Me hanging out with the Breathing Gym Mafia (Sam Pilafian and Pat Sheridan) in San Antonio after eating an entire herd of cattle at Fogo de Chao.

I’ve been waiting for the music to get weird and out again. The Beatles happened because of radical political times. Well these are radical political times. So where’s the #@$&ing music? It’s gonna happen.

Sam Pilafian - Tuba Jedi

Lance LaDuke: Three Tips for Talking to Audiences

(This is reprinted with Lance’s permission and originally appeared at bostonbrass.wordpress.com.)

Um, I’d like to, um talk, you know about er, um, oh you know, like, talking to audiences and stuff.

Captivated?

Can’t wait to hear more?

Didn’t think so.

As musicians, we sometimes feel that we can just let the music speak for itself. There is no need for us to sully our performances with speaking. We practice for hours, perfecting every phrase, every nuance, striving for an ideal performance. Then we adopt a “play it and they will come” mentality. Since we’re God’s gift, people will instantly respond to our every phrase and nuance; we’re just that good. Adulation, groupies and a tour bus are all in our near future.

Other times we feel insecure in performance. Will it go as planned? Will the audience like the piece or program? I hate speaking to crowds. I don’t know what to say. Will they throw vegetables? If so, will there be enough to serve at the reception?

Whatever the reason, it has become increasingly common (and in some cases expected) for musicians to speak to their audiences. While this can seem beneath some of us, and terrifying to others, it needn’t be either.

Audiences want to connect with performers. Programs, bios and notes provide data but not personality. There are many potential reasons (the de-formalization of  performances, the rise of reality programming and the connective possibilities of the internet, to name a few). The fact remains that many (most?) most conductors, soloists and chamber musicians will have to “face the music” and speak to the folks who have paid to come hear them play.

Fortunately, audiences have very simple needs. SO STAND UP, TURN ON THE MIC, AND ANSWER THESE THREE QUESTIONS:

1. WHO ARE YOU?

We see your name in the program and read your bio. BUT if you’re a chamber group, introduce the players (so we can connect the names to faces) and let us know something about them. If you’re a soloist, tell us something that happened to you today in our city or at our venue or comment on something that happened in the world that may be on everyone’s mind. Not a lecture, a minute or two. Break the ice. Think dinner party.

2. WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING?

Remind us. Don’t just read the program to us but give us a framework to help us get a head start on what we’re about to hear. Set the table for us.  This is especially helpful if the composer is less familiar to a general audience. This can take less than a minute

3. WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

Is there an interesting story about the composer or the piece? Why did you select it? Is there anything in particular we should listen for? One to two minutes should do it.

Tailor the talk to your style. If you’re funny, let it be funny. If the piece is serious, let it be serious. DON’T read a script. If you need notes, fine, but talk TO the people who have come to hear you and BE YOURSELF!

THAT’S IT! NOW GO SIT DOWN AND DAZZLE US WITH YOUR PLAYING!

It’s really that simple. We don’t need a twenty-minute lecture. We DID come to hear you play. We just want to know WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU’RE PLAYING AND WHY WE SHOULD CARE.

See you at the reception.

I hear there are plenty of veggies.

Lance

Nice Practice Room

Post-practice session shot from Skyline Drive.

Not a Bad View

Roman ruins near the school of music in Tarragona from last week’s Boston Brass trip to Spain.

Setting Goals

As with any pursuit, one of the most beneficial things a musician can do is to set goals. All musicians, regardless of their ability level, must constantly be evaluating themselves as players. The setting of goals is how even the very best of the best in the music business seem to be improving all the time at their craft.

The first week of my freshman year at Northwestern University our teacher, Rex Martin, made the entire studio write down our goals on a piece of paper. He had us separate them into three categories: short term, medium term, and long term. He told us that the more specific we were with what we wanted to accomplish, the easier it would be to formulate a plan to achieve those goals.

He encouraged us to redo this exercise every year for two reasons. First, we could check back on our previous list of goals to see if not only we achieved them but if it happened on the schedule we had laid out. Second, we could add new goals to our list as our abilities and desires within music changed.

Here is a breakdown of the three categories:

Short Term Goals:

These should be things that you can accomplish within days, weeks, or a few months. Examples could be memorizing an etude, recording a video of yourself and posting it on YouTube, or learning harmonic minor scales in thirds.

