Alessi Seminar Notes, Day 2 (part 2).. Masterclass No. 1

Please note:

These entries from the Alessi Seminar are not a literal transcript. I took written notes and then typed them up. I have made every effort to be accurate but, as you might expect, each blog entry is a meager substitute for actually being there.

Remember that many of the things Mr. Alessi says in these masterclasses are in the context of addressing the needs of a particular student and should not be seen as universal mandates to be mindlessly followed.

If you are serious about pursuing musical excellence on the trombone, there is no substitute for actually attending one of Mr. Alessi's seminars. You'll be glad you did.

In this master class, 5 participants played:
Paul Compton - The Pugh Concerto (mvts. 1 &2)
Weston Sprott - The Grondahl Concerto (mvts. 1&2)
Joseph Rodriquez - Gershwin Medley
Louis Bremer - Sagittarius 2
Nicole Abissi - Martin Ballade

Here are some of my notes:

• Joe quoted Wycliffe Gordon, "You have to be able to sing what you're going to play."
• Make sure your phrase lead to the last note. When you get to the end, don't give up. Finish the phrase. He gave the analogy of a racehorse slowing down before the finish line.
• He pointed out that the hardest thing about music sometimes is that we play with blinders on. Take the blinders off and see the whole phrase. He gave the analogy of bad drivers who don't see the whole road around them.
• Be sure your technique is clean. He pointed out that his teacher harped on him all the time about his slide.
• When working with an accompanist, lead don't follow. He observed that this is what messes a lot of people up when they audition for Juilliard. "They don't drive the car."
• One possible cause for playing sharp is a too-fast air stream. "Personally, I like low and slow" Lower pitch, slower air stream.
• He suggested that the student should try to make the sound reach to the corners of the hall. He then demonstrate and said that, as he he plays, "I'm hearing the hall ring"
• For the tendency to play sharp he suggested that one should let the sound settle down into the pitch. He also phrased it this way, "Let the notes sit down where they want to go."
• Joe said in his own practicing he was thinking of incorporating some pitch bending (with the embouchure) to explore the center and find the sweet spot.
• At one point he advised a student to sing more and take more risks.
• Regarding phrase groupings and the comparison between the small phrases and the larger phrases: he pointed out that the overall phrase mark is the most important one.
• At one point he observed "You have to think, 'I have nothing to lose.' "
• If you want to learn about phrasing, listen to the great singers: Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Nat King Cole.
• "I think when you're having fun, you don't get as tired."
• For high notes, don't use a downward pointing body position. Think of lifting your body (and bell) as you play higher. This gives you a little more leverage. Joe talked about Maynard Ferguson's trumpet players and how they would lean back while playing high notes. He suggest doing a tiny bit of that same gesture.
• One of the keys to phrasing, never do the same thing twice.
• A recital of trombone music can become very boring if a player plays in only one style.
• A common musical problem is that we sometimes crescendo too soon. Often you should wait to start the crescendo.
• Be more aware of the thematic material in the piano part. Know when to back off and let the piano lines come out.
• Avoid the "car horn" sound where the tone has no musical shape. On many long notes, you can let the sound relax.
• With respect to loud playing he observed that it's good to show off your stuff but that it should lead somewhere.
• Regarding slide technique, he observed, "I'm not a "wrist-ey" player. {meaning not so much flexing of the wrist} I like to index with the slide. When I go to a position, I like to have a connection straight from the tone in my brain to my slide."
• Avoid "panic breathing" in your performance. He described breathing as a chance to replenish yourself. Do this every chance you get.
• "Be true to the music, not convenient to yourself."
• Try rehearsing a piece from the ending and work towards the beginning. This way, you have a clear idea of how you want it to end.
• Bad breathing often comes from trying to frantically rush through everything.
• For rapid tonguing, he suggested pulling the tongue back a little (in other words, tongue farther back in the mouth.).
• Have a consistent breath and breathe this one way whenever possible. He demonstrated by playing Bolero and then then Mozart Requiem, pointing out that he takes the same breath in either situation.
• If you open your mouth wide to breathe, you end up closing the throat.

Wow, all this from one masterclass. I don't know if I'll be able to provide this much detail about every class (especially the ones I'm playing in), but I'll do what I can.

Oh yes, the recital. Well, what can you say......

he's the man

Alessi Seminar Notes, Day 2 (part 1)..The Warm-Up

Please note:

These entries from the Alessi Seminar are not a literal transcript. I took written notes and then typed them up. I have made every effort to be accurate but, as you might expect, each blog entry is a meager substitute for actually being there.

