Practice Stories For Musical Instruments
These practice stories are continued from my 2nd book to encourage people with their practicing. The 1st book, Have Fun With Your Music is for children, and the 2nd, Passion For Practice, Musings From Music Masters, is for older folks and adults rekindling their music playing.
These are amazing musicians telling stories about how they grew up practicing and giving practice advice. I hope you will look them up. I encourage anyone with any level of playing to send me their practice stories to post, whether fun, funny, interesting or/and educational - preferably personal.
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Over time my practice commitment changed quite a bit. When I was in grade school, my parents had me learning to play the cello, but I really did not want to practice and would go to great lengths to avoid it. One of the more, well, creative examples of this was a time that my mother set me up for my 30-minute practice session, and informed me that she would be listening through the heating vent while she was working in the basement just below. I had the clever idea to do a really solid practice session, but record myself while doing it. Sure enough, a few days later the same scenario unfolded and she informed me that she would be listening while working in the basement. I got out the portable stereo on which I had recorded my practice session, placed it against the heating vent, pressed the play button, and went and watched television for the duration.
My brother saw what I was doing and just couldn't believe my audacity, but also couldn't believe his luck in gaining such a source of leverage over me with the threat of telling on me. In due course, we had an argument about something and he told on me as punishment. I would say that my mom was as equally disappointed at my deception as she was impressed by the extent I went to do it. Nonetheless, I still got grounded for a week.
Years later, after I had stopped studying the cello and had discovered the bass in high school, things changed dramatically. I became an obsessive practicer, regularly working into the late hours of the day. It became a source of frustration for me when my parents would ask me to please stop practicing because they couldn't sleep, because I would then have to relocate everything from my bedroom down to the basement--where my mom used to listen to my cello practice! At least the heating vent didn't carry much sound up to their bedroom...
—Scott Pringel, Principal Bass, San Francisco Symphony
I have the privilege of working with many players on audition preparation and orchestral excerpts, and the number one question I get is a version of: why is my seemingly successful practicing not leading to similarly successful results in my performance?
Practicing is inextricably tied to performance, and therefore just as highly personal as your performance itself. Any dogmas or routines preached to you should be looked at with healthy skepticism and an eye toward incorporating what specifically works for you in your preparation. Of course, that requires actually finding out what works best for you: this means performing as often as you can so that you can do this very necessary and very difficult self-criticism, and that’s where the soul-searching comes in.
Say yes more than no to performances, and learn from the good and the bad from them with great eagerness, like a scientist. Say yes to soul-searching in your journey towards the most effective practicing that directly connects to accomplishing your goals in performances.
—William Shaub, Concertmaster, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
“When I was four years old, my father bought a piano and played some simple tunes quite clumsily every day when I was at home. I thought it was very interesting. (Now it looks as if it was a big conspiracy for my father to play the piano). One year later, I told my father that I wanted to learn music and piano, but I didn't expect that this would later become my persistently pursued career. I remember my first piano lesson, when my teacher taught me to play Do Re and Mi. She praised me and said, ‘you play very well!’ I looked up at the teacher in surprise and said, ‘I can't play the piano. Why do you say I play well?’ After class, I overheard the teacher tell my father: ‘I've taught so many students. Jiaqi is the only one who asks me this question. He has a unique idea when he is so young. It's amazing.’ Dad said, ‘If that's the case, we’ll train carefully.’
When I was nine years old, I received the first lesson of solfeggio and ear training. My father told me: ‘Your teacher graduated from a famous university with a master's degree, she is excellent and strong in major. You need to study hard.’ All the way to the class, I kept thinking, what does this strong teacher look like? When the class was about to end, I suddenly asked her, ‘where are you strong? Why can't I see it?’ The teacher was stunned and then laughed. I didn't know if such an unintentional question offended her. I have felt guilty for many years. After class, my father told me ‘The teacher is like a big tree. You can only feel the power of the tree if you become a strongman.’ This has become one of the driving forces for me in childhood to study hard and make myself strong in the future.”
—-Jiaqi Liu, student composer in Beijing Central Conservatory of Music Middle School. First prize winner at 2020 Golden Key Music Festival Piano Composition Competition in the USA; Two time Laureate Prize winner at Serbia Donne International Composition Competition. 2/21/21
I wanted to share with students what I wish I had known when I was their age. I wish someone had taught me how to practice early so I could have grown more and learned more quickly. When I was young I was always in a hurry and wanted to learn things fast and play all my pieces as fast as I could. When I got older I started practicing for auditions and I had to take a lot of auditions and wasted a lot of time and money until I actually learned how to practice correctly. I auditioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra 4 times before winning my job as Principal horn. It took me until I didn't advance out of the first round in the audition in the second audition to realize I needed to try something different if I wanted different results. I started pulling apart these excerpts that I had been working on for years at this point like I was learning them for the first time. I would take 4 bars at a time and play painfully slow to listen to each note to make sure I was in tune with a pitch drone that I had on my speakers. Then I would add subdivisions and start playing faster little by little until I got those 4 measures perfectly in time and in tune and with a musical plan. I guess I never had time to practice slowly when I was younger and now that I am older I don't have time to waste to practice it wrong fast, I just want to make progress when I practice so today I practice slowly and set goals of just learning a couple lines of music well each day!
