Music Exam Stress

Yesterday I took my Grade 3 guitar exam. I felt I had prepared the best I could but it did not go as well as I predicted. I was betrayed by my body.

I sat down, tuned and began the technical portion of the exam. Then adrenaline kicked in and my heart began to throb in my chest. My fingers began to tremble. As I was executing the requirements, I was trying to calm down and focus on the task but this in itself was a distraction. I slurred a D into a D# on the E major scale. A small thing but indicative of worse things to come.

The arpeggios were worse. I blanked out at the first requested pattern and had a hard time getting it going.

I did okay on the my Carulli study but my fingers were on the verge of breaking into spasms. I held it together. The next study was a disaster. It was one I felt I could play well and very musically. My heart was still pounding. I muffed the first cadence then got mixed up in the form and repeated a section. Near the end, I actually had to stop and restart to get through to the end.

My first repertoire piece was a traditional and I managed to get through it like I did the Carulli study earlier. The second piece I had to restart but settled down a bit until I messed up the ending. The third piece had similar issues.

I did fine on the remainder of the exam because I was only answering questions.

Why does adrenaline have to kick in during these performance exams? Adrenaline helps in sports but on a musical exam it hinders fine muscle controls and distracts from the music. My brain knew there was no logical reason for my body to react the way it did. I was prepared. My life was not at risk. I tried using breathing techniques but they were ineffective. Until I have mastered inner peace I don't think I will ever master music.

What Is Your Natural Tempo?

Being able to perform a piece of music competently with expression is a function of the music's technical demands and the player's skill. Each musician is faced with unique challenges that change as repertoire goals and proficiency levels change.

I often find it useful to determine my "natural tempo" for a piece of music after the technical issues have been resolved. I will basically ask myself "at what tempo can I play this piece well without feeling much stress?"

First, I play the piece without the metronome at a relaxed pace until I can execute it cleanly. This pace may be dead slow or not, depending on the music's complexity. I then reference the metronome to find my natural tempo that I can use to practise my piece. I find that jotting down the tempo with the date is helpful to note progress later on.

My natural tempo shows me how far I am from my goal in real terms. I can explore expressive elements of the piece because technique is less of a concern to me. Natural tempo can vary somewhat each day, but over time, it tends to increase organically to a certain point. At that point, I have to start pushing my tempo boundaries again so I can improve if I haven't already met my goal.

I realize that many musicians (myself included) do not have the luxury of time to learn music using the natural tempo method. However, I find this method useful when learning to play music that is of innate interest to me.

TLC for Unpromising Reeds

A couple of weeks ago I drove 150 km to a big band rehearsal to discover I forgot my reed case at my studio. I had no reeds for the rehearsal. I offered to buy a reed from the other tenor player but he refused my money and gave me one of his new reeds out of generosity.

I used his reed in the rehearsal but it was difficult to play, felt rough, and sounded stuffy. The reed was a brand that I normally use but it was one notch harder than my normal strength. Because I didn't have my reed case, I had to store it on the mouthpiece for the journey home. To no surprise, the reed dried out and warped. That is why I regularly keep my reeds in a bona fide reed case.

This morning, I tried the reed again but when I wetted it, the warping was even more severe. I took out my modest reed sanding kit consisting of No. 600 wet/dry sandpaper and a piece of 1/2" plexiglass stored in a box.

My Reed Kit

(box is clever packaging that once contained new Lucky Strike fishing lures)

To fix the reed, I placed the sandpaper on the plexiglass and gently pushed the reed across the gritty side of the sandpaper in a fluid motion away my body. This way, I am sanding with the grain. It is okay to sand when the reed is wet.

My next step was to place the reed directly onto the plexiglass, flat side down (as shown in the photo) and lightly sand the opposite side of the reed.

I repeat this two-step process except I use the smooth side of the sandpaper to buff the reed.

After I completed this sanding process, I tried playing the reed and behold, it came to life. Perhaps not all bad reeds can be saved this way but this little reed kit has saved me from prematurely discarding plenty of reeds.

Importance Of Rest and Recovery From Musical Instruments

Recently, I've been increasing my practice time on the saxophone in the morning to simply maintain my performance level. I have been using the app Music Journal religiously to document my daily routines and subjects, and it has kept me on track so far. At the same time, my gigs, rehearsals, music instruction and business has been quite demanding. On Friday, I was exhausted.

This past weekend, I decided to rest up and recover. I passively listened to music, watched movies, and did a bit work around the home. I was feeling a little guilty for not touching my saxophone but I resisted the urge to come to the studio.

This morning, I felt rested and renewed. I resumed my routine and I was surprised at the ease and fluidity of my fingers on my saxophone.

It's important to practice your musical instrument each day but sometimes you need to listen to your
body when rest and recovery is needed. Rest gives the brain time to unconsciously learn the things you've been practicing and gives the muscles time to adapt to the demands placed upon them.