Remember that many of the things Mr. Alessi says in these masterclasses are in the context of addressing the needs of a particular student and should not be seen as universal mandates to be mindlessly followed.

If you are serious about pursuing musical excellence on the trombone, there is no substitute for actually attending one of Mr. Alessi's seminars. You'll be glad you did.

Today at the seminar, things really got cranking. The participants had a group warm-up led by Mr. Alessi followed by the first masterclass lasting about 3 1/2 hours. For me the afternoon filled up with rehearsals and sectionals. The day ended with Mr. Alessi's recital.

The Warm-Up Session

Joe led us through some of his ideas for warming up and maintenance. We also received an 8-page handout of exercises. I wasn't able to take notes during the warm-up itself but here are some recollections.

Breathing:
Joe showed us a breathing exercise which involved touching the toes and then straightening up and lifting the arms over the head as you breathe in.
He made an interesting analogy: air in playing is like pouring gasoline into a funnel. From your lungs you have this ample supply of air but you don't want to pour more into the funnel (lips/mouthpiece) than your lips can handle.

He also commented on how so many trombonists make the mistake of "hammering" away in their warm-up rather than working towards a relaxed, beautiful sound. Don't hammer.

The first exercise was a descending arpeggio buzzed on the mouthpiece ranging from middle B-flat down the pedal B-flat. (then the arpeggio is to be done in lower and lower keys).
A couple points about this: he advised us to scoop into the first note. Also he wanted the arpeggio to be somewhat glissy, not slotting into each note.

The second exercise, played very freely on the trombone, was basically a mixture of sustained notes and legato tonguing. The main purpose here was to find the pitch center.

During the 6th exercise, a slow, legato passage of expanding intervals he spoke of the importance of pitch accuracy and consistency. Here he made an interesting observation..

In any audition, only about 2% of the candidates stand any chance of being hired.
One of the major reasons so many candidates aren't worthy of serious consideration is faulty intonation.

Another reminder as we progressed: don't force or strain. Just get a nice relaxed, beautiful tone.

Incidentally, quite a few of the exercises were lip slur patterns.

Exercise #10 focused on slurring over wider intervals. He spoke of the importance of an even sound without favoring certain registers.
Exercise #13 consisted of a bold two-octave tongued arpeggio (B-flat to B-flat for starters) followed by a descending legato chromatic scale. Joe talked about the importance of mastering the chromatic scale starting on any note for true mastery of slide technique. Exercises 16 and 17 also focused on the chromatic scale both in triplets and 16th's.

At many points in the masterclass, he spoke about the importance of breathing well. As he described it a great breath is just like a sigh. He gave the analogy of losing something and then finding it after some searching. When you finally see it, you might heave a sigh of relief. This, he says, is the perfect breath.

He also introduced a different technique for breathing. Basically, he recommends that you maintain contact with the mouthpiece at the center and breathe in through the corners of the mouth by "stretching out" the corners a bit. He returned to this idea a couple times during the masterclass. Another phrase he used was, "Plug it in first and then breathe"

He stressed that this was an important concept to learn and that, once mastered, should really help with consistency and accuracy.

During the masterclass, I wrote down quite a few notes which I'd like to share with you. Check out the next blog for this...

Milt Stevens, you will be missed

It is with great sadness that I must report that Milt Stevens, principal trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra passed away very recently.
Milt, who visited USC for a guest recital a few years ago, was a class act. He had a big impact on the trombone world and this sudden death is terrible shock for us all.

Alessi Seminar Notes, Day 1...SING! LISTEN!

Please note:

These entries from the Alessi Seminar are not a literal transcript. I took written notes and then typed them up. I have made every effort to be accurate but, as you might expect, each blog entry is a meager substitute for actually being there.

Remember that many of the things Mr. Alessi says in these masterclasses are in the context of addressing the needs of a particular student and should not be seen as universal mandates to be mindlessly followed.

If you are serious about pursuing musical excellence on the trombone, there is no substitute for actually attending one of Mr. Alessi's seminars. You'll be glad you did.

The first day of the seminar consisted of a reception, an opening meeting and first rehearsals for the trombone choirs.

Mr. Alessi pointed out in the meeting that the main purpose of this whole experience is to learn. He also noted that he learns quite a bit from these seminars.

Notes from the trombone choir rehearsal...

The main reminders in the rehearsal: sing and listen. In other words, never stop that singing approach to your instrument.

