B15M

Hi Manny,

A while back I sent you a CD and asked for your comments. One of your comments was that my playing sounded guarded or careful. I can't remember the exact words.

Today I sent another trumpet player an email of me playing a cadenza and his comment was that it sounded very careful.

I need to know how to get out of this.

I invite anyone to reply even though you haven't heard me play, maybe you have an idea.

Thanks,
Joe

cornetguy

When I taught in Christian Schools I would talk about "Sin Boldly" in other words don't be afraid to make a mistake, play full out, in your case there really are no mistakes (I assume you're getting notes, rhythms, articulations and dynamics), just experiments that may be misfires, don't worry about those, sometimes doing what seems "wrong" is part of how one gets to what seems "right"

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Per aspera ad astra

rowuk

I have a student coming in about 10 minutes with a guarded sound-
his problem is that he practices in small rooms at volumes that do not disturb the family. When his lesson is in a big room and I can dog him a little, it all opens up.
Find a big room and get aggressive every once in a while. The dynamics on a trumpet reach from pppp to FFFF (well after FFF nobody really wants to hear it any more....). There is a lot of color in between those 2! Use it. Overdo crescendos for a while. Play loudly enough that you can FEEL the distortion. We have mutes for that "guarded" sound.

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

rjzeller

I used to (er...STILL) have this problem, too. I recall Manny once giving me a "Sesame Street" scenario to get me to open up a bit more. He never said how, just had me close my eyes and imagine the sound I wanted based on a given scenario...I played exactly what he wanted without thought.

Don't know what I'm getting at except to say that some of us are simply too careful to light things up every now and then. This kills me in settings where some genius sits me next to a string and a flute and asks me not to play too loud. So I really clamp down.

I think sometimes you just have to play big and worry about the semantics of the sound later....then again, I really like rowuk's advice....

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There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who do not.

B15M

I don't think the comments were about playing to softly. I could be wrong but, my take is that I am not animated enough. Believe me, I can blow the walls down and I'm not holding back.

The only way we will know what Manny was thinking when he listened to my recording is if Manny will answer. I wish I could find the email he sent me. I don't know if it would be proper to quote from a private email anyway.

Manny Laureano

dear Joe,

You ask a tough question, my friend.

Playing with an extroverted style is as inherent as it is to ones personality. It's the same skill that allows an actor to play a variety of parts. Most people with extroverted personalities are good at doing that.

It can be learned but only by discriminate listening and imitation at a very gut level, rather than analytical study.

ML