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A blog about performing music, teaching music and the business of music.
I had the privilege of seeing Zubin Mehta lead the Israel Philharmonic at Tanglewood perform Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" in 1993 as a high school student. They were a powerful orchestra with a wonderful sound and the performance left me inspired.
Rimsky-Korsakov's "Russian Easter Overture" is the perfect piece to show off this orchestra with just about every instrument in the orchestra featured at some point.
Enjoy!
We all want to improve our breathing, both on and off the horn. After seeing a vocal coach on television tell a singer to "expand your diaphragm out", I decided to do some research. I have scoured the internet and believe that I have compiled an exhaustive list of every available exercise that will help with controlling the diaphragm.
Here is the complete list of exercises I found:
Which one is your favorite?
Photo by National Cancer Institute is in the Public Domain
For a limited time, my partner at Pedal Note Media, Lance LaDuke, is giving away free copies of his book Music Practice Coach. All you have to do is go to his website and sign up for his email list. It's that simple.
Music Practice Coach is a book that I require all of my college students to purchase and use regularly. It is a fantastic practice method that is written in a simple, straightforward way. Even tuba players have no problem understanding it!
The entire book is about goal-oriented practice and is a truly marvelous method. ALL MUSIC EDUCATORS should get this book and encourage all of their students to do so as well.
This book is well worth double its usual price but since that price is currently nothing you really should pick one up today. He might come to his senses tomorrow.
I will never forget the first time I heard music coming out of Wycliffe Gordon's trombone. I was a high school kid and I stood there in stunned silence. He has had that effect on me a number of times since then too.
Phrases that are a mile long. Technical facility that seems limitless. Style for days. He is a beast.
Enjoy!
A couple of years ago I was having lunch with my good friend John Abbracciamento, a trumpet player with the President's Own Marine Band, here in DC. Our conversation, as always, started with us articulating our distastes for the others favorite sports teams (he is from New York, I am from Boston.) But this one day the conversation ended up segueing into a very interesting discussion about the music business. It got good enough that I jotted down a couple of notes.
John Abbracciamento
I asked him about his career before joining the Marine Band. He started out as a freelancer in New York City. He told me he started getting a lot of phone calls very quickly, to play everything from small gigs to becoming a regular sub with the New York Philharmonic.
To paraphrase him, he was getting more calls than he "should have" gotten. He's always been a great player. He's in the Marine Band! But he said he was getting more calls than other guys who were either as good or better than he was in town. So naturally I asked him why he thought that was. He gave me two answers:
“I got a lot of calls for two reasons. One, I can keep my mouth shut. And two, I can almost immediately match anyone else’s playing.”
The first point is an imperative one. As musicians, we are taught to share our (musical) opinions all the time. Sometimes it can be challenging to not let that naturally extend to things off of the horn. I was taught to ask myself three questions any time I want to open my mouth to criticize anyone or anything:
1. Does this need to be said?
2. Does this need to be said by me?
3. Does this need to be said by me right now?
Unless I answer yes to all three of those questions, I've learned to keep my mouth shut.
John's point was that he didn't criticize colleagues. He didn't criticize conductors. He didn't complain about the pay on a gig (which he had already agreed to or he wouldn't be there in the first place!) He kept his mouth shut as a sub and kept his head down.
And the second point will get you hired over and over again. As Rex Martin used to preach to us at Northwestern, our job as musicians is to make those around us sound better than they actually are. And John shared a compliment that Woody English, the fantastic former trumpet player for the Army Band, once gave to him:
“I like playing with you. You make me sound better than I am.”
If you can do the two things that John did during his time in New York, you will find yourself with a phone that rings an awful lot.
This quote from Dr. Mickey McCale reminds me of a time I heard a student ask Joe Alessi about how to prepare for a professional audition. Joe told that student that they needed to get "brutally honest" with themselves about what they could and could not do on the horn.
First you have to recognize your defects as a player, conductor or communicator. Then you have to own those defects until you turn them into strengths.
Stevie Wonder and Prince on the same stage playing Superstitious really doesn't need any explanation.
Enjoy!
Any time you are near a professional musician who is doing some version of what you'd like to do for a living, pick their brains. I would strongly encourage you to ask them not just about their successes, but politely ask them about their missteps. What assumptions did they make about themselves or the business that cost them opportunities, time, energy, or all three?
Learning from the mistakes of others is one trait that almost all successful people share - both in and out of the music business.
A video went viral over the weekend of Mark Donnelly singing O Canada in front of a sold out hockey arena in Canada. Donnelly, who has sang the Canadian National Anthem before games on many occasions, decided to sing this version while on ice skates. You can probably already tell this isn't going to end well...
He begins skating around the rink while singing and shortly thereafter he ends up skating right at the ceremonial red carpet that was still on the ice from the opening ceremony. Without any warning at all his feet stop while the rest of his body keeps going and he falls to the ice - hard. But a magical thing happened. HE KEPT SINGING.
He then stumbled to get up since the carpet was still underneath him and yet HE KEPT SINGING. He finally got to his feet and continued to skate around the ice and finish the performance. He didn't get angry. He didn't get embarrassed. He didn't even stop to look at the carpet. He just kept right on doing the only thing he was charged with doing: singing the anthem.
In an interview the next day I saw him mention that the carpet was supposed to be up at that point. Someone messed up. And yet he wasn't even mad about it the next day. His reaction is exactly what I strive to do as a performer. The only thing that matters is the audience so when I get upset that a passage didn't go as it "should have" I am making it all about me.
(Previous Post: Abandon All Hope For a Better Past)
Donnelly's reaction was admirable, professional, and inspiring. Never make it about yourself. Always make it about the audience.
Larry Combs was the principal clarinetist for the Chicago Symphony for three decades and is considered one of the all-time greats. He was appointed principal clarinet by Sir Georg Solti in 1978 and stepped down in 2008.
Here he is a recording of him performing Aaron Copland's "Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Erich Leinsdorf. This recording is from 1979, his second year in the orchestra.
The two things that jump out at me about his playing are his sound and his dynamic range. The consistency of both offer me examples to strive for in my own playing.
Enjoy!
