playing on a regular basis? Three things have worked well for me this week:

1. Practice every day, no matter what. – Consistency is one of the most important aspects of practice. After time off, my face needs to be reminded how it’s supposed to work. A bit of practice every day helps retone the muscles of the face and remind my body what playing is like.

2. Practice in very small chunks. – If I don’t have much endurance and I practice for an hour or two, I’m going to do more harm than good! So I limit myself to ten minutes at a time. When ten minutes is up, I go and do something else to let my chops rest; after the break, I come back refreshed and ready to play again. This allows me to get things done without doing myself in.

3. Buzzing is good. So is breathing. – Much of what goes down the tubes for me with time off is range and flexibility. Buzzing allows me to work on these things in isolation. If I can’t hit a note anymore, I can work on buzzing up to it first. If I Phwah, I can work on making my lips vibrate without a delay. Doing breathing exercises supports the buzzing and opens up my breathing apparatus–so when I get back on the horn, it sounds good!

So, I’m getting there. I have a couple of rehearsals coming up this weekend, so I may post soon about “How to Survive A Salsa Rehearsal When You’re Not Quite Up To Speed Yet”. Hopefully, though, I will be up to speed. And soon.

As an independent musician, playing and teaching aren’t my only jobs. I’m also Summerglen’s marketing department, accountant, creative director, research and development department, and customer service specialist! I have to get the word out about what we do, keep everything organized, and continue expanding my skills as a trombonist and teacher as well. If I let it, my “fun” job can stress me out just as badly as any office gig–and can pull me out of whack where it really matters, my music.

But there are a couple things that can change my mindset from stressed to relaxed very quickly–being mindful of what I’m doing, and finding things to be thankful for. When I pay close attention in my recordkeeping, I make fewer careless mistakes, and the repetition of the task becomes soothing. Then when I try to be thankful as well, typing in checks and mileage is no longer a chore but a celebration–like Woohoo! I have so many gigs to type in! Responsibilities become the result of something good that has been given to me, and that makes those responsibilities quite fun to have. It makes being busy joyful instead of stressful.

Being mindful also helps me stay creative and mentally uncluttered. Yesterday I was walking home and I practiced listening carefully to the sounds of nature and looking at the details as I walked down the street. Noticing what was going on around me made me feel connected and gave me a burst of new ideas, and made the walk special as well. I wasn’t just leaving Point A thinking about what I needed to do once I got to Point B–it was a journey. (And on the journey I saw a flock of Canadian geese and a lizard. Cool!)

As musicians, we specialize in subtle nuances, in sound, in teaching, and in performance. So, in noticing and appreciating the tiny shades of life, we can become better musicians almost effortlessly!

This time last year, I thought that business owners should always be busy and productive. After all, there’s a ton of stuff to do when you’re working for yourself, and many different hats to wear each day. But as I went on, I learned that taking time to relax is just as important as working. Down time gives my mind room to think, and when my mind feels free, the ideas start flowing. Summerglen has blossomed because of all the new and different things we’ve done, so having a steady supply of ideas is critical. So, relax time is critical as well.

Since I make my own schedule, I’ve started following my body’s natural clock, which makes work and relaxation balance themselves out nicely. I’m wide awake in the morning, so I knock all my detailed work out before breakfast. In the afternoon, though, I’m dead to the world, so I use that time to drink a latte and read. At night, I’m awake again, so I practice. I get a lot of stuff done each day, but I never feel overworked or deprived. It’s cool !

I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to be a full-time, independent trombonist, and to be able to create my own ideas and follow them on my own schedule. Thank you for dropping by to read this week’s series, and for supporting our little Summerglen. Best wishes, and good night!