—-David Cooper, Principal Horn, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Previously Principal Horn of the Dallas Symphony and Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic
Matthew Hodge, Youth Composition Competition Student, Feb. 2023 - I have a practice idea that I don't believe I've seen in your books. The idea is if there is a place in the music that you can play no problem by itself, but where you keep on messing it up every time you come to it, then turn on the metronome and when you come to it again, stop and count four beats, then continue to playing the thing you are having difficulty with. Repeat that a few times. Then when you come to it again, stop for three beats, and continue playing that again. Repeat that a few times. Do that again with two beats, then one beat, until you don't stop. You won't have any problem anymore when you get to that point.
In my experience, it really works. I had a competition that I decided to do at the last minute that I didn't have anything prepared for, and the piece needed to be advanced. So I chose Bach Two-part Invention No. 13 in A minor since it was short and advanced. I had just recently learned about this practice trick, so I tried it out. That trick was the only reason I could learn the invention in the three weeks I had. What is funny though, is that I ended up not being able to attend the competition, so I never played it for what I had learned it for.
Mr. Charles Vernon was in love with his horn from the beginning. His background in swimming was definitely a compliment to his playing with regards to breathing power. He likes to emphasize that you should hear your sound in your head before it comes out of your instrument. This about what color your tone might be if it were a color. You must have a good sound.
“I have been playing since about 1960, and loving the Trombone. When my band director showed me the Olds student pea shooter trombone (which was brown and in a terribly mildewed and gross), I knew what it was and was excited that I would have a Trombone.
I started on that Olds Trombone and within a couple of years I got my own new King 3B w/ Fvalve. I loved it and learning to play in the band. I never had much problem practing because it was fun and I loved it, I knew for sure that the Trombone would be a part of my life no matter what!
I was also on the swimming team in High School and was pretty good at Sprint Freestyle. So Swimming and Trombone were part of my life that would be with me for the duration. I really had fun at both.
Over the past 50 years, I have been very fortunate to have played in 4 Major Orchestras and am the elder statesman on the Bass Trombone. I was fortunate to have studied with Arnold Jacobs and Ed Kleinhammer for many years and to play now in their CSO.
I continued masters swimming until before Covid, now have not swam in months!!
Swimming has been a major part of me staying in shape and for air on the Trombones.
As far as swimming , I love it and was good in my age group in Masters. A few years ago I was the Illinois State Masters Champion in my age group for all the Freestyle races 100,200,500 and 1650 but came in second for the 50 Free. I worked hard that year and did well. Now (due to Covid) I am really out of shape and haven’t swam on the team for a while. Now I’m just doing basics on the Trombones and walking the Dog!”
—-Charles Vernon, Principal Bass Trombone, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Mr. Gable says being on the road is a terrific way to learn about cultures:
A great road story: Once in Japan circa 2018 while dining late night after a gig, one of the musicians after paying, halfway put his wallet in his back pocket which unknowingly to us fell out. We began walking out of the restaurant, and decided to venture down the street through a neat alleyway with beautiful lights and street colors, when suddenly we began to hear fast paced footsteps behind us. As the footsteps got louder and more intense we finally decided to turn around to see what the commotion was about. So far our time overseas had proven above par and we were having a great time was this the moment all that ended? As we turn around a young boy catches up to us with a familiar item in his hand. Our drummers wallet!. Without saying a word he handed the fallen out wallet to him, all articles inside, bowed, and took off running down the street again. It was at that moment we became thankful that we were not in New York.
—-Taber Gable, Jazz Pianist, Composer, debut album "Hidden Driveways" Oct. 2020, host of WUOT-FM’s “Improvisations”
PLAYING TRUMPET AFTER CURFEW IN Covid 19 LOCKED-DOWN FRANCE!
During the February 2021 heavy Corona-lockdown time I had the good fortune to work as a composer in France. My opera was being produced as a film. The opera house was in a city called, Nancy, in the area where the famous Quiche Lorraine originated.
France had the toughest lockdown measures of all the European countries. Masks were required in public at all times. Curfew was at 6 pm., for example. And none compliance started as a 120 Euro fine!
Of course our film crew and singers were tested almost every day before the shoots. After a long day of filming, the weather was unusually warm. 6 o'clock was approaching and I longed to do one of my favorite pass times when relaxing in Berlin. To grab my trumpet and a cold beer and go to the park and improvise in the open air while sipping a brew. In Berlin I live near a park that was perfect for this little afternoon ritual.
I walked home from the opera house feeling the hint of spring on my face. I thought, just once, I'll take a chance and grab my horn and go to the park. At 5:30 I sat on a bench at the park. The river was graciously flowing in front of me. Strolling families, joggers, kids kicking balls were passing, occasionally glancing at me sitting on the park bench blowing some easy blues. Across the river was a big group picnicking and playing that famous French game of Boules.
I stopped blowing the horn to take a sip of beer. It was suddenly silent. No one was passing my park bench. The Boule players seemed to have vanished. My cell phone said it was 6:30. It felt so good playing the horn at the water. My slow beer sipping was only half way through the local brew. The suddenly silence inspired a creepy feeling in my stomach. Rather than obeying curfew and going home, I decided to sit and blow my horn. It felt so nice!
The river inspired me to play some New Orleans jazz and just when I was going for a high C two masked men in blue uniforms approached me. I tried to act surprised and said in my best French, 'Oh pardon me! It's after 6 pm!" It was clearly to far after 6 to pull of this fake.
I understood enough French to understand my crimes: It was well after 6 pm, I didn't have a mask on. I was playing in a public place. I was drinking alcohol outside. I learned a new French word, calculatrice. That meant calculator. And that calculatrice function on the police man's phone was to add up the fines they were about to lay on me! Like I said, the simple fine of not wearing a mask is 120 Euro!
He started listing and punching in numbers. The other officer took out his writing block to give me the ticket. I talked in my best (but very jumbled) French. I'm actually a composer here... I wrote an opera for your opera house...And the opera made up of love stories from your city... I am not from here and just relaxing and playing my trumpet... but... yes...I'm a composer and wrote an opera...!
The police looked at me pitifully. I was horrible aware of being unshaven. My hair was shabby because I haven't been to a barber since the last lockdown 4 months ago. They looked at the beer bottle next to me on the bench. The police man with the calculator was mumbling numbers. His partner asked in a struggling English. "You really write for the opera?" "Yes, I replied," surprised at his attempt to speak English. I could tell that they thought I was making it up. I really did look pretty scruffy. And the beer bottle didn't help.
I gave them my ID and told them to look up my name. They did. They looked at the picture on the website, then looked at me. The policeman holding the ticket said, “Before the lockdown my wife and I enjoyed the opera so much! We haven't been there for almost a year. So you're really here for an opera!” “Yes, it'll be a film premier on the opera house website on March 25th!”
The police man who was calculating how much my fine would be looked at my ID then the opera house website, and said quietly, "Hmm, C'est vrai." (It's true.)
Then the one who spoke broken English told me, "Ok. Go home. But please obey our curfew!"
I thanked them for not giving me a fine, and zipped on back to my apartment.
Paul Brody, Composer, Author and Trumpet Player
A Performance Brings Unexpected Employment
Once unemployed, after I left a job as a medical school neurology professor, I received an invitation to play in a benefit concert in the Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia’s historic Wanamaker building. As Emcee, Larry King introduced me, somewhat incredulously, as a flute-playing neurologist. I saw in the audience the state Governor and also one of the "40 wealthiest men in the US." Then I joined the final work on the program, Claude Bolling's Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano with a pianist, drummer, and a bassist from the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Afterward, a man from the audience approached me. Jack was a Professor of Neurology and also a jazz trumpeter. He said that he had brought the first CT scanner to Pennsylvania. A few years later he became the Director of one of the state's first MRI centers. Almost immediately, with Jack's help, I began learning about MRI and, within a year, a small and ethical company constructed an MRI center, very much needed in a small city near my home, and hired me as its Medical Director. Seeing abnormalities in the brain that physicians could only imagine before the advent of this new technology was a genuine revelation. Playing music that night proved to be a serendipitous event that changed my life.
Dr. Carl Ellenberger, Neurologist, Author of Theme and Variations: Musical Notes by a Neurologist, Musician, Founder of Gretna Music, Medical-legal Consultant, Neuro-imager
Please send us your fun, funny, interesting or/and educational stories about practicing. We continue this list from that in Passion for Practice, which includes stories from extremely accomplished professional players around the world. Send stories thru the form at the end of this blog or to Becky@MusicTeacherGifts.com
