The Brass Junkies: David Zerkel

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David Zerkel is someone I look up to in the tuba world for a number of reasons. First of all, he does things as a soloist on the tuba that simultaneously inspire and depress me! He is a true master technician but that fact completely takes a back seat to his artistry. He is a world class player in every sense of the term.

But I also look up to David as a teacher. He is incredibly well spoken and has the ability to always be teaching whoever is in front of him.

You'll hear in this interview what I mean in this interview of The Brass Junkies.

Note: You can find an incredible collection of David Zerkel quotes from a master class he gave at George Mason here:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Website:

David Zerkel UGA

Links:

Tuba/Euph at UGA
Brass Band of Battle Creek

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass.

Lance LaDuke Discusses How He Prepared for his Successful US Air Force Band Audition

A few years ago Boston Brass came to where I teach, George Mason, to rehearse for a few days before our season started. After a performance for the school. my former Boston Brass colleague Lance LaDuke took the time to come to the lesson of one of my graduate euphonium players.

My student began questioning Lance about how he went about winning a job with the United States Air Force Band in Washington DC. Within a few minutes I realized that the content was gold and started recording.

Lance goes into great detail about his successful audition preparations. Talk about a guy with a plan that he executed over and over again over time.

This is a master class on sight reading, goal setting, time management, practice technique, and many, many more things.

This is a must listen for anyone preparing for any professional audition on any instrument.  After listening to his preparation process, it is easy to see why he won.

Below are the quotes that stood out to me for one reason or another, although there are far too many to include all of the good ones.

• "I personally don't like playing out of the Barbara Payne book because I like to see the band parts. I assume that when I show up they're going to make me play off of a regular part."
• "There were going to be things that were out of my control. Everything that was in my control I was going to prepare for."
• "Every day, 7 days a week, my job from 9 pm to 3 am was getting ready."
• "I was intense from 9 until 3 but it wasn't all horn on the face time. So whenever my face would get tired I would do score study."
• "If you're not in tune and in time, you're not going to win."
• "It's way harder to get a gig than to keep a gig."
• "You've got to be fearless."
• "On one hand, you have to play like your life depends on getting the gig. And on the other hand, you have to play like you don't care if you get the gig."
• "You have a bigger advantage because you're (in DC.) You can drive over and listen to these bands."
• "I always pushed sight reading to last. When I was completely shot and tired and wanted to go to bed, that's when I did sight reading."
• "The rules for me for sight reading were I wasn't allowed to stop and when in doubt play the rhythms."
• "If I knew the key and knew the roadmap, all I'd focus on were the rhythms and following the shape of the line."
• "If you are sight reading and do the stutter thing, I'm faced with a question: Is this guy doing this because he's uncomfortable with the piece or because his time sucks?"
• "I was strong as an ox. I could play all day."
• "Make sure you can play swing style. Make sure you can play funk and make sure you can play rock."
• "If you can't play popular styles it's nice that you can play marches, but it isn't just about the marches. You have to be able to sound credible on all that stuff."
• "Basically I just learned how my body reacts under pressure, how my mind reacts under pressure, and how do I prepare for that."
• "I had 18 different ways to chill myself out if I got stressed."
• "I did 50 successful auditions (in my mind) before the actual audition."
• "My favorite book at the time on performance anxiety was 'Notes from the Green Room'."
• "What are your triggers and how does your body react?"
• "Who in the industry do I know that I can go talk to?"
• "Make sure you're at every minute of the Army Band Tuba Conference because it's free."
• "Tell them 'I'm a broke college student. Are you giving any master classes in the area?'"
• "The warm-up to me is part mental and part physical."
• "Maybe they won't notice? They're gonna notice. If you noticed it's got to be fixed."
• "Even if it sounds better but I use force, that's not a solution."
• "How loudly can I play with control? How softly can I play with control? And you don't know at which point a note spreads until you spread the note."
• "My teacher at Akron had a picture of a hand grenade up on his door and a sign that said 'Just because it's loud doesn't mean anybody wants to hear it.'"
• "They are going to put sight reading in front of you until you fail."
• "How I play in Boston Brass is different than how I play in a brass band which is different than how I play in a large concert band."
• "If I was playing with the clarinets I would try to play with the clarinets."
• "I played like I like to play and if they liked that that's good for me. And if they didn't like that that's good information for me."
• "There was nothing that surprised me (on audition day.) There was not a single thing I wasn't prepared to deal with."

These are all great quotes but the real reason Lance won was his quote at 43:13 which you just have to listen to for yourself.  It sums the whole thing up.

Thank you, Lance!

Alexandra Grot: Monday YouTube Fix

Here is Alexandra Grot performing some Bach live in Munich in 2008.

