Weebles, Randall Cunningham and Headlights

Weebles wobble but they don't fall down...

Randall Cunningham could get hit and somehow stay on his feet. (Anybody remember that Giants game years ago when he get clobbered .. almost completely upended but came down on his feet to throw a touchdown pass. Still the greatest play I have ever seen.)
No, this isn't that play but you get the idea..

It isn't the player who never misses, it's the player who recovers quickly!

And the headlights, you ask?
you're driving down the road at night and hit a nasty bump. You're annoyed you didn't see it in time to swerve. You think, "Man that was a bad pothole. "

You turn around to look back at the hole instead of where the headlights are pointed.

That's when you hit the tree.

Get it?

Formulas, formulas

You may know this one (not original):

P - I = R

Potential minus interference equals result.
In other words, your performance is your potential (the best you can possibly play) minus all the stuff that holds you back.

Let me expand this ...

P=SC + F

"SC" stands for sound concept. You're about to play a piece...do really know exactly how you want it to sound? (Be honest, have you marked in the breaths, decided on nuances like vibrato, degree of attack, etc.).
"F" stands for fundamentals. Assuming that you really know what you want the piece to sound like, do you have the command over your instrument to produce the exact result you hear in your head? Do you end up playing mezzo piano because you can't control your tone at piano? Do you resort to "wah" attacks because you can't "ping" the notes cleanly?

I=T+D

"T" stands for tension. If you allow your body to tense up in a performance, the fundamentals won't work to bring forward your sound concept. Relaxation is crucial.
"D" stands for distraction. Anything that takes your mind off the task at hand. There are two types of distraction: external and internal. If a comet crashes through the roof during your performance, you might not play as well as planned. Internal distractions are any thoughts other than the phrase at hand. Thoughts like:
"Man, I hope I don't blow this."
"Wow, this is going really well."
"I wonder what the listeners think of me."
I like to think of nervousness as simply a matter of attention focus. If you are immersed in the phrase of the moment, it's hard to be nervous because you are focused away from yourself.

What does this all mean?

Well, maybe it can simplify things. If these formulas work, there are only four things you need to focus on:
Sound Concept
Fundamentals
Tension
Distraction

What else is there.

(Sound Concept+Fundamentals) - (Tension+Distaction) = Result

Ouch, too much math for a trombone brain.

Amnesia and the Invisible Soloist

Last Monday I gave my faculty recital. How did it go?

I think it went pretty well because I can't remember it too well. I've noticed this before. Here's what happens (I think)…

On one end: the composer. On the other end: the audience.

Your job? Disappear.

My favorite compliment isn't, "Gee, you played great." It's, "I really loved that piece."

The amnesia part? If I'm not self-aware while performing, I'm less likely to remember how it went.

The bad moments? I remember them all too well ….