Also, never stop listening to musicians around you. Don't get into that mode where you are totally focused on your part and unaware of the group as a whole.

He told us a story about a conversation with a colleague in the brass section. Joe was asking him how he sounded so good in performance after performance. The colleague's reply was to just remember to keep singing. Sometimes he (the colleague) starts to hear those little voices in his head. When he concentrates on singing, the voices go away.

He pointed out that there are a lot of great players but they aren't always great listeners. "It's always easier to play with someone who is really listening."

As many of you know, James Markey just won the bass trombone spot in the New York Philharmonic. Joe made the comment that Markey was an outstanding listener.

So that's the message for today (and maybe for the whole session)

SING

LISTEN

Alessi Seminar 5 - Day 0 ..Travel Joys

Time permitting, internet access permitting, I hope to make regular blog entries as I attend the Alessi Seminar.

The seminar starts tomorrow (Sun, July 29th). I'm in Denver after my flight was cancelled. At least they put me up in a hotel for the night.

An interesting question arises from this. You see, I've gotten in the habit of checking my trombone as baggage. This began when I flew into and out of a small Iowa airport and had no choice.

How to protect the horn? Well, here's what I do and so far I have had 5-6 successful flights with this. I have a wolfpack case (hard-sided). I wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap and shove it into a large black duffel bag. I usually stuff in a pillow and some towels for good measure. The key is to not be able to feel the edge of the case from the outside of the bag.

Thus, I end up with a large block amorphous blob that I check in that beginning. So far I have never had any damage or anything even close to damage.

Of couse, airlines do lose luggage....

Imagine that, I'd probably be the only participant in history who showed up for an Alessi seminar with no trombone!

Incidentally, I once spoke to a trombonist who had to fly several times a month. He would carry it on the plane, slinging over his shoulder in such a way that the boarding agent was less likely to notice it. If they did, they would ask him to gate check the horn. Sometimes he would even take the gate check tag off the horn as he walked down to the plane and just carry it on anyway.

Trombone skit on Conan

Trombones going extinct?
The solution seems mildly troubling.

Here's the link.

hEARing, part 1

I arise from my summer daze for a rare blog...
I've been working on memorizing Peaslee's Arrows of Time. Normally I don't bother to memorize music. Why? I've always felt you should do whatever produces the best performance. If I hesitate because of a little memory slip, the piece suffers.

I must admit, however, as I work to memorize some of the funkier intervals of that piece, I find that I must truly learn them. I find that I play them better because, since I had to memorize them, they are clearer in my ear.

So here's an equation to consider...

Memorizing = Better Inner Hearing = Better Performance

I'm not totally sold on memorizing yet but I have to admit, this is something new to consider.

You never stop learning.

Interested in Shires Trombones?

For anybody local to Columbia, Newell Sheridan will be in town on June 20th with some horns for sale. I play Shires and love it, by the way. Just heard that the whole Atlanta Symphony trombone section has switched to Shires.
Email me if you're interested.

Trombonophilia...yet no YouTube (dang)

OK, this looks interesting and way over my little head. Still, perhaps someone out there might want to know about it.

The group has a choreographer and yet I find no video on their website or on YouTube. I get the feeling it would be interesting.

Here's a link to their blog:
http://trombonophilia.blogspot.com/


Here's the announcement that was emailed to me...

June 2007 at the Stone curated by Christopher McIntyre


Tuesday's and Thursday's (plus Friday June 1 & 29)
Trombonophilia
A month-long festival featuring New York's unusually creative group of local trombonists, all of whom compose and lead their own projects. Visit the festival site for more info at www.cmcintyre.com/trombonophilia.htm


6/1 Friday (JC)
8 pm
Trombonophilia: Chris McIntyre's SoHo SoLo
Chris McIntyre (trombone & laptop)
A new solo set of compositions from a 70's SoHo perspective (Niblock, Glass, Zummo, Rzewski) as well as McIntyre's evolving stuplimity no.3 for trombone and ISE.

10 pm
Trombonophilia: 7X7 Trombone Band
Joe Fiedler, Ben Gerstein, Curtis Hasselbring, Richard Marriott, Chris McInytre, Steve Swell, Peter Zummo (trombone)
Formed to play McIntyre's music with choreographer Yoshiko Chuma, 7X7 has performed at the River To River and Fall For Dance Festivals and Issue Project Room. Tonight features McIntyre's stuplimity series pieces for multiple trombones and Fredric Rzewski's Last Judgement (subtitled "for solo trombone or any number of echoing trombones not quite in unison")

Mnozil Brass

How is it I haven't heard of these guys before? (don't answer that!)