Medium Term Goals:

These should be goals that might take you anywhere from 6 months to a few years. If you are an undergraduate this might include which graduate school you want to attend. It also could be starting your own blog or website, playing in a summer festival, or increasing the speed of your double tonguing by 20 bpm.

Long Term Goals:

These should be things that you would hope to accomplish in three or more years. These could include being a tenured professor of tuba at Northwestern (the one goal Mr. Martin told us we weren’t allowed to have because he didn’t want us taking his job!), playing trumpet in the Boston Symphony, or taking my gig in Boston Brass. You should think really big for the long term goals because you will only ever achieve what you set out to achieve!

Everyone knows that making goals is important in every aspect of life. But if you can quantify those goals you will find an enormous benefit down the road. I encourage my students to set up a Google document detailing their goals that they can add to every year at the beginning of school. This is a great way to keep track of their progress and can be accessed from anywhere.

Remember:

Organization=Productivity and Productivity=Eventual Success

I’m not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer.

Leonard Bernstein

If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.

Jascha Heifetz (Greatest Violinst to Ever Live)

The Five Most Influential Concerts I Ever Attended

The following originally appeared at bostonbrass.wordpress.com:

Empire Brass - Tanglewood July 1988

This was part of the Walks and Talks series that Tanglewood used to host.  The artists would lead a short walk around the grounds of Tanglewood while discussing their music.  It would then culminate in a performance for a small audience in a very intimate atmosphere.

This was the first time I ever heard Sam Pilafian play the tuba in person and it did nothing short of change my life.  I was simply awestruck by witnessing first hand what a tuba was capable of playing.  He has been my musical mentor since that day almost 22 years ago.

That is me in the blue sweatshirt looking on in awe! I have wanted to play in a brass quintet ever since that afternoon in the Berkshires.

Copeland 3 - Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein conducting - Tanglewood August, 1990

I have spent every summer of my life about a half an hour away from Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony.  As a result, I saw my first ever BSO concert when I was only two weeks old! But just before my 15th birthday I saw this TMC concert and it was the first time I really, truly got it.

This was the second to last concert of Leonard Bernstein’s career and it was an incredible experience for anyone in the audience that night.  I had enjoyed many orchestra concerts before but had never been inspired by one like I was that night.

I waited for over an hour after the concert to meet Bernstein and get his autograph.  I missed my curfew at BUTI and got in trouble.  I’ve never had someone yell at me and be so happy about it!

Mahler 2 - Boston Symphony Orchestra; Seiji Ozawa conducting - Tanglewood July, 1991

This was the first ever Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert at Tanglewood.  It was just nine months after Bernstein had passed away.  There might not be a single human being that has left more of a mark on Tanglewood than Leonard Bernstein.  He had a very special bond with the place and with the Boston Symphony and that was evident from the very first notes of this performance.

I have been privileged enough to see over 200 BSO concerts in my life and I have never heard them sound better than they sounded that night in 1991.  It also didn’t hurt that Mahler 2 is my favorite symphony of all time (along with Beethoven 7).

This is the only concert of any kind that I’ve ever witnessed where a large percentage of the crowd was literally tearing up afterwards.  It was such a moving experience that it was an awful lot for someone not yet 16 to process.  I do know that it left a truly indelible mark on me and my musicianship.

Wynton Marsalis and his Septet - Skullers - Cambridge, MA May 1992

Wynton Marsalis and his Septet rehearsed the night before this gig at Boston University.  I happened to be there at the same time for a tuba lesson.  I was mesmerized as a I walked past the rehearsal room from which these magical sounds were emanating.  I also had no idea who was playing since the door was barely cracked open.

Excited I ran to ask my teacher who at BU sounded that good.  He smiled and said that it was Wynton Marsalis and asked if I wanted to meet him.  He had been friends with him for a very long time and actually interrupted their rehearsal to introduce me to the band.  Wynton then asked if I was free the next night.  When I eagerly said yes he said he would put me on the guest list since it was an 18 and over show.

Not only did he get me in but he spoke with me for 45 minutes in between their two gigs.  He took the time to introduce me personally to every member of the band as if we had known each other our entire lives.