The flute takes the second most air of any wind instrument and she does a great job of breathing in places that doesn't interrupt the music. This is particularly hard in unaccompanied pieces and she does a great job of modeling it.

Enjoy!

Alexandra Grot /flute/ performs Bach Partita. Recorded in Munich, 18.02.2008

Being a Team Player

"It's better to sound right than to be right."

—Rex Martin

This is one of the best soundbites that Rex Martin threw my way during my studies with him. It gets right to the point.

In a performance, there is no such thing as one person being in tune and the other being out of tune.

Rather, they are out of tune.

If someone isn't balancing a chord right and you can do something about it by playing louder or softer (regardless of what dynamic is on the page), you are the obligated to adjust. Same goes for pitch and everything else.

This doesn't mean everyone should go around constantly adjusting to everything. That would quickly resemble one giant dog chasing its tail and never quite catching it.

But the definition of being a team player in a music is always being ready to do what sounds right rather than what is right.

It doesn't matter how many degrees you have, what gig you've got, or how many countries you've performed in. This goes for everybody.

Thanks, Mr. Martin, for making that crystal clear to me so many years ago.

Carol Jarvis: Monday YouTube Fix

Need a little inspiration for better phrasing out of your playing or conducting? I've got you covered.

This is an incredible arrangement of "I Think of You" performed by trombone virtuoso Carol Jarvis.

If I'm being analytical, I love how effortless her playing looks. The ease with which she gets into and out of her high register is textbook.

But this clip is better enjoyed by leaving the analytical cap at home and just enjoying the gorgeous musical storytelling. Just beautiful stuff.

Enjoy!

'I THINK OF YOU' arranged by Russell Garcia, arranged/adapted by Carol Jarvis Trombone: Carol Jarvis www.caroljarvis.com Ensemble: NedSym Lite Filmed for the Lätzsch Trombone Festival: www.trombonefestival.eu

Article: "Creativity and the Brain: What We Can Learn From Jazz Musicians"

Very cool article that touches on the benefits of improvisation:

"When musicians go to an improvisation, the brain switches, Limb said, and the lateral prefrontal lobes responsible for conscious self monitoring became less engaged. 'Musicians were turning off the self-censoring in the brain so they could generate novel ideas without restrictions,' he said."

Creativity and the Brain: What We Can Learn From Jazz Musicians

The Brass Junkies: John Rojak

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Confession: As a general rule I can't stand brass quintets with a bass trombone on the bottom instead of a tuba. I am obviously biased.

But...

When John Rojak is the one playing the bass trombone book, like he has with the American Brass Quintet for many years, I can't imagine it possibly being any better with a tuba in anyone's hands. And I mean that!

John is one of the best bass trombone players in the world. He is also as fine a human as you could ever hope to encounter.

He's one of my chamber music heroes, teaches at Juilliard, NYU and Hartt, has been playing in ABQ for a very long time, and is an active freelancer around New York City. Fascinating guy and it was a lot of fun to chat with him!

Website:

John Rojak

Links:

American Brass Quintet
Julliard
NYU
The Hartt School

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass.

Eastman Wind Ensemble: Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

Here is a clip of the Eastman Wind Ensemble performing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor live at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. This hall is one of the best I've ever played in and I'm sure they were loving it.

Enjoy!

The Eastman Wind Ensemble at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall

The Proper Way for a Student to Hold a Mouthpiece When Buzzing

There really is no wrong way to hold a mouthpiece when buzzing, but there is a way to hold it that can eliminate a common mistake made by students.

Many students figure out pretty quickly that it is easier to "hit the notes" on a mouthpiece when you jam the mouthpiece into your face. This especially goes for higher notes.

Of course this is something that needs to be discouraged since it leads to both fatigue and a terrible sound. I have finally noticed a correlation between mouthpiece pressure and how it is being held (especially for the low brass instruments.)

When holding a mouthpiece with the entire hand, it is difficult not to apply pressure when buzzing.

But when holding a mouthpiece with only two or three fingers, it is difficult to apply pressure when buzzing.

By simply having students hold the larger mouthpieces with only three fingers at most you can avoid the issue of excess mouthpiece pressure without evening saying the words.

Harry Connick Jr: Monday YouTube Fix

Harry Connick Jr. is one of my musical heroes. He is the consummate showman, a phenomenal composer and arranger, and one of the best piano players in the world. You throw in the fact that he can sing and act and he can make you depressed pretty quickly.

I just performed a fantastic arrangement of this chart by Bryan Kidd with the American Festival Pops Orchestra. I personally think more Christmas tunes should have a New Orleans street beat.

Enjoy!

From the AOL Music Sessions recorded in the Bronx, November 13, 2008