Making Progress

(Spotted by Sean Reusch)

It's Not About You

When you noticably react to a mistake on stage you have instantly broken the cardinal rule of performance. You have made it about yourself and not about the audience. You can not be simultaneously talking to the audience and talking to yourself. It is simply not possible. Don't ever react to a mistake with your body language, by swearing under your breath or even with a slight change in your facial expression. Keep focusing on the storytelling and not on your ego.

Don't make it about you. Ever.

© 2014 Andrew Hitz

Mnozil Brass Featuring Wilfried Brandstötter: Monday YouTube Fix

Wilfried Brandstötter is one of the best tuba players in the world and Mnozil Brass are not only some of the best players, but some of the best entertainers this world has ever seen.  This tuba solo is just silly good, both musically and conceptually from a staging standpoint. One of the highlights of my 14 years with Boston Brass was a brass festival in Austria where we shared the bill with Mnozil Brass in 2012.  It was an honor getting to see them play and getting to know them.  Wilfried is one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet in the music business.  And what a monster player, as this clip displays.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Rul-qYAGQ

Three Keys to Sight-Reading

The three most important things when sight-reading:

1. Playing the right rhythms
2. Playing the right rhythms
3. Playing the right rhythms

Three-Step Checklist for Getting Hired Again

Show up: 1. Early 2. Prepared 3. With a positive attitude

and you will get hired again.

(This goes for both performers and educators.)

Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gomez & Steve Gadd: Monday YouTube Fix

With a lineup that includes these four guys, there's not really much left to say.  All four of these players could headline on any given night and yet they appeared as a quartet at the Blue Note on April 22, 2003 at the Blue Note in New York City. Chick Corea is one of the greatest creative forces in all of art over the last half century.  The scope of his impact can not be articulated.

Michael Brecker played with everyone from Frank Zappa and Steely Dan to Chet Baker and Charles Mingus.  He appeared on over 700 albums before his death in 2007.

When a bass player has both appeared with the Kronos Quartet and been a member of the Bill Evans Trio on their resume, as Eddie Gomez has, you know they've left quite an imprint on the music business.

Steve Gadd is my favorite drummer of all-time.  The specifically melodic quality he plays with is unique to my ears.  Don't get me wrong, there are tons of drummers I admire, but for me, Gadd stands alone.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3zJftxoSnk

Counting vs. Hoping

"The ensemble is slipping because some people are counting and some people are hoping."  

-Christopher Betts, Associate Director of Music of the National Cathedral

This quote had all of us in the quintet nodding our heads in approval.  After he delivered this perfect line during rehearsal, the fantastic choir at the National Cathedral nailed all of the entrances after long notes.  This is great advice that we all need to hear from time to time and reminded me of one of my brief posts on this very subject from a couple of years ago.

More counting, less hoping.

Links That Make Me Think - April Edition

Here are April's links that make me think.  Some are recent and some are not,  but all have proved thought-provoking. ---------

Yet again Seth Godin nails it right on the head (and in only 57 words!) In asking the question "How do I get rid of fear?" he explains that fear is not the enemy, paralysis is. This is a MUST READ for anyone in music.

Not surprisingly, children who learn music from a young age find it easier to learn languages even in adulthood, research has found.

Here's a fantastic article about 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently which includes failing up and asking the big questions.

Forbes compiled a list of 16 Leadership Quotes To Inspire You To Greatness including quotes from JFK and Andrew Carnegie.

This article in Scientific American talks about using psychological distance as an easy way to increase creativity. (I didn't know what the heck that was either until I read it!)

Filed as Exhibit A under Always Be Ready For The Call: The lead in the Metropolitan Opera's Wozzeck fell ill just hours before the show.  in came Matthias Goerne to save the day, with virtually no time to prepare at all. How did it go? Placido Domingo leaped to his feet applauding at the curtain. What a great lesson for all players and conductors to always be ready for absolutely anything!

You can not go to a Joe Alessi master class without hearing him mention the Amazing Slow Downer. It is a powerful tool for any performer or music educator. Here is one music teacher talking about how indispensable it is for her.

Finally, a fascinating article titled Why We Love Repetition In Music which talks all about brain function.

Bonus Link: If this guy with nothing but a trombone, his hands, and a digital loop doesn't make you happy you should probably get off the internet and get some fresh air.

Marin Tinev Playing Strauss Oboe Concerto: Monday YouTube Fix

Here is a fantastic live performance of Richard Strauss' Concerto for Oboe in D Major by Marin Tinev.  Sebastian Tewinkel is leading the Orchestra of the Trossingen Musikhochschule in a performance from May 8, 2013 at the Franziskaner Konzerthaus in Villingen, Germany. I love Strauss and I love oboe solos so I couldn't go wrong with this clip!

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/AprDqEvUtmI

Osesp Bassoon Quartet Playing Take Five: Monday YouTube Fix

I love creative settings of well known tunes.  It doesn't get too much more creative than this arrangement of Paul Desmond's Take Five.  It is not only a great setting of the tune by Alexandre Silvério but all four members of the Osesp Bassoon Quartet (Francisco Formiga , José Arion Linarez, Romeu Rabello, and Silvério) are fantastic. Somewhere, Dave Brubeck is smiling over this arrangement of Take Five for Bassoon Quartet.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/cKBrnjxlKgU