Anyway, good old YouTube comes through again.



Yes, they have a website. Check out the bios. Do strings and woodwinds make this much fun of themselves?

In a way, it reminds me of Blast. A mixture of brass playing and other elements.

Do all these things add up to sideshow attractions or is something new evolving? Look at it this way, without an audience, what are you left with?

On the other hand, Canadian Brass has been doing a similar shtick back when I was in high school.

And before them, Spike Jones

OK, all the historians out there can scold me on how little I know. Still, this Mnozil group seems refreshing.

Two Comparisons to Consider

First, a personal note: I sometimes refer to these days as the "Golden Days." I'm done with my teaching for the moment but the kids are still in school. Thus I have something more precious than gold: time.

I'm making good progress on writing a book and am excited about it. Of course I worry that I'll finish it, send it out and receive a giant collective yawn....but I don't think so.

Sorry the blog entries have been a bit slower (book, book, book, book). Summer does give me some time (mostly while doing yard work...dang weeds) to ruminate. Here's something to consider...two comparisons:

Conductor A
Competent, knowledgeable but not terribly enthusiastic. Often seems to be going through the motions.

Conductor B
Inconsistent, frustrating at times but clearly seems to love the music he is conducting. Often guilty of getting carried in the passion of the moment and committing technical errors.

Which conductor would you rather work for?
Which conductor will the audience respond to?

(No, you can't vote for Conductor C)
(But, hey, we can all dream...)

How about an audition...

Candidate A
Maybe not the biggest sound, not that exciting, but very accurate. Doesn't usually miss notes.

Candidate B
Maybe "goes for it" too much in trying to get a big sound and make the music exciting but tends to miss notes here and there.

Which candidate will the committee vote for? How about a committee of non-trombone players and mostly non brass players (which many committees are)?

I remember, back in the 1980's, a certain bass trombone audition (for a top-tier orchestra) in which the ultimate winner of the audition received no advancement votes from the trombone section. Not even in the first round. How would you like start a new job and discover that your new colleagues had voted to cut you in the first round but kept getting overruled by the woodwinds, strings and conductor. Yes, this really happened.

How many players of any brass instrument play mock audition rounds for strings or woodwinds? Should they? What if your career aspirations rested ultimately in the hands of someone whose concept of trombone tone isn't refined as yours?

Hey, did I just bump into Deep Question #3? Maybe.

Thinking about an all-state audition next year? I often have high school students come to take lessons with me and often they want to work on an all-state solo. I usually take the approach the most important thing is tone. I've sometimes said, "Tone is your calling card." It's the first thing they hear, the first impression you give.

BUT...
What if the judge doesn't have a carefully refined concept of trombone tone?
What if they haven't listened intently to all those wonderful Alessi recordings?
What if they aren't even a trombone player?
What if (shudder) they aren't a such a great musician?
What if they are brain-fried from having listened to 15 auditions before yours and having to listen to 12 more?

Chances are, they'll be reduced to note-counting.

Given that, what's a teacher to do?

Summer's Coming

Things at USC are drawing to a close. Since I get a lot of my blogging ideas from things that pop up while I'm teaching, I may not make as many entries over the summer months.

Of course, I will be heading out to New Mexico as a participant for the Alessi Seminar. I hope that I will have time and energy to post quite a few entries from the seminar.

Summer is a time when I can slow down a bit and work on those projects that take more time. Some of you may be familiar with my lip slurs book. It has always been my plan that this book would be part of a series. There are a number of other books (at least 3!) that are in various stages of development.

Of course, most summers I begin with grand plans and end frustrated that I didn't accomplish more. My only "grand" plan for this summer is to get a bit closer to finishing these books.

We'll see.

Jake's Premise and the Amish Guy

Two stories seemingly not connected (but in my mind, they are)...

Jake's Premise

I was lucky enough to have two lessons with Arnold Jacobs before he died. In the second lesson, I just barely made it to the lesson on time.
Pause to imagine that: being late for a lesson with Arnold Jacobs!
Anyway, I started out playing some Bordogni vocalise and chipping some notes. After two lines of music, he stopped me and said, "Well, you've missed 5 notes so far. Do you really know how this goes?"

So, here was his premise: given that you are a reasonably competent musician, the only real reason for missing a note is that the music isn't clear enough in your mind.

Not your breathing,
not your chops,
not the lack of a warm-up.
not even Chicago traffic jams!
Simply this:

you don't hear it clearly enough in your head.