Chops Maintenance

I have always found it challenging as a multi-instrumentalist to stay in shape on saxophone which is my main instrument. Teaching, arranging, listening and developing my guitar and voice technique compete for my attention, making it really easy to let my saxophone playing fall to the wayside.

During the summer of 1995, while I was on break from attending the Humber College Music Programme, I decided to learn my chords and scales using  Patterns For Jazz. I managed to get through about 75% of the book before I hit a wall with the chromatic intervals and never finished it.

A few months ago, I returned to the book fresh and started over, not with the ambition of finishing it, but with the intent to use it as a tool to simply stay in shape and to keep my mind fresh. I did have a lapse for two months but I got back on the horse again a couple of weeks ago. I am finding the iPad app Music Journal quite useful in helping me stay focused and achieving my tempo goals. I limit my time on the saxophone to about 30 minutes a day unless I have an approaching gig.

I am now on the diatonic 4th exercises which is giving me my first real challenge. I have been forced to reduce my tempo to 80 bpm so I can play them cleanly think ahead. However, it's a good exercise for the mind to learn new things, or in my case, solidify what I tried to learn 17 years ago. Gradually, my tempo on the diatonic 4th exerecises will increase so the time it will take me to finish it will reduce. I will then be able to add new exercises and delete older ones. That has been my approach to the book and it seems to be working for me.

As a result of doing these maintenance exercises, I have found that my fingers have been more fluid at my weekly rehearsal with the Big City Big Band. My embouchure also benefits because I am able to get through long, tiring infrequent rock gigs.

Using Local Musicians to Support Touring Acts Again

In the "old days" of touring, headlining singers traveled from city to city and would use local musicians to support their shows. Eventually, singers began to bring their entire bands with them (sponsored by their record label) so that that their show would be polished. A polished show would sell more records in each city they visited. However, the acts that brought along their own musicians had the detrimental effect of putting local musicians out to pasture. Remember that those were the days of cheap oil and high-dollar record sales, so travelling was not as expensive, and record sales made the touring profitable.

I believe that most musicians and listeners would agree that the days of cheap oil and high-dollar record sales are over. So, it may be worthwhile to rethink the old touring methods and to begin rebuilding networks of local musicians who can support touring acts. There is a great number of fabulous music schools and graduates throughout Canada and the U.S.,  so there is a plethora of untapped literate musical talent to be exploited. There are even established networks of professional musicians in each major city and region.

If an act has professional charts, then musically literate musicians can back up an act without much difficulty. The advantage of using local musicians is that costs of travel and accommodations are greatly reduced and more of the ticket money remains in the local musicians' home community instead of going towards travel expenses of a group of touring musicians. There would need to be at least one good rehearsal before the show to get the local musicians up to speed. An act that has complex or unusual music would need to have more rehearsals per city. However, with a bit of planning, the local musicians can be forwarded the charts and audio recordings electronically so they can prepare.

Touring acts that use local musicians can cut their travel expenses greatly, make live music more affordable, and would support the communities in which they are performing. Local musicians would also need to raise their game. Using local musicians would be good for the budget, the environment, and would reduce the fatigue and stress of side musicians being on the road for weeks at a time.

Choosing Between Two Gigs

New Year's Eve used to be the busiest and most lucrative day of the year for musicians as many celebrate the chance to renew our lives and to put the previous year to rest. New Year's Eve was selected to be close to the winter solstice (in the Northern Hemisphere) while coinciding with the 12 months of the modern Western calendar. However, New Year's Eve seems to be losing its lustre, at least from my vantage point. More people seem to be choosing to go house parties rather than paying a lot of money to attend huge events that are hosted by nightclubs, restaurants, banquet halls, etc.. So how are musicians adapting? I'd like to know too.

This year, I had two New Year's Eve opportunities. I could have accepted both if the events were physically closer together or if I had use of a Star Trek transporter beam. My first opportunity was to play dinner music at a local retirement residence with my jazz quartet. I will in fact be doing that gig on New Year's Eve, so I will be finished by 8:30. My second opportunity was to play at the Georgetown Legion with one of my regular bands, Little Peter and the Elegants. Realistically, I wouldn't have been able to get there in time because it is a three-hour drive from Peterborough to Georgetown. I decided to sub out the second job. My sub will actually be making more money than me but I won't have the wear and tear on my car or my body. These are important factors to weigh if you are fortunate enough to choose a gig.

When I have a conflict, my policy is to stay with the gig that comes up first, unless the second opportunity is amazing, rare and/or very well paid. Typically though, live gigs are more similar in compensation so unless the money spread between the two opportunities is really great, I don't back out of confirmed gigs. Backing out of gigs also leaves a poor reliability record and sometimes hard feelings with the people who hired you. It may even exempