Companion Notes for FBSMC 15 , Spontaneity Within A Plan, Video 6

As musicians or actually anyone who is involved in developing a craft, skill or an art, it soon becomes very clear that all our practice sessions might not go smoothly and easily. What an understatement! But can we find ways to find the flow inside of ourselves so even in the midst of the difficult challenges we can keep moving.

Here is where that wonderful word attitude comes in. For the "right" attitude can do wonders in creating a bigger view in ourselves of the phrase "go with the flow". This kind of flow has found a way to love the process even in the face of what feels to be a lot of resistance getting in the way of our progress. If we can find a REAL attitude of love of the journey (yes, there will be discouraging moments, weeks, or months sometimes when it feels like nothing is happening or it even gets worse) to still be moving in ourselves with the accompanying attitude "when there's a will there's a way and another way!"

It helps, depending on where you are in your journey, to have a sense of "going slow to go fast." This means being in the moment of here and now so you can embrace where you are at and truly BE with it. My great lesson in this was when I injured my chops from WAY TO MUCH playing of a certain kind. I was put into a position with no choice but to surrender to what was actually going on and find the means to deal with it and heal. It was one small step at a time that eventually got me out of my predicament. It took 4 years and a whole restructuring of my embouchure. I never even took off time from playing in the orchestra or quintet.

But with an embouchure change that big, you lose and gain at the same time. It may also challenge your identity as a player, especially if you got known for certain attributes in your playing that may not continue to be there in the same way with your new set up (even though some aspects of your playing may improve. An example would be if you had an identity with a certain quality of sound. That sound might not be there in the same way with your new structure. This makes us look at our "mental" embouchure. A very necessary component!

We can see from this that a change is made up of many specific parts that need adjustment and repositioning. The power of a person's determination in how they approach this delicate territory is what will make the difference. The human will is a vital participant in this endeavor. Patience will turn into the a special kind of flow if it is coupled with hope and maintaining one's love of music. The "equation" could look something like this; Love + Hope + Acceptance = Flowing Patience.

REMINDER: FBSMC 15, Spontaneity Within A Plan, Zoom Session 7, 8/10 6pm EDT.

Hello everyone!

This is a reminder that ZOOM SESSION 7 for Frequency Bone Summer Music Connection 15- "Summer Studio Class" with the theme: "Spontaneity Within A Plan," WILL BE HELD THIS THURSDAY AUGUST 10th at 6pm EDT.

In Zoom Session 7, we will be looking into what flow is. Everyone has heard of the saying "go with the flow" but what flow do we want to go with is the question! :-)

FBSMC 15 will consist of and include:

\-Weekly videos uploaded to YouTube.

-Zoom sessions

-Companion notes, music and/or exercises emailed to Zoom session participants*-

FBSMC 15 Zoom Sessions requires a minimum donation of $10. If this is a problem, please let me know.

*-FBSMC 15 companion notes, music and/or exercises for each Zoom session are available and will be emailed to the participants for an extra $5 donation. This would make the donation $15. That's getting a bang out of your buck! 🎇

If you are planning to attend a FBSMC 15 session, please email me at normtobe@gmail.com so I can send you a Zoom Invitation once I see you donated for the session. If you do not receive an invitation within a 24 hour window after donating, please get in touch with me ASAP by email or by text at 617-759-1620 no later than 1 hour before the session.

***BONUS- For those who attend at least 2 sessions of either TACraft or FBSMC 15, (it can b1e one of each) I am offering a 1 hour private session with me for $90. So, for every 2 sessions you get a $90 private session with me. Which is pretty good considering my regular fee is $200+ for an hour session. A savings of $110+ ⚛

I hope to see some of you online this summer in a TACraft and/or a FBSMC 15 session. We will always be playing so please bring your horns. A journey of discovery it surely will be!

Please feel free to share this email with others you may know!

Here are the donation directions:

*IMPORTANT NOTE

BEFORE DONATING, MAKE SURE TO PLEASE READ THE DIRECTIONS BELOW IT SO IT IS DONE CORRECTLY. THANKS IN ADVANCE!HOW TO SIGN UP:

(Note especially #6)

1. To pay/donate, please go to:

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/vierabolter

**(Please COPY and PASTE LINK if needed).***

2. You will arrive at a PayPal window with the Air-ev and Frequency Band symbols and the name Carol Viera (Dr V's name)

3. Click "SEND" option

4. Enter AMOUNT: Anew Each Day is an optional (not a prerequisite)  free will donation of any amount

5. At the bottom of the same window is the prompt: "What's this payment for?" ENTER A NOTE about which session(s) you are attending (e.g. Train Atheltic Craft, Private Lesson, FBSMC or more than one)

6. **IMPORTANT!** Select left box titled "PERSONAL" (because you're not "purchasing" merchandise, which is the default option; selecting that option incurs extra fees and creates an income category error for us; we do declare these personal payments on our taxes, as we would private lessons and coachings)

7.COMPLETE TRANSACTION (make sure your transaction goes through)

Companion Notes for FBSMC 15, Video 5, Spontaneity Within A Plan

Musical equations and couplings. Everyone has a template or way inside of themselves when they play, or do anything actually. Our 'default" setting might not always be the best for us, and this is where we can move beyond our mechanical-default-habit by experimenting with other mental settings. Using rhythm, pitch and timbre in different combinations to make some playing equations can be very revealing!

Arnold Jacobs, the great former tubist of the Chicago Symphony who was also known as one of the great brass pedagogues, had a coupling which was "wind and song." Many people use this simple equation because of its simplicity and how it ties brass playing with motion of air and playing music. It also keeps many players from going down a path of too much complication and over thinking. If this works for someone, that is the important bit. But after working with people for over 55 years, there are many other formulas that work too and can be more targeted depending on the player in their current state of playing.

There are many examples of equations that work using rhythm, pitch and timbre. Rhythm + pitch = result. Now, pick a leader and a companion such as rhythm being the leader or pilot and pitch being the companion or co-pilot and play a passage with that in your mind. Then reverse that where pitch is the leader and rhythm is companion and observe the difference. In doing this, one can feel, in most cases, a very tangible difference between the two equations. This can easily be done using a variety of combinations like:

Rhythm + timbre, timbre + rhythm, pitch + timbre and so on. Remember in this equation that it is Leader (pilot) + companion (c-opilot) = result. From this we can see that in Mr. Jacobs' equation that wind was the leader and song was companion but so intimately related that they became intertwined. Maybe some people felt it unconsciously as song + wind. Who knows!

EXERCISE

1. Pick a phrase or two from an etude, solo, excerpt or whatever.

2. Try using a formula like Pitch + Timbre and play the phrase.

3. Play it again in reverse.

4. Go on to try this using the various combinations of RPT.

5. To deepen this exercise, go to the previous blog post and do the exercise on building a relationship with RPT.

NOTE: Oftentimes we like to focus on one thing at a time. I understand and have done it myself. But I have found that the equation or coupling method (a leader and a companion) in many circumstances works better.