Most of us use some form of musical modeling in our teaching. I certainly do. Like many of you, I spend a great deal of time and energy in lessons modeling what I want my students to sound like. This old monkey see, monkey do approach is so effective, informative and inspiring that I think it should almost always be my first go to technique.

I’m am certainly not opposed to telling my students what I want done as well, but music concepts are often times best expressed…well…musically. When I’m doing it right, I model the idea I want to get across repeatedly before ever mentioning it in conversation.

If for example I hear a nasal quality to the sound, I should play whatever music we are working on in a broad tone. Then we can go back and forth with “I play, you play” until things get better. I can then mention what I’m trying to get across if I have to.  Sloppy attack? Extra point needs added to my attack. Note too long? My note must get shorter still.

I should also model technique. If my student is slouching in their chair, I need to sit up extra straight in my chair. Is their breath shallow? Mine needs to be full. Hands stiff, mine must get more fluid.

This you probably already know and do yourselves, but my tip to you is to take that same technique of modeling that you use and expand it. Don’t stop with musical and technique modeling, but try to model everything you want your students to do and to be.

Listen, when we are working as private instructors, we have an unusual amount of student/teacher face time.  Because we are one on one, and because music is so powerful and inspiring an activity, we can have tremendous sway in the lives of our students.

How will you use this power?  What effect do you want to have on your students?

Will we only make our students better musicians, or will we leave them better people?

We notice lots of things in others, in our students, that we want to improve, right? Have any trouble students? What bugs you about them? What flaws do they have that drive you nuts?

Now comes the hard part. When we identify something in a student that bothers us, then we first have to take a peek inside ourselves and see if we have the same issue. Then we can correct the issue in ourselves and model the correct way to be.  If something is worth teaching others, then we need to do it ourselves, all the time. This is where I see the most failure in myself and in my fellow teachers. We fail to be the model for who we want our students to be. I see this failure in our teaching rooms, and I see it even more often outside of our studios, when there is time between students or when there is a break in lessons. Students see this side of us too! 

Is your student late? Model punctuality.  Are they unprepared? Be prepared yourself.  Are they distracted? Be engaged.  Are they crass? Be delicate. Do they lie? Be only about the truth. Are they unreliable? You be faithful. Trouble maker? Be helpful. Are they hateful? Model love. 

Modeling the right way to be is appropriate and persuasive even when speaking something is not. That said, it can be really tough, no? Give it a try, but know that sometimes we will fail so badly that we need to model an apology.  


(Written 9/14/3014 for Music & Arts Teaching Newsletter, Sound Teaching)

Here is a very simple but effective idea to make me, and you better regardless of our instrument, or activity. Well, it can't really promise that, but it may at least slow the degradation. Ha! Sometimes that is too true. 

Here is a list of the trumpet faults that I see in my own playing over and over. I got tired of not being able to figure out what was going wrong in my playing fast enough when trying to warm up, or whenever problems arose. 

Gordon’s Usual Trumpet Faults
1. Self-Focus In Playing
2. Bottom Jaw Sinks In
3. Corners Disengage
4. Breathing Too Shallow  (At Times Overly Deep)
5. Air is not supported
6. Too Much Mouthpiece Pressure
7. Restricted Orbicularis Oris inside and Underneath Mouthpiece
8. Lack of Energy or life in Playing – Pounding Notes

That list is great for diagnosing my problems, although it may or may not hit yours. Make your own fault list. 

Now this next list I made using the last. I turned each entry into a positive that I can focus on in my playing during my warm-up, or whenever, to make sure that I'm getting the most out of my time. 

Gordon’s Trumpet Focus Points
1. Direct Playing Toward God
2. Keep Jaw Comfortably Forward
3. Engage Corner s Forward
4. Breath Full Without Strain
5. Waste Air
6. Keep Mouthpiece Light
7. Let Orbicularis Oris be Netrual in Feel Within and Under Mouthpiece
8. Play with Life and Energy

Make your own list of things to focus on. 

Of top importance is to know why you play; otherwise, why play? That is why I put,"Direct Playing Toward God" first. 

Worship from INSIDE-UPWARDS not OUTSIDE-INWARDS. 

That means that we worship from INSIDE, with our hearts, as the MercyMe's "Hearts Sing Louder" says,"May our hearts sing louder than our voices, Jesus." We direct our hearts UPWARDS to God. 

