[Trombone-l] Motivational advice for a growing trombone player

[Charles DePaolo]

OK, so this is going to ramble a bit...

I went all the way thru graduate school, and even was accepted to the 
Eastman doctorate program, and despite that I was never much of a 
"practiholic." You see, unlike many of my other more accomplished colleagues 
who could actually play the damned horn, I never enjoyed practice.  Some of 
my friends lived to practice.  I did not.  I've finally come to the 
conclusion that practice has three main objectives, none of which are 
outlawed by the Geneva Convention.  In this order, they are: (1) to prevent 
the loss of ground (ability), some call this "maintenance," (2) to solve 
some specific performance problem (an etude, a solo, an excerpt) and (3) to 
improve my mastery of the instrument beyond what I can do today. This 
hierarchy helped me focus my day's practice, or what little I begrudgingly 
did.  I'd rather play in a group than practice.  But I knew that if I didn't 
do the former, I wouldn't get to do the latter.  So I would go into the room 
with an objective - to kill the problem as quickly and as efficiently as 
possible so I could get the heck out of there.  So, when you say what you 
say, I can relate.  Today, when I have little or no time to practice, yet 
want to retain my position in a good brass quintet, I realize that I have to 
do (1).  Number (2) comes next, as I have to be able to cut the parts and 
not make a (bigger) fool of myself.  Then I strive to do (3) whenever 
possible, which now that I'm a dad, a business owner, and Lawn Mower in 
Chief, is pretty much never.  But having a hierarchal approach gives me 
clear focus when I do find the time.  I sit down for maybe a half hour - 45 
minutes if I'm lucky, get my lip slurs and long tones up to speed, and then 
spend the rest of the time working out a tough lick in the Arnold or the 
Ewald.  Then it's lights out until the next night.  Maybe.  Damn grass is 
growing again...

--Chuck

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Cesar Gonzales
  To: Trombone-l at samford.edu
  Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:29 PM
  Subject: [Trombone-l] Motivational advice for a growing trombone player


  Considering this is a forum of discussion for both amateur and 
professional
  players; I decided that it would be appropriate to ask an amateur 
question.
  I'm having trouble with maintaining a consistent drive towards self
  improvement through daily practice, especially after a big push in my
  practice schedule. Say for instance I manage 3 weeks of consistent 3-4 
hours
  daily practice. I always seem to break down and pull back to 1 or 2 hours
  per day afterwords for a week or two at times. What I'm asking is if this 
is
  normal for a young musician to experience. I'm ambitious and would like to
  consider graduate studies in music, and possibly even a career of
  professional performance. Because of this I find managing this "problem" a
  very important issue. What I'd also like to ask is how the members of this
  mailing list manage to stay motivated to keep a consistent practice
  schedule. Are there any mind tricks I can use? Is it just pure willpower?

  Thank you,

  Cesar Gonzalez
  Student at University of Texas at Brownsville
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