Could it really be that simple?

The Amish Guy

So here's one from one of my students: an Amish guy strikes his thumb with a hammer. Unlike most people (probably me if it happened to me), he didn't get angry. He simply went on with his task. Why get angry when something goes wrong? What good does it do?

As you practice, how do react when you don't play something well?
Ever get angry?
Did the anger help?
Was it necessary?

James Miller Recital coming up May 8th

I got this from a former student...

James Miller, trombone
Allison Gagnon, piano
Tuesday, May 8
7:30pm
Watson Hall
the North Carolina School of the Arts

Fritz Kreisler................................La Gitana

J. Guy Ropartz..................Piece in Eb minor

Frederick Chopin...........................Nocturne

David Fetter....................................Latin

Richard Peaslee...................Arrows of Time
Up
Slow-freely
#III


-------------------------------intermission---------------------------------

J.S. Bach.........................................suite in F major

Walter Hartley...................................Capriccio

Anthony Plog..............................Postcards
Moderato
Slow
III.

Johannes Brahms.............Hungarian Dances
#9, #7, #8, #1, #5

directions to NCSA

I-40 to I-52 north
exit immediately on Sprague
turn left on Sprague Street
go approx 1 mile
turn right on Main Street
at the bottom on the hill,
turn right into the entrance
to the NC School of the Arts
go up the hill, take the first left
and park in the Welcome Center
parking lot. Watson Concert Hall is up the hill and to the right

Yes! finally that Mythbusters trombone story

I remember getting at least 50 emails all relating that story about the Brazilian bass trombonist who put a large firecracker in his bell for a performance of the 1812 overture.
Here's a link from the website for the Darwin Awards

Everyone's told me that the Mythbusters show tested this out. Now finally (thank you Ryan!) I have a YouTube link to that episode.

Stealth Piano

So it happened (again). I was coaching a student with a pianist.

Pianist plays interlude....trombonist misses entrance.

Counting problem? No, preparation problem.

Here's a game I sometimes pull: I tell the pianist to start at some random point in the interlude. The trombonist has to figure out when to come in by listening to the piano part.

Listening, what a concept.

Reminds me of an interesting story from one of our school's wonderful accompanists. Years ago, the sax teacher arrived at her house for a rehearsal. Before ringing the doorbell, he got out his horn. When she let him in, he just started playing from a random passage in the Creston Sonata. He wanted to see if she could figure out where he was in the piece and jump right in.

Yeah, she got it.

John Hancock's Knuckles

In the spring semester, I teach a class in secondary trombone for music ed. majors. As I go over the basics, I find myself double-checking my trombone majors for those little basic details.

Here's one that comes up at times: slide grip. Some of my students end up holding the slide in some odd way other than at the pads of the finger tips. Of course I point this out and some of them ask, "What does it matter? This way is comfortable."

Here's a new explanation to consider: when you write with a pen, don't you use the tips of your fingers for fine control?

Try signing your name by holding the pen closer to your knuckles instead. How does it look?

How would John Hancock's signature have looked had he been holding the pen close to his knuckles.
Perhaps this....




Instead of this....

And yet, no "00" designation...

Just had this forwarded to me by email. I'll probably get 20 more copies in the next few days.
By the way, yes, there was a jazz trombonist named Abe Lincoln.

Enjoy.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Each year thousands are people are killed, maimed
or annoyed by trombones. The statistics of head, neck and even shoulder
injuries sustained by reed players, french horn and string sections
seated within reach of the deadly seventh position are truly
shocking ... not to mention forced early retirement due to ever-increasing
hearing problems reported by classical musicians of all types who are
forced to play the music of Wagner, Mahler and Brahms, as well as the
hundreds of alumni of the Herman, Ferguson and Kenton bands and OKOM
devotees of Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden, Abe Lincoln Jim Robinson and Lee
Gifford.

There is current legislation pending in Congress to restrict the sale
of trombones and equip them with child-safety devices. The influential
trombone lobby is, of course, opposed to this. There have even been
several proposals for requiring a so-called "trigger lock" on all bass
trombones! Every year there are reports of hundreds of innocent
children, attracted by the shiny brass and smooth, seductive curves of
an unattended instrument on a stand in the corner of a room or in an
unlocked case who are traumatized for life by the attempts of a playmate
to get a sound out of it, or who may suffer a collapsed lung or the
effects of hyperventilation by trying the same effort themselves! The
owner's feeble "I didn't know the slide was unlocked" is no excuse!
Trombones should be stored out of reach of children.

