Trumpet Year-In-Review: What Worked (And What Didn’t) In 2018

I will open BTB’s annual Year-In-Review by mentioning that I have done so much stupid *beep* in this lifetime, it’s mind-boggling.

2018 was no exception.

BTB: A Man on a Mission

I recently read a very enlightening book called, “Start w/ Why*.”

*The case studies were pretty cool, but you can just take the title and run with it.

“Start With Why,” outlines the basic approach of some of the most successful companies and social leaders of our time. The book essentially shows that the groups and individuals with a clear reason for doing something tend to do better than the ones that just do something.

And this got me thinking. “James Blackwell of Blackwell’s Trumpet Basics Dot Com, what is BTB’s ‘WHY?’”

And just then, in the living room, through dazed eyes sunken deep into the living room couch, I saw, written in a blaze of glory across the ceiling…of the living room:

I can see you’re covered in goosebumps. Please take a moment to compose yourself. This is all going to be very important.

Still there? Great. Now, In the spirit of helping trumpet players learn, and without further adieu, here is one dude’s experience with trumpet playing from the year that will go down in the history books as…

“2018”

Pretty heavy stuff.

Life Changes

This past year brought a few life changes. First of all, I have a kid now. He’s an eleven-month old boy named, Finley. He’s got pipes like Pavarotti and an upper register that makes ears bleed. Me, Finley and wife Darian moved from Los Angeles, CA to Lancaster City, PA. ‘The Lanc’, located in south central ‘Pee Aee’ is a great place right next door to the third largest Amish community in the United States.

The furniture around here is incredible.

Did I Ever Mention Practice Journals?

You guys and gals know I love practice logs.

Motivation, staying on track, hard facts to prove you’re getting better and all the while reminding you today’s today; logs are the best.

And they also make for excellent blog post images.

There goes one right now!

They also let you keep track of dorky things like…

#1 Trumpet-Nerd Metric

Often trumpet players wonder if days off are OK, particularly that special breed of trumpeter known as the comeback player – for they are hungry.

We do need to practice consistently, pretty much every day and for at least a few years to build a solid playing foundation. But there’s really no use in freaking out if you miss a day here and there.

Since forever, I’ve averaged about four days off per month. Things are fine. They’re fine. Here’s 2018:

Days Off: 52/365*

Practiced 86% Days of the Year! Woo-Hoo!

*Practice logs teach us how lazy we can be.

Sometimes Things Are Just Terrible

Another thing I like to keep in said practice journals are occasional notes about how I’m feeling about playing as I go. Kind of like cheap therapy. After some time doing this, you begin to notice things.

For example, if you were to open up one of my practice journals and start reading, you might think I am in tortuous pain. The kind that comes along with sounding like sledge-hammered dog shit. That’s because getting better means digging up weaknesses and limitations upon weaknesses and limitations*.

*Piles and piles and piles of these weaknesses and limitations!

But we must not become discouraged. We must keep practicing those scales!

Speaking of Shit

Speaking of the crippling pain of self-doubt, one of the last gigs I played in LA was a big band recording session for some famous singer-dude. Everything was in my wheel-house, which was good, except for the fact that I hadn’t been keeping the wheel spinning. Always the Catch-22 for me, I never seemed to have enough chops to gig and practice all the things I slacked on back in high school and college*.

*Young people, heed this fair warning.

By the end of the date I was basically chopped out and crying the whole way back home on my one mile, 25 minute commute down the 101 freeway. Trumpet in tow and arm pulled back ready to launch my horn into Echo Park Lake, the arranger hits me up with some compliments.

I wondered if he might be stoned.

Now since what to me felt like a horrible failure sounded really good to him, I want to share with you my top-secret plan for the session. But let’s keep it on the DL*. You know, BTB-subscribers only.

“Down Low” – To keep secret. See, “Top-Secret.” 

OK so basically my plan was to articulate the way Conrad Gozzo did on some recordings I like. Ta-da! Now go forth and sing the gospel! People like that Capitol style.

More Lead Trumpet Playing Tips!

