TrentAustin

Ed,

Great chat the other day about lessons with VC, WV, and others. I always love picking your brain (and eating your food...!).

During the chat I remember talking about modern day "distractions" and how I think the general level of intensity on my students pales in comparison to when I was a kid.

I know what you're thinking... here comes a "uphill both ways with only one snowshoe and no socks" chat.

I didn't have internet to distract me.
I didn't have access to 1,000,000's of recordings (and could focus on intensive listening to my 4-5 tapes at the time)
I didn't have cable TV.
I had a Nintendo but didn't play it much (and only after I practiced my few hours)
I didn't have a cell phone.

Is it me or is it just far easier to be distracted as a young musician? Any suggestions to help focus the youngsters in my studio?

-T

PS: I now do have all these things and do find them VERY distracting. My ADD is in full gear lately. Today I'm writing a new practice plan to prepare for my solo CD. I hope this post will lead to some interesting ideas!

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Trent Austin
lurking around. If you want to chat PM me.
http://www.trentaustin.com
http://www.onlinejazzimprovisation.com

ecarroll

Trent,

I remember an exercise that Bob Brookmeyer did in Lake Placid back in '96. Bob asked the class to close their eyes and not to reopen them until the pedal C that he sounded on the piano had left the imagination of each listener.

The results were revealing: most young musicians opened their eyes the moment the sound had decayed past the level of their hearing (and wondered what to do next). Others, more evolved, kept the sound in their "ear" for 1 or 2 minutes longer before looking up. Bob kept his closed for a full 10 minutes and later claimed that he could continue to hear the sound in his imagination all day if he felt like it.

Deep listening vs. simple hearing. Deep listening as concentration. Sound as art, not as background. No sound-bytes. No video. No flashing lights. Just listening. What else do we have when we are onstage?

I'm off to LA today but will check-in here after I'm settled. I'll be curious to read other responses.

Best,
EC

rdt1959

Trent;

I have to agree with you on several levels. I see the same things. Not only in my musical endeavors, but I see the same thing with young engineering graduates that we hire too.

I too have some of these things, and find them COMPLETELY distracting. To date, I have used our household "computer room" as a practice room, but find myself more distracted everyday (gee...just 10 more minutes on the computer then I will hit Arbans.. Oh...wait...I will put in this CD and play for a bit first...etc. etc.)

I am in the process of setting up an area in the house to practice in with no phone, no computer, no TV....Just me, my horn, and Arban's (and Schlossberg...and Clarke...and.......)

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Dick Taylor
Georgia
Comeback Player
Benge 65B

tpter1

Yeah, Trent. I think you really are onto something. Kids seem to think that they need to be entertained 24/7. We see kids who can't play (I mean like on the playground) unless they are told what to play. We have what my wife and I call "watch-me" toys that do all the thinking for them.

Kids have, like you said, about a million different things pulling on their time. Hockey, dance, piano lessons, trumpet lessons, karate, basketball, book club, this club, that club. Every minute of their day is programmed so much that they don't know what to do when their time is not pre-programmed. So, naturally, they can't focus. They feel they have nothing to focus on if something is not there thinking for them or telling them what to think or do or feel. (This is a generalization...not all kids fall under this trap).

We have kids whose parents nag them...constantly. They have no chance to develop necessary focusing skills because they are not required to. (So we give them a pill...Ritalin...no more accountability on either side now! insert cynicism here)

I began an experiment in my 7-8 band last week because focus is now such a problem for them. I'm using the brain-breathing techniques in the Breathing Gym video. It really works well. I've noticed a sharp increase in concentration skills in a short time. (We meet every other day). Also, check out Alex's website (Virtual Trumpet Studio) for some concentration matrices. Short of that, well, I can share a story: one lesson, as I was going through my Bordogni etude, I must have been not paying attention or something and drifting in and out of key/time, and my teacher decided to get a rubber band and shot it at my music right in front of me. I stopped, issued forth what must have been a rather comical and puzzled look, and he said: that should not have been enough to stop you.

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"Roses have thorns; shining waters mud. Clouds and eclipses stain the moon and the sun; and history reeks of the wrongs we have done. After today, after today, consider me gone."- Sting

rowuk

Here we are back into the "true" artists being born and not "learning" how to get there.
The true aspiring Artist will jump over any hurdles in their way - even electronic entertainment. I know and teach musical "nerds" that have "nothing" else. I try and get them distracted to broaden their scope!
For the rest of us, it is always a case of setting priorities. The problem is not the quantity of distractions, but the unwillingness to COMMIT. Wait until the last minute and then pick what seems best - at the expense of all the other people that take the time to plan.

Get your kids to take one of their ring tones and transpose it into other keys, make them finish the tune, play the nintendo themes from memory, ask them to define the musical significance of their favorite band. - tie those "distractions" into the musical agenda. If nothing else, you will raise their awareness off what we are bombarded with every day. If you also teach theory, have them write their own ring tones - or some for you!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

mikeblutman

Pia Gilbert, a brilliant professor at Juilliard (formerly of UCLA), talked with our aesthetics class the other day about how she heard music as a child in the late 20's and 30's in Germany. The following are a couple of points she made:

- You heard a Beethoven symphony by playing it four hands at the piano with one of your parents or friends. A few times a year you got to hear an orchestra live and were amazed because, "hey, I know that piece!"
- You had to seek out music ... today it is cheapened by availability in many ways. She grew up when houshold radios were first popular. Her father resisted for many years because it was rediculous to listen to a Brahms symphony while eating a sandwich or folding laundry.

Just a few thoughts to add to this discussion - while I listen to Clark Terry and Oscar Peterson while typing ... hmmmm

Mike

Bear

Trent, don't forget that we also have jobs (a lot of us two), a lot more schoolwork, and etc... I find myself up at 6 a.m. and not getting to bed until around after midnight (1:30ish) just to stay caught up.

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TrentAustin

ttt... in case others want to chime in.

Gotta go play xbox (JUST KIDDING)

PS: I woke up at 5 yesterday, drove 4 hours, taught for 12 hours, and still practiced for 1hr 40 minutes (I wanted to do 2 more hours but literally ran out of time that day!). So I guess if you have the true desire to succeed, anything is possible. I've got great stories of Oscar Peterson, Trane, Wynton, and every other virtuoso "finding time" to practice.

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Trent Austin
lurking around. If you want to chat PM me.
http://www.trentaustin.com
http://www.onlinejazzimprovisation.com

mahaberio

It's interesting, I find that most of my "distractions" come from being in music school. If ever I don't have time to practice, it's because my day is like this (this is my real schedule for yesterday): 9:00-11:00 Exam, 11:00-12:00 Class, 12:00-1:00 Lesson, Classes and a Mahler 2 rehearsal until 6:30, 8:00-11:30 I played an opera. Then, sleep. Its a rather popular joke to say that "you know you're a music major when you don't have time to practice." While it's said in fun, I think there's a lot of truth to it at times. Luckily my schedule is going to calm down soon so I can have some practice time and, if time permits, some time to finally get some real rest.

ecarroll

Matthew,

A few days of real rest are probably what you need. Be very, very careful, my friend.

My fingers are crossed that I'll have one on Wednesday after a flight back east from 10 days of teaching and conducting (Mahler & Lang) in Los Angeles tomorrow, a full day of teaching, followed by a masterclass (EuroBrass) at McGill on Sunday, a full day of teaching at McGill on Monday, and a semi-full day of teaching at Dartmouth on Tuesday.

Have you ever met a musician who has found the perfect balance? We're either waaay too busy or waay not busy enough (!) I guess, in the grand scheme of things, I prefer the former to the latter.

Best,
EC