WHY DO WE MAKE MISSTAKES? PART #5

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Equipment failure Fortunately the number of equipment failures can be listed on one hand so solving these issues can be easy to cover. List of possible equipment failures- 1. Valves will stick, period (THIS IS A RECENTLY USED WORD REVIVED FROM OBSQURITY BY YOUR PRESIDENT). The number of times a…

Why Do We Make Misstakes? Part #4

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Distractions As I stated earlier, distraction and the lack of concentration are usually related. The distractions I am going to cover here are the ones that creep into your playing even when you are concentrating to your fullest during a performance. #1. Where did my music go? You have practiced…

Why Do We Make Misstakes? Part #3

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Physical limitations “Not all horses are race horses” This was one of the many comments given to me by a former boss while teaching at UNI. This came from my first employer by the name of Dr. Myron Russell. I respected this older gentleman in many ways. He was intelligent,…

Why Do We Make Misstakes? Part 2

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Concentration We have all been there when at a moment of weakness, our mind wanders to something other than what we are doing and disaster strikes. This could be while driving a car, installing a new light switch or it could be in the middle of a perfectly good solo.…

Why Do We Make Misstakes? Part 1

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Learn Your Material Too often we think that we know our solo or orchestral passage and wonder why we made an error on the concert. A wonderful measurement of how well you are prepared for a solo or exposed part in a concert is to use this test. Are you…

Why Do We Make Misstakes? Introduction

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Performing in a musical setting can be a joy and in many cases a frustration. When we are good, we are very, very good and when we are bad, it sucks! Even after months of practice we find ourselves making errors in a performance. This frustrating occurrence can come at…

Welcome to the Bell Curve System of Practicing

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Just what is the “Bell Curve System”? A Bell Curve is a representation of graduated increase and decrease of anything. It could represent income changes, temperature differences or the stock market. It is a gradual representation of change and this “gradual” change can be beneficial to your practice habits. I…

Modifications To Your Mouthpiece

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First warning! Modifying a mouthpiece could ruin it. With that note of assurance, let’s see what can be done to a mouthpiece to change its playing characteristics. Parts of a trumpet/cornet/flugelhorn mouthpiece- Rim- contoured section which comes in contact with the players lips Bite- Inner edge of rim Cup- Largest…