Something else I’ve been thinking about lately is how I can be a better lead trumpet player and section mate. I used to think, “Play all the notes and play ‘em real good!” But I’m beginning to suspect that there might be more to it than that.

It’s easy to get caught up in learning what it takes to play the high notes. They’re high for crying-out-loud! And when you finally do wield that flaming sword, it’s easy to want nothing more than to seek and destroy. That’s cool. I get it. But what else can we do?

This is really just some food for thought, but I’m having a lot more fun playing by looking for ways to set up my section mates to shine. It’s more fun, less pressure and everybody wins. It’s some real teammate shit.

Thinking Vs Practicing

Here at BTB, we think a lot. Many times, it’s great. It can turn up some pretty cool stuff. But sometimes, it’s a total dead-end.

For example, in trying to figure out why my low range was so sharp, I’d purge thoughts onto the page. Purging, purging, purging; thinking, thinking, thinking. Not much came of it. I played the blame-game and blamed fatigue. Then, I watched this video (and bought the lesson) demonstrating a very simple pedal tone routine that made  sense to me. I started doing it. At first, I sucked. After a few months it’s coming together. Now, the low range is doin’ alright. This is meant to motivate you. Can you feel that?

Try This to Not Get Any Better

Many times I have had great routines. Simple plans I was following through with and noticing gradual improvement. Then I’d up the ante, always making it just laborious enough to not do. Back to the basics and life is good. Keep it simple. Do it and be happy about it.

A Great Way to Spend Five Minutes

Something that continues to be super helpful is the practice of treating new ideas as experiments, experimenting with them for a few minutes, and then forgetting about it.

If you’ve heard of people doing something funny with their apertures, jaw, teeth or anything else for that matter, and it interests you, give it a try. Proceed with curiosity and caution. After five or ten minutes, take a break and get on with your normal thing.

This is a good way to stir up some magic.

New BTB Slogan:

I was in the Boy Scouts of America until I was 18 years old. No, I am not an Eagle Scout. These days, for some reason, the Scout Oath and Law keep popping into my head. Brain-washing to the max. I love it. In that spirit, here’s a pointer that may become part of some future BTB credo. It goes like this:

“If You Ain’t Got Habits – You Ain’t Got Shit*”

Pretty good, right?

*©BTB2019

Bad habits, bad habits. Bad habits. Wah, wah, wah. Stop crying about your bad habits. I already have enough baby to deal with.

Baby Finley showing the trombone what’s up.

News flash, people! Good habits and bad habits are exactly the same in the sense that they are habits; Good or bad, helpful or harmful, they are going to stick around for the long-haul. If you stop worrying about your bad habits, and start thinking through how you might do things the right way – every time you pick up the horn – you can develop new, good habits that are so powerful you can:

• Stop worrying so much about your chops.
• Take time off from playing with little to no loss of embouchure fitness.
• Get in shape fast.
• Reduce warm-up time.

Slowing down and taking the time to practice and learn properly cultivates patience. We need this patience because it takes way longer to learn something than we think it will. However, once you’ve got it – you’ve really got it. That makes it tough to lose.

Here are some good habits that will compliment nearly anything:

• The Skill of Chill
• How to Hold Trumpet for Less Mouthpiece Pressure
• Embouchure Tweak That Helps Sound, Endurance and Embouchure Strength
• Using the Metronome (Strictly Motivational)

This Coming Year

This year is for scales and intervals. Currently I do all major scales, major diatonic 6ths, 3rds and diatonic triads. I’m cycling through them in three fifteen minute sessions per day, currently hitting the 6ths everyday because they are the newest. This has helped a lot already. I might like to get another 15 min slot in there but may dedicate it to slurs instead. We’ll see. I’ve been keeping everything super compartmentalized.

(Super cool, right?)

Final Thought

How long is a year? Not long. But you can do a lot in a year. The thing is, it might not feel like much at the time. How’s that for motivation?

Keep up the good work and please share something about your playing in the comment section, below.

And stick around, not only do we have some new FreeTB series coming down the pipe, the Ultimate Comeback Kit is also reopening for registration in a few weeks, but you gotta be on the mailing list if interested. BTB is hardcore like that.

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Have an awesome year,

James