DEREK JUSTIN WRIGHT

Don’t Bash Your Colleagues!

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:00:46 +0000

The old saying, “If you don’t have something nice to say about someone, say nothing at all” is great advice for any musician. The classical music industry is extremely small, to the point where I would guess that there is only one degree of separation between any two musicians. When bashing someone you are always in danger of alienating yourself from someone else who may be a friend/relative/teacher/student/co-worker of your target. Your unkind words can also make it back to the person you maligned.

Most people are susceptible to this mistake. There will be people you have work with whom you just don’t like. A common reaction to this situation is to vent your dislike or frustration to your friends and colleagues. Many of them may openly agree with you. However, that does not protect you from possible repercussions.

Beware of your reaction when someone comes up to you to complain about a colleague. Even if you agree your best reaction is the non-reaction.

I have made this mistake a couple of times in the past, and I have always regretted it later. Some people habitually commit the mistake so often that they irrevocably destroy their entire career. It is best not to malign or complain about anyone, no matter how insignificant they may seem to your future career right now.

Rhythm and Time Part 1: Why is a recording device just as essential as a metronome?

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:00:17 +0000

A metronome is a great tool. It helps one to learn the correct rhythm and time for any metrical piece of music. However, the overuse of a metronome can be detrimental. It allows one to play in time without reliance on his internal sense of time. I’ve seen many students work on the rhythm of a piece excessively with a metronome only to be completely lost when it is turned off.

So, at some point the metronome must be turned off when learning music. However, one can feel that their internal sense of time is completely steady, while in actuality it is flawed. It is at this point that the use of a recording device is essential. A recording device helps one to learn her tendencies towards speeding up or slowing down. It also allows for the identification of incorrectly learned rhythms.

Almost all students of music own metronomes, but far fewer own and regularly use recording devices. Don’t neglect either tool. Both are necessary to efficiently study music.

Failure

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:00:03 +0000

As musicians we all want to be successful. We want to be hired for that full-time job, win that concerto competition, be selected for that all-state band, get into that top music school, be chosen as first chair, etc. We all also know that one player that seems to be successful at everything they attempt. They were first chair in high school, got into the all-state band, was accepted into a top music school, won the college concerto competition, and got their first full-time job at the age of 20. However, most of us don’t find ourselves in that position and it can be very disheartening when we try to compare our accomplishments. We feel like failures.

I’ve been in that position in the past when I had no tangible accomplishments under my belt and I felt that I was a terrible player. From experience I can firmly say that there is nothing that can be said to alleviate the feeling. However, there are very important lessons to learn from it. I learned that I had to work my butt off practicing, learning, and listening if I ever wanted to achieve my goal of being able to play at an extremely high level. I learned that one can not succeed if they never try. Most importantly, I learned that exhibiting confidence, optimism, and joy attracts allies to one’s side while an exhibition of cockiness, pessimism, and depression is always repulsive.

When you feel like a failure it is a great time to reevaluate what you are doing. Is your feeling of failure justified? If it is what can you learn from it?

Motivation

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:56:25 +0000

A few days ago Bruce Hembd posted a YouTube video about people’s real motivation for work over at Horn Matters. I believe that the points illustrated in the video are true. Motivation comes from within, not from external sources. As a teacher, the best way to motivate a student to practice is to convince them that music is an important art in it’s own right. I like to encourage my students to listen to many different types of music. I also like to incorporate little bits of exciting information about music history when relevant. Giving a student rewards for practicing rarely works in my experience. It is also not good to tell students to study music because it will improve their math/reading/science scores. There are cheaper and faster ways to do that. The practice of music has always been an important human endeavor and it deserves to be continued. Once a student realizes this it is much easier to convince them to practice it and to contribute to it.

Self-Awareness

admin — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:00:52 +0000

Self-Awareness is a difficult topic to teach or learn, but it is crucial to a musician’s success on the horn. It is nearly impossible to change or correct an issue that one does not actively recognize. A very common problem that stems from a lack of self-awareness is the presence of excessive tension. Many people learn to play the horn by making their embouchures very tight. For a beginner it is an easy way to produce a sound. However, excessive tension does not allow one to produce a good sound. The subsequent tension that appears in the torso, neck, and arms restricts breathing and comfort (see: Alexander Technique).

Other common problems that can occur from a lack of self-awareness include incorrect rhythms, bad intonation, tonal problems, bad time, a lack of dynamic contrast, etc. A good way to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses is to utilize tools that allow you to self-evaluate yourself. Examples include tuners, recording devices, and mirrors. As you become more familiar with your tendencies you will become less reliant on tools to hear them and correct them.

It is important for teachers to utilize these tools in private lessons. The of job a teacher is not to only act as a critic, but to also teach students to think for themselves and encourage them to be self-aware. I try my best to get them to hear problems for themselves, first without tools, then with them, then without them again. When students discover issues themselves, they are much more likely to quickly resolve them.

I’m Back!!!

admin — Sun, 30 May 2010 10:00:50 +0000

So I’m sure some of you have been wondering why I haven’t posted anything in the past couple of months. The short answer is that I’ve been busy completing my doctoral project and all of the requirements for my degree. I’m happy to report that I have graduated and now hold a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University! Everyone can once again expect to see regular posts here about everything related to the horn and music in general!

College Ensembles

admin — Sat, 29 May 2010 10:00:34 +0000

When I was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois I tried to play in as many ensembles as I possibly could. At any point in time I was a member of two different large ensembles and two different chamber ensembles. I also volunteered for every extra playing opportunity that came along. My theory was that all of the playing would provide valuable experience. However, in retrospect, I probably would have benefitted from only playing in one ensemble. I have always made sure to set aside a lot of extra time for practice, however, it was “tired” practice. At many times I would be physically and mentally exhausted before I ever started to practice.

During the past semester I didn’t play in any school ensembles because I wanted ample time to use towards my doctoral project. As a side effect of that decision my individual practice sessions became far more productive. I made as much progress in five months as I had in the previous two years.

If you are a current music student, be very careful as to how much time you spend playing in ensembles. The experience they provide is a good thing, however, they can also slow down your personal improvement.