Inspiration

While motivation is certainly an important part of performance, this post is actually centered on another definition of the word 'inspiration.'  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, inspiration can also be defined as "the act of drawing in; specifically : the drawing of air into the lungs" (www.merriam-webster.com).  I was rudely reminded this week of the multitude of things that can interfere with a practice routine.  A change in work or rehearsal schedule can eliminate the the time you would normally devote to a full warm-up routine. A tough day at work or being stuck in traffic can throw us off of our mental game just as easily as (sometimes more easily than) a bad run through an etude or excerpt.  Our physical state can provide plenty of interference when our bodies are worn down or injured.  We certainly never want to force ourselves to play through true injury in an effort to avoid permanent damage (both physical and mental), but we can still be productive with our limited time by focusing on one aspect of our playing.

Inspiration and respiration. Breathing in and breathing out. There are so many things involved in brass playing, but as I frequently remind my students, air is crucial to producing any kind of sound (good or bad).  Without air, we have nothing.  Condensed practice sessions provide the perfect opportunity to focus on our air production. Mindful breathing can improve our tone, articulation, dynamics, flexibility, endurance, accuracy, and so on.  Some suggestions for a mindful approach to breathing in a reduced practice session:

1. Breathing exercises. I am personally a big proponent of the "Breathing Gym" and "Brass Gym" methods. Spending 5 minutes going through 2-3 of the exercises (or go through the full routine if you like) can quickly refocus your mind and body to only thinking about producing the most beautiful, characteristic sound possible on your instrument.

2. Turn off your ears. I know, this sounds counter-productive, but sometimes we have to temporarily turn off our ears in order to focus on only one thing at a time. If you're having a rough time producing the sound that you want, find a way to stop listening to yourself and play everything based solely on how it feels. You may be mentally flexible enough to just stop listening, but I also like to use a practice mute in these situations. The moment you insert the mute into your bell, you automatically know that your sound is going to be condensed, whiney, and very uncharacteristic of your playing. I find that this makes it easier to disregard it for a time because you can blame it all on the mute. Practice mutes provide unusual resistance that forces us to reduce our playing to the simplest elements because there are so many things we cannot hear when we use them. Your thoughts can easily revolve around producing a smooth, consistent, and controlled air stream without getting frustrated over a poor sound. Play with the mute for a while. Then remove it and play the exact same way using the same air stream. See how much your tone, control, slurs, etc. improve without the added resistance of the mute

3. Remind yourself that the quality of our breathing directly impacts the quality of our sound. Leave yourself sticky notes all over your music and practice space so that your #1 thought is "Great air in = great sound out."  Then let this be your only thought as you practice. 

4. Buzz. Get rid of the instrument and let your air do the work for you on your mouthpiece. Concentrate on producing a clean and controlled buzz while using a big, fat, continuous air stream. Do not allow a breaks in your sound. Slur everything to ensure that the tongue does not get in the way of producing a clear buzz. 

5. Lip slurs. Find a set of lip slurs that you love. Make up your own. Play them with a friend. Whatever you do, the big idea here is to get the tongue out of the picture. Your air stream should be doing 100% of the work here so that your embouchure can take a little breather while you work on a smooth air stream and flexibility. If your chops are stiff and tired, start in the low to mid range and work your way upward. Let your air and body be your guide. As soon as you reach the point where you are no longer thinking only about your air, or the quality of your sound becomes compromised, move on to a new slur rather than beating it to death in frustration.

Brass players are always on a mission to find the perfect warm-up, the perfect exercises, the perfect method to fix all of our playing problems. You have to remember that no matter what you are playing, you have to work with your body instead if against it.  Focus on mindful breathing as you inhale to fill your lungs and exhale through the instrument as you play. Breath is life, both for our bodies and our horns.

The music in our minds

This week I finally had the chance to finish a book entitled, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Dr. Sacks is a neurologist from London who has a particular fascination for the connections between music and the mind. He has written several books relating some of the more unusual cases and conditions that he has come across in his career and I've now read both "The Man Who Mistook..." as well as his "Musicophilia." I found both books to be enlightening, entertaining, and informative, without overwhelming the reader with loads of confusing medical jargon. It was refreshing to read between the written lines of both books to see the passion that he has, not only for his chosen profession, but also as a lover of music. 

The mind is incredibly powerful. It can be a source of incredible intelligence and can simultaneously entrap a person in an inescapable prison. While most mathematicians and scientists would love to insist that math is the universal language, Dr. Sacks fills his books with examples of how music has the power to influence regardless of intelligence level. It can provide an organized outlet for minds that are overwhelmed by the fierce passions and outbursts associated with Tourette's syndrome. It can provide peace for those who deal with the sensory overload that can be associated with autism. I was also intrigued by the cases where people were suddenly afflicted by music constantly playing inside their heads (and not music of their choosing), as if there were a radio that only they could hear, yet could not turn off. Their lives were completely disrupted by the inability to "turn off" the music in their minds due to seizures in a particular part of the brain. On a more personal level, I am slightly mystified by the fact that when I am hit with a migraine one of the few things that will actually help with the pain is for me to play. It's not always the solution, and can sometimes make things worse, but there have been countless times when I had no choice but to attend a rehearsal or lesson and was migraine-free by the end of it. Is this a result of mental immersion in what I'm playing, allowing me to simply "forget" the migraine? or is it instead a result of the back pressure from the physical act of playing putting pressure on the right parts of my brain, effectively cutting off the migraines where they start?  I am certainly not a neurologist, but I can say that music has the power to influence our thoughts and emotions in a way that few other things can. Any child can listen to a piece of music and tell you if it made them feel happy, or sad, or scared. 

Our society focuses so much on our physical appearance that the power of the mind is overlooked far too often. Music can exercise the brain more completely than almost anything else. Music is language (both reading foreign languages as well as reading the music itself), math, physics, anatomy, physical exercise, communication, self expression, creativity, and so on.  And it encompasses all of these things at the same time. I am unaware of anything else that has this kind of power to engage so many different parts of the brain simultaneously. Music can teach, heal, calm, excite, engage, inspire happiness, and be a catalyst for peace. 

Now if only I could find a musical cure for insomnia...

Author's note: I do apologize for the somewhat spastic nature of this post. The distinct lack of transitional material probably made it a more difficult read, but I hope that my passion for and interest in the subject matter was clear. I highly recommend reading both of the aforementioned books. I also hope that my next insomnia-induced post is a bit more coherent. Ciao!