On Playing Trombone: Random Thoughts and Meditations on Music and Life

[tbdana]

Everything important happens BEFORE the mouthpiece.

This is true of every human endeavor.

[tbdana]

It has always been my opinion that if we want to call ourself a trombone player, we must learn to be expert in the entire instrument, top to bottom and every facet of it. So many surrender to thoughts of, "that's too hard/technical/high/fast, I'll never need to know that." But we must master every nook and cranny of the horn. Otherwise, we're like a poet who can't speak the language he's writing, or an auto mechanic who doesn't know how to use a socket wrench. The poet must know words he doesn't use, and the mechanic must have knowledge beyond the tune-up he's doing. We must be expert in things that might never be required of us.

We also have to be able to play every genre of music in which the trombone might be used. No matter what our preferred niche is, a time will certainly come when we need to be able to reach down and use the tools from another genre. I was recently at a classical concert, where the music suddenly brought in elements of jazz and Spanish music. We must have the ability to reach into our toolbox and pull out whatever is needed for the moment, and we need to have those tools available to us at all times.

Then and only then can we do what we are supposed to do, which is to forget completely about playing the trombone, and just play music.

This is true of all art.

[tbdana]

If we are a jazz player (for instance), we still need to be able to play classical style extremely well. We don't need to be as good as those who only play classical music, but we need to be as good as they are for 8 bars or for an hour. Even if we're a pure jazzer, at some point we will need the tools and skills that classical players spend decades developing. Play whatever we like, but know how to play everything else.

[tbdana]

If we can't play a scale or arpeggio from the bottom of the horn to the top and down without major embouchure shifts, we need to practice that starting today. We shouldn't need to use a different embouchure for different ranges.

Mouthpiece pressure is the enemy of endurance. We need enough pressure to maintain a seal on the mouthpiece, but more than that is a crutch and actually tires the muscles faster.

The hardest thing I ever learned was to play a soft, legato low Bb to B natural and back without using a trigger. Learning to do that improved all the mechanics of my playing, from embouchure, to air control, to slide technique, to musicality, and more. Sometimes the simplest little thing is the most beneficial. Don't overlook the simple exercises.

[tbdana]

Rochut etudes should be played with the feeling of being in a busy family pasta restaurant in Italy.

[tbdana]

People can teach us to play the trombone. But no one can teach us to play music. We have to find that place ourselves.

Playing trombone is a craft. Playing music is an art.

[tbdana]

Come from within the music. Stop imposing ourselves on top of it.

[tbdana]

Some things about the music business can only be experienced, not learned. One time on Buddy Rich's band we were on the bus going to Canada for a gig. Before we crossed the border we had to get rid of all the drugs and ammunition on board. I'll let you imagine the bus full of stoned musicians driving 85 mph down the highway while consuming a tremendous amount of drugs and shooting guns out the windows.

Once on Ray Charles' band we had to all participate in prayer and bible study, right before Ray took the Raelettes into the back for some group sexy time.

On a movie date, during a break, Watrous stayed in the studio and farted up the biggest fart storm there ever was, which seemingly went on forever, while the rest of us listened from the booth in fascination and horror, howling with laughter. Yes, the engineer recorded it.

They don't teach us these kinds of life lessons in conservatory.

[tbdana]

Bill Watrous practiced every day of his life.

Is it just a coincidence that he was as good as he was?

[tbdana]

We practice at the edge of our skill set, but we perform from the middle of it.

At the same time, no great performance ever occurred when the performer was being cautious.

[Richard3rd]

If we are a jazz player (for instance), we still need to be able to play classical style extremely well. We don't need to be as good as those who only play classical music, but we need to be as good as they are for 8 bars or for an hour. Even if we're a pure jazzer, at some point we will need the tools and skills that classical players spend decades developing. Play whatever we like, but know how to play everything else.

Can you expand on this. What are the tools and skills specifically?

[harrisonreed]

Only a child of the solar system may harmonize a true vision of musical beauty.

Greed in the quest for knowledge is the antithesis of empathy.

Learning is born in the gap where consciousness has been excluded.

The future of music will be a higher invocation of coherence.

The stratosphere of your tessitura is approaching a tipping point as your understanding of the mysteries decreases.

Complexity is a constant.

We believe, we live, we are reborn. Consciousness consists of pulses of quantum energy. “Quantum” means a flowering of the archetypal.
By deepening, we live.

Yes, it is possible to disrupt the things that can disrupt us, but not without intention on our side. Discontinuity is the antithesis of gratitude. Without non-locality, one cannot reflect on the deeper music.

This life is nothing short of a maturing paradigm shift of holistic passion. Grace in the execution of your craft requires exploration. The world is radiating supercharged electrons.
Only a seeker of the nexus may release this metamorphosis of inseparability.

Virtuosity is the nature of flow, and of us. We exist as frequencies.

Potential is the driving factor of the ability to achieve.
Potential requires exploration -- by unveiling, we believe.

This life is nothing short of a flowering network of magical self-actualization. To roam the journey is to become one with it. Seeker, look within and change yourself.

[whyking]

Wait so are you saying guns, drugs and a low-fiber diet is the key to playing high notes?

[Kbiggs]

Performance = Potential minus Distraction, or Pe = Po-D.

Pe = What you play here and now, whether it’s in your practice room, your teacher’s office, warming up on-stage, or during a performance.

Po = Your potential. At your best, what can you do consistently that is required of you, given the parameters of music (pitch, timbre, tempo, rhythm, technique, etc.).

D = Anything that decreases Po. It could be didn’t practice enough, too tired, too wired, too worried, that damn page turn you never copied, thoughts like “Wait! What did I have for lunch yesterday?” and “When’s the last time I…?”

To increase Pe and Po, decrease D.

(With thanks and apologies to Tony Clements)