Simplicity
- MStarke
- Posts: 1031
- Joined: Jan 01, 2019
Inspired by a lesson I had a few days ago which was really interesting and experimental.
Since I re-started with the trombone about 10 years ago, after a few years break, I have realized how important simplicity and simple guardrails are for my playing.
Teachers come up with a broad range of ideas, sometimes even contradicting, but often they can be boiled down to some relatively simple aspects. And for me it is essential to simplify in order to a) integrate it in my practicing without being overwhelmed by complecity and b) be able to make use of it in performance situations.
Typically when I play, I have one or max two things that I really consciously pay attention to.
So that lesson was absolutely worth it. I have two (maybe three) things that I will probably "carry with me" and integrate in my practice and performance. Honestly it also takes some maturity to make the conscious choice to prioritize and thereby on the other hand also abandon playing advice.
How do you handle this for yourselves?
And to the teachers: How do you manage this with your students? What do you expect from them?
Since I re-started with the trombone about 10 years ago, after a few years break, I have realized how important simplicity and simple guardrails are for my playing.
Teachers come up with a broad range of ideas, sometimes even contradicting, but often they can be boiled down to some relatively simple aspects. And for me it is essential to simplify in order to a) integrate it in my practicing without being overwhelmed by complecity and b) be able to make use of it in performance situations.
Typically when I play, I have one or max two things that I really consciously pay attention to.
So that lesson was absolutely worth it. I have two (maybe three) things that I will probably "carry with me" and integrate in my practice and performance. Honestly it also takes some maturity to make the conscious choice to prioritize and thereby on the other hand also abandon playing advice.
How do you handle this for yourselves?
And to the teachers: How do you manage this with your students? What do you expect from them?
- VJOFan
- Posts: 529
- Joined: Apr 06, 2018
Pedagogy like "Wind and Song" and Carmine Caruso's timing method are simplicity in their simplest forms. They get criticism, but have also worked for a ton of players as at least part of their mindset for good playing.
- shakesbeare
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Dec 26, 2019
I have found benefit improving with both approaches. I think simple is always better with the big caveat of *when it works*. Many players, perhaps even most of them, will face issues where the simple approach just doesn’t cut it anymore.
I think the simple approach leads to a local maxima of skill. For the lucky, this might end up being the global maxima as well. Maybe they accidentally did things right at first or have an anatomy particularly well-suited for playing. But for many people that local maxima will not be the global maxima and they’ll need to take a more deliberate, thoughtful approach in tearing down certain habits to build up good ones.
It is important to go back to simplicity as soon as possible though. Trombone is not fun nor musical when you are struggling for little details and focusing on the big picture again helps regain some of that enjoyment.
I think the simple approach leads to a local maxima of skill. For the lucky, this might end up being the global maxima as well. Maybe they accidentally did things right at first or have an anatomy particularly well-suited for playing. But for many people that local maxima will not be the global maxima and they’ll need to take a more deliberate, thoughtful approach in tearing down certain habits to build up good ones.
It is important to go back to simplicity as soon as possible though. Trombone is not fun nor musical when you are struggling for little details and focusing on the big picture again helps regain some of that enjoyment.