I have been thinking...maybe trumpet wouldn't be so hard for some people if they didn't have soo much to live up to such as Maynard, Arturo etc. Do you think that trumpet playing is mostly mental?
bandman
I think that trumpet playing is:
1) Natural ability (That ability given to you by God, and cannot be increased by man.)
2) Desire (the part of playing that is controlled by man – in other words, how much do you want to be good?)
3) Hard Work (better known as practice)
I don’t compare myself to the great players, but I do try to copy things that they do. I work so hard on tone, and on flugal I pay attention to Arturo Sandoval as my benchmark. I don’t pay attention to the range of great players because I will never have the range or control of the great Wayne Bergeron. I do try to improve my technique and I love to listen to the playing styles of many greats in this category. I have worked as hard as I can, but I realize that I’ll never have the technique of Gerard Schwarz simply because God gave him more natural ability to me, but I can try to copy him as much as possible.
son-of-sam
Good post Bandman. I think that trumpet playing is a mix of talent, luck, and influence(which can contribute a lot to the mental aspect.)
ChicagoDan
Trumpet IS mostly mental in my opinion. However, you must "work your butt off." There is no getting around the time it takes to get to the highest levels of playing.
I have found in my own practice that 'better thinking equals better playing,' BUT, you must put that into practice several hours a week to get the desired result.
The brain learns VERY quick, but the body, on occasion, takes a little more time to catch up, plus the body tends to "forget" things if you don't keep up the habit.
Good luck with thinking better, but mostly concentrate on HAVING FUN!!
Dan
Guest
Succesful trumpet playing taking willingness, luck. confidence, ability and practice. Anyone can play the trumpet, it just depends on how hard you work at it. I think trumpet is a mental and physically challenged instrument. You have to work hard to succeed!
The Benaud
I think trumpet playing is mostly mental... But aren't we all a bit mental to get into it anyway?!
Keep up the good work lads.
HarryMarks
The short answer:
The trumpet is mostly metal, not mental.
How we produce the sounds is physical.
How we create music is mental.
Trumpet players put way too much thought into playing and try to analyze it to death. Once your body learns how to create a good sound on all the notes, and you practice yourself into the ground, you can start making music.
OLDLOU
Trumpeting mental?
I have absolutely no argument with Bandman Dave's assertions on this subject, but, I am very much in tune with Harry Marks condesation of all of the above. Well said, Harry.
BandChick02
I agree
I totally agree with you guys. I think if you really want something you can do it. Practice does not make perfect cause you can always improve. I do believe though that you have to work your living body ih the ground to be awesome. It is really hard to improve when you have school work coming out your ears. I am not so great right now. My tone is not perfect and I can only go to a High C above the staff on a good day. Certain songs sound better than others. Well This is my opinion.
OLDLOU
Metal or mental
The one part of all of this that seems to be ignored in this thread is that fearful word,'talent'. most of us here have it to some degree or another, but, I have been cowed down by many trumpeters who did not have to really work as hard as I did at our art. They made me look and sound terrible by comparison in the early days. After studying under "the worlds greatest trumpeter" at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Mi., I learned that even he had to practice almost all day long each and every day to be able to perform well enough to satisfy himself. This spurred me on to even greater efforts, which BTW worked. Talent is almost impossible to measure. Hard work is not only measurable, but, in almost all cases it is greatly gratifying in how the worker improves exponentially.
TheTrumpeter
I believe take 4:
1)Physical-You cant play if you don't have a good embouchure or fast fingers...or air.
2)Mental-Belive it or not,it takes alot of mental work when you are playing.You gotta be anticipating the next few bars in your mind,remind yourself which note you should play sharpet,which flatter etc....
3)Emotional-The better you can feel the music,the better music u make.And ur feelings in fact influence ur playing mostly.If your in a good mood,ud rather play a song with major or augmented chords and so on...
4)Social-Yup,get people to play with(not for solos of course) and encourage you.and also,the more people u know,the higher u expect of urself,always telling urself u cant let these people down,and u will go further.
its a mix of the 4,and msot of time,its always these that make u play well.well,for me at least....