We don't worship by presenting OUTSIDE a quality product to be judged by human standards, like great art, whilst taking the pride in that great work INWARDS, feeling satisfied with the quality product and the praise that does, or should in our estimation, go with it. 

(Now that I look at it again this reminds me of the Berenstain's book, Inside, Outside, Upside Down.)

If you want it to be easy, do it with ease.

This is what should be an easy concept, but turns out to be quite difficult in practice. This phenomenon does not limit itself to trumpet playing. You will find that the best players make it look easy, and indeed for them it is easier than it is for someone off lesser development Can we safely say that we want to be the type of player that plays with ease?


This was not the case for me when I was in school. I wanted trumpet to feel like I was lifting a huge weight over my head and doing a primal scream. I wanted it to feel like work. 


Along the way I did have what should have been enough of those experiences where you play something only half trying and it works and it is way too easy. You think...ok, let's do that again. Then I would do it again and only be able to recreate the feat with much more effort. I should have been able to understand then that ease was the way to go, but I felt I could do it. I could get there on my own steam. 


I seam to be one of those people with a great deal of drive. I suppose that can seem like a good thing, but I can tell you that it can lead to forcing to get your way - on the trumpet and off. I had to face several periods of trumpet problems before learning that if it is not easy it is not right. Even after I had learned that I fell back into the same thing. Now keep in mind, I have always looked like a player that was not forcing - we are all able to hide some of those things from others. 


So when it comes down to it I suggest that we try things with ease even if that means that we don't get it right because of our ease. That is what "try again" is for. It is for doing it again until we get it right, while doing it with ease. 


If we force and get it right, than we still have to learn to do it with ease...problem is you probably can't get there by that approach. 



Perhaps, we get this idea from the folk wisdom that says "try harder." The reason we go with that is because it sort of works. It is quicker to force than to learn to do a thing with ease.  Like so many things patience and perseverance is the key to good playing and not forcing. It means that we have to accept that we are really not as skilled as we think we are, and that is humbling. It also means that we are not on our time schedule of improvement, but, frankly put, on God's. 


So, I guess I'm saying if you want to be a better player - humble yourself. Think not more highly of yourself and your skills than you ought. Then go to the practice room and make it easy - right will come in time. 


All the best,
Gordon

Why Music? What is the motivation behind our musical pursuits of playing and listening.

Last entry I told you that there was a time when my primary reason to play music/trumpet was to try to make people think well of me. Well, I don't want to give the impression that that is all a thing of the past. I still struggle with wanting people to think well of me. Don't you?


Well look, it is indeed a shallow reason to play, but doesn't that mean that it is shallow reason to listen as well? The reverse would be when we listen to music to be impressed. Said another way it is when you listen with the attitude of a judge. You see there are popular shows that have as their backbone the judging of musicians by a small panel and by national audiences. 


Look, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having an ear for music so to know when something is in tune, of sound rhythm, and of good pitch. That is necessary for music making and has the possibility of enriching the listening experience in the same way that knowing more vocabulary words opens you up to richer literature. What is happening is that we are using our ears to judge instead of being able to enjoy. 


Is music still music if you hear errors? 


I played taps today. If there is one song that I never want to make a mistake in it has to be taps. It is not a difficult piece for a professional to play, but everyone seams familiar with it,and you are quite exposed. The emotions in the room were high as the man was a veteran who surrendered to Christ in his last days battling cancer at the pleading of his faithful daughter, who was passionately speaking for the family. 


Let me tell you what you might have heard in a judging manner. I did not like the attack I got on the 16th note. It wasn't quite as perky and clear as the other 23. Also I could argue that vibrato is not historically used in the performance of taps and perhaps that should not have been part of the performance. 


If you were the one catching those details,  than how would that make you feel? Now I know those are small details, but I'm trying to prove a point here without bringing up a time where I really messed up big time. (Still trying to impress, right?)

Now let me tell you what I was saying when playing taps. I was expressing death's power over the body, solemnly pronouncing the end of the days of a man. At the height I let the note linger and emoted the finest tone I could muster without getting loud enough or vibrant  enough to break the the sober veil. At the end I held the note long, steady like death and then added slight vibrato with a slow crescendo and decrescento so that it would give a hint of the glory of heaven that awaited this man in Heaven. Then the note went to a flat tone before ending. 

Now the listening experiences of the audience may have differed from my performers viewpoint. To some the top not may have expressed victory. To another the pacing may have been too slow as they were uncomfortable anyhow in a stiff pew. 


What is the reason you play, and what is the reason you listen?