Efforts to enact a mandatory 10-day waiting period to purchase a
trombone - which would simply allow a reasonable period of time for law
enforcement officials to cross-check the purchaser's name against an
International list of registered trombone offenders and Slide-O-Mix
addicts, have been repeatedly thwarted by the powerful
Conn-Selmer-Yamaha (CSY) lobby. Law enforcement officials are
particularly alarmed over the increase in crimes involving use of the
"sawed-off" trombone or "sackbut." Legislation is also pending in
several progressive states, including New York and California, to make
carrying a concealed alto trombone a Class A felony!

Some Governors feel that there are sufficient laws already on the
books that simply need stricter enforcement - such as the 1932
nation-wide ban of screw-on bells, the indiscriminate use of Pond's Cold
Cream or KY Jelly and unsupervised emptying of spit valves on public
property. Filthy unsanitary habits which will help spread the flu this
year. One popular response to the spread of delinquent behavior is the
imposition of mandatory longer sentences for those using a trombone
while committing a crime ("Use a trombone - Go to jail"). Surveillance
video tapes have proven especially effective in identifying violators of
this statute because career criminals have often tried to avoid
convictions by having their lawyers insist that what eye-witnesses
reported as a trombone was really only an AK-47 or other legal assaul
weapon. Strict enforcement has been especially effective when used in
conjunction with the new "Three sharps, you're out" statutes that have
already been approved by many state legislatures.

Of course the automatic and semi-automatic valved models - both piston
and the middle-European rotary, are much more dangerous than the
traditional single valve trombone. Interpol has also reported the
sudden appearance of of rear-blasting Cavalry models that were thought
to have been completely eliminated during the Great Confiscation
mandated by the 1918 Treaty of Versailles signed by representatives of
every civilized country of the period. You may recall that those
instruments were melted down and became an integral part of the
Trans-Atlantic Telephone Cable that helped to unite America and Europe.
It is believed that the new source of these WMD's are isolated
factories in rural areas of China. The awesome destructive power of the
double trigger bass trombone could never have been imagined by the
founding fathers when they granted us the right to keep and bear horns.

Remember: When trombones are outlawed, only outlaws will play "I'm
Gettin' Sentimental Over You."

(author Albert Manglesdorf)

Downbeat Ride

It's a unique experience working on excerpts over the years. You first encounter them as young as high school and, if you're serious, you'll end up playing them hundreds (thousands?) of times over the years.

As time goes by, you build habits...hopefully good ones. When bad habits creep in, sometimes it helps to play the excerpt in a different way.

One example is the famous/infamous Ride of the Valkyries. In a previous blog, I pointed out how your rhythm might be better if you related it to a familiar tune such as, say...The Mexican Hat Dance (see "Horns and Sombreros" in the archives.)
Here's a variation on the ride. Leave out the dotted rhythm and just play the downbeat notes.


















Why? This variation should improve intonation and may help with developing a steady tempo. Put it another way, if you struggle with this version, the actual version probably isn't going to be a big success. Conversely, if you learn to nail this, it should help with final product.

Hope this helps.

Acting Cats Nag

Here are three ideas that have been rattling around in my brain waiting for me to blog them...

Be An Actor
Imaging you are acting in a play and your character is Mr. Cool. Back stage you might feel nervous but, on stage, you've got to play the part.


(OK, maybe this particular reference is a little dated and pathetic)






In other words, if you don't feel poised and confident, be an actor and imitate someone who is. Who knows, maybe it'll rub off.

Air Cats
We have two cats. Every night, we put them "in lockdown" in the back of the house so they don't bug us all night.
Don't call PETA, I'm referring to two levels of the house with food and a cat box, etc.
Still, every morning, while I'm making breakfast, they are, shall we say EAGER to get out.
Sometimes, I open the door and they try to come out at the same time, one trying to jump over the other. In recent lesson I used this as an analogy...
opening door = tongue
cats = air

In tonguing, think that the air just wants to burst out to the lips and the tongue simply releases all that air so it can come flowing through.









Nag Tape
As we practice, often we are trying to implement a new habit. Of course, the old habit doesn't just go away. Perhaps reminders would be helpful.
Take a deep breath......relax........good posture.

Try making a "nag tape": sit in a quite room with a recorder and, for about 10 - 20 minutes, give yourself these kinds of reminders (maybe once every 30 seconds or so).

Then, go about practicing while the tape plays in the background. Every now and then, as you play, you'll hear one of your reminders.

Take a deep breath



Relax



Good posture