I will never forget the mind blowing music I heard or the kindness and warmth that Wynton and his entire band showed me that night.

Phish - Worcester Centrum - Worcester, MA December 31, 1993

By the time I saw this show at the Worcester Centrum I had already seen over 50 rock and roll concerts.  But this one was different right from the start.  I did not know much of Phish’s music.  I had heard a couple of tunes and had enjoyed them but that was the extent of it.  My best friend Russell was getting tickets to this show so I asked him to get me one.  Little did I know that ticket would change my life.

These four very normal looking guys walked out on stage without any explosions, fireworks, or hydraulic lifts.  I had always enjoyed the theater of big time rock and roll shows but there was something refreshing about four average Joe’s strolling on stage and letting the music do the talking.

They had me completely hooked on their very unique blend of everything from hard rock to bluegrass to barbershop quartet.  I have never heard any chamber ensemble that can play fluently in as many different styles of music as Phish.

I had no idea that I would go on to see the band over 150 times after that night during my freshman year of college.  They continue to be my favorite chamber ensemble of any genre performing music today.

As a result of Phish allowing the taping and distributing of all of their shows you can find a free download of that night’s music here.

—-

I don’t think it is a coincidence that every concert I have listed occurred when I was between the ages of 14 and 18.  Those were very formative years for my musical tastes.

Quotes from Carol Jantsch Master Class

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting Carol Jantsch, the tuba player for the Philadelphia Orchestra, for the first time.  She conducted a master class at the annual summer camp of the Monumental Brass in Fulton, MD.  It was an impressive presentation from start to finish that everyone who attended will remember for a long time.

She began the class by playing Patrick Sheridan’s arrangement of the Carnival of Venice with piano accompaniment.  Her performance was effortless and had an elegance that is rarely found in a solo performance by a tuba player.

Next she played the title track from her solo CD, Cascades.  This is an unaccompanied trumpet solo written by Allen Vizzutti which was fantastic.  She certainly got the attention of everyone with her performance.

She spent the remainder of the two hours answering questions and coaching four different students.  The following is a collection of quotes from the class that I found extremely helpful.

• “When we’re breathing we try to minimize tension.  Tension is the enemy.”
   

• “Trick your brain into thinking you have more time to breathe than you do.  Don’t think of it as having only one beat and panicking.”
   

• “Use the entire 16th to breathe.  Tell yourself it is a lot of time.”
   

• “As low brass players we should be used to taking in more air than we need.”
   

• When asked what it takes to win a tuba job with a major symphony orchestra: “A lot of luck.” (Then mentioned hard work and talent.)
   

• Concerning how long it took her to memorize her solos: “Not long since I learned them the right way.  I played them slowly, then a little less slowly, then a little less slowly than that, over and over.”
   

• “You’re letting the higher notes scare you.  Just relax and blow.”
   

• Speaking specifically to female brass players: “Playing a brass instrument takes a lot of air.  But if you end up trying to save air you get fuzzy attacks and missed slurs.”
   

• “Did you notice that this section is louder because of the breathing scheme we came up with for the section before?”
   

• “When learning double tonguing practice slowly and really emphasize the ka.”
   

• Addressing a student working on slurs: “Focus only on the ends of the notes.”
   

• “The warm-up/routine part of your practicing should address the weaknesses in your playing daily.”
   

• On what she thinks about when playing the first entrance of the Gregson Tuba Concerto: “You’re a very arrogant person and you step into a room and command attention.”
   

• When having a kid sing his part: “Use your operatic voice so the people in the back can hear you.  I don’t care about pitch as much as musical inflection.”
   

• “When you’re playing, about 10% of what you think is coming out so you have to exaggerate everything.”
   

• “If you’re afraid of missing a note you just need to go for it.  Blow through it, throw yourself in there, and there’s a good chance you’ll hit it.”
   

• “It’s good to vocalize because it can be hard to get something in your ear without hearing it outside of your body.”
   

• “If you’re having trouble with an interval play up to the note and then sing it.  That’s a good way to know if you have it in your ear.”
   

• “I play with the metronome on the offbeats because a lot of people ignore it if it’s on the beat.  It turns on your inner metronome.”
   

• “When playing legato etudes down an octave you want to go for as relaxed and smooth a sound as possible.”