Derek,
Thank you for a wonderful and well presented post. I'm well aware of the particular mind-set that you describe, and I submit to your "young brass players" my point of view that strength IS balance. . .
I was very fortunate during the years that I was music director of the Lake Placid Institute to meet a number of coaches at the United States Olympic Training Center, and was very curious to observe their training methods. I was delighted to learn their viewpoint that pure strength (even for the "push athletes" who search for Olympic glory in the first few seconds of the bobsled run before settling back to enjoy the ride) wasn't nearly as important as speed, flexibility, explosiveness, and balance. Thus athletes such as Herschel Walker (former NFL running back) were sought after and trained by Team USA rather than power lifters. No surprise there.
Our athletic role models might better be Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, and Pedro Martinez. None of the three are muscle-bound freaks like those found on pay per view TV (Pedro remains one of my favorites, in spite of leaving da Sox for the brighter lights of Gotham...a skinny Dominican kid with a wicked fastball), but all enjoy a single mindedness in preparation and perfect harmony in execution. Have you ever played with Allan Vizzutti? I toured Japan (Ten of the Best--lousy title) with Al a few years back and marveled nightly at a trumpet technique that is astonishingly similar to Tiger Woods' golf game: incredibly long off the tee, with soft hands and the imagination to pull off shots that others would never dream of trying. Al would be a mother in the Pyrenees as well, should he ever attempt Le Tour. One of the Best and Nine of the Rest?
Basic trumpet technique has three basic components: flow, focus, and flexibility. I think of it as a equilateral triangle -- each side equal, and none more important than the other. Most of us favor one point of the triangle over the others (vainly focusing on attributes rather than liabilities) in our practice, and our technique remains unbalanced as a result. My own playing, at its peak, might have been described as flow/focus centric (I never enjoyed the flexibility of Bohumir Kryl; a resident of Lake Placid, strangely), and I suffered when playing certain repertoire as a consequence. Allan, bless his trumpet heart, enjoys equal access to each point of his personal triangle and, as many of us know, he wins most every game he plays. Game, set, and match.
As you state, resonance is our balance. I can't agree more. Clean articulation is also part of our balance, as are high notes, low notes, and the ability to move between them with accuracy and agility across a wide range of dynamics.
Music, naturally, is quite another thing and subject to another long-winded answer.
Peace,
EC