Looking for a new challenge

[flugelbat]

Hi all

I feel I’m at a bit of a stalemate in regards to my playing. I’m usually a flugel player but currently hold a 2nd cornet seat.

I was thinking of looking for a brass band workshop or somewhere I could get any tips regarding my playing. I’d really like to improve my playing (I do practice) but just feel I need to do something to improve and bring back my enjoyment of playing.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

 

[Tom-King]

I don't know what level your playing is at (?) but perhaps moving to a different band where you could play flugel would put that spring back in your step?

Not knowing whereabouts you are it's hard to suggest places to go - do you have a teacher? Could they recommend somewhere?

 

[Jack E]

@flugelbat - I play in the juniors of a first section band, and members of the main band provide free tuition once a week. I was feeling as though I wasn't making as much progress as I hoped, and - though our main band tutors do their level best - the weekly sessions can be a bit crowded and distracting (the trouble is, we have a LOT of learners, like me!)

So I asked our solo horn if she thought that having private lessons would really help my playing along. Her reply was "Absolutely YES!" - and she went on to say that when she moved up from the juniors to the main band, she could tell straight off which players had invested the time and money in lessons with a private tutor, and which hadn't. I took her advice, and I've never regretted it.

HTH, and best regards,

Jack

 

[Bloo42]

My best advice - find a piece beyond your range of playing, whether it be in speed, pitch, technique, etc.
Work that piece down. Try to play it all the way through, every time you play it. I've been playing Carnival of Venice on trombone for almost 3 years now, and I still can't make parts of it sound good or even play them, but practicing it and reaching for that goal every day has improved my playing more than I could have imagined.

I've never been around a place where I can get private lessons, so I can't give much advice in that regard. Aside from band classes, I'm entirely self taught.

 

[4th Cornet]

My best advice - find a piece beyond your range of playing, whether it be in speed, pitch, technique, etc.
Work that piece down. Try to play it all the way through, every time you play it. I've been playing Carnival of Venice on trombone for almost 3 years now, and I still can't make parts of it sound good or even play them, but practicing it and reaching for that goal every day has improved my playing more than I could have imagined.

I've never been around a place where I can get private lessons, so I can't give much advice in that regard. Aside from band classes, I'm entirely self taught.

Are you also working on other progressive pieces? Whilst the approach above may work for you, I wouldn't recommend choosing a piece that is unplayable after 3 years of practising.

 

[Bloo42]

Are you also working on other progressive pieces? Whilst the approach above may work for you, I wouldn't recommend choosing a piece that is unplayable after 3 years of practising.

Not *unplayable*, and I started incredibly early. 3 years ago was middle school for me, not working with super-developed chops here.

And of course, it's not the only piece I practice. It's just one that I practice and play the most. I'm still constantly getting better at it.

 

[Tom-King]

A cheeky confession... My first lesson at secondary school I played (well, it was probably only passingly recognisable) the intro, air and v1 of the arban version.

Honestly, I probably gained little other than motivation from it - but it can be fun to have a go (even if it doesn't sound great).

Thing is, we don't know the first thing about the OP's playing, skill levels and so on - it's really difficult to suggest anything from such a vague request, IMHO

 

[2nd tenor]

Hi all

I feel I’m at a bit of a stalemate in regards to my playing. I’m usually a flugel player but currently hold a 2nd cornet seat.

I was thinking of looking for a brass band workshop or somewhere I could get any tips regarding my playing. I’d really like to improve my playing (I do practice) but just feel I need to do something to improve and bring back my enjoyment of playing.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

My first suggestion is that you respond to the other posts in this thread with what detail you feel comfortable supplying. It is a public forum but you are effectively anonymous so long as you don’t give your name and even if you do it’s not likely than anyone you know will think much about it or comment.

My second suggestion is that you adjust your focus, think long term and think fun. There’s more comment and explanation below but get hold of unaccompanied music and play those piece at home for your own pleasure. The Winners Galore series is good for that and the pieces do vary in difficulty level, some books are harder than others but none are overly difficult. Having played for years I go over those simple pieces, they give pleasure and I now seek out the details in them that I ignored as a lesser player.

My third suggestion, that I won’t dwell on, is to think of yourself as a Brass Player first rather than a Flugel player. I play more than one instrument, gain something (in my playing) from all of them and enjoy each. Overly pigeon holing yourself isn’t, IMHO, a good thing to do. Amongst other things it can lead to frustration and it limits your options.

Let your practice sessions at home be a source of pleasure to you, don’t grind through things endlessly and let them wear you out or dampen your spirits. Thinking about it my practice sessions are now much longer than they used to be - time does fly when you’re having fun - and, due to the changes, I now associate practice with pleasure instead of frustration. Put a mix of things in there (include a big percentage of enjoyable stuff) and remember that playing something is better than playing nothing. Some band parts and difficult stuff is still within my mix but shifting the focus of things has resulted in me enjoying the challenge that they present rather than being made miserable by them.

As I’ve kept playing and improved over the years I’ve benefited from that shift in practice content and a softer focus on progress. I’m not the best player in the world, and was never likely to be, but I do enjoy what I do and only that enjoyment actually matters. That shift of focus has, now I think about it, not taken away from my performance in the band. I sound and play better now than I did two years ago and my sight reading is better too. YMMV but a soft focus on pleasure in practice has worked for me, give it a good try and don’t fear potential short term losses but just go for it.

Hope that that helps. All the best, 2T.

 

[Jack E]

Let your practice sessions at home be a source of pleasure to you, don’t grind through things endlessly and let them wear you out or dampen your spirits. Thinking about it my practice sessions are now much longer than they used to be - time does fly when you’re having fun - and, due to the changes, I now associate practice with pleasure instead of frustration. Put a mix of things in there (include a big percentage of enjoyable stuff) and remember that playing something is better than playing nothing. Some band parts and difficult stuff is still within my mix but shifting the focus of things has resulted in me enjoying the challenge that they present rather than being made miserable by them.

As I’ve kept playing and improved over the years I’ve benefited from that shift in practice content and a softer focus on progress. I’m not the best player in the world, and was never likely to be, but I do enjoy what I do and only that enjoyment actually matters. That shift of focus has, now I think about it, not taken away from my performance in the band. I sound and play better now than I did two years ago and my sight reading is better too. Hope that that helps. All the best, 2T.

2nd Tenor - I don't know if your advice will help the OP, but it will certainly help me. Unfortunately, over the last year I've forgotten why I started playing in the first place, and my practises have frequently turned into a grinding slog, with little pleasure. And the daft part about it is that, far from feeling I'm making progress, over the last couple of months I've felt I've been going backwards.

I'll give your suggestions a whirl, starting this afternoon, and let you know how I get on.

With best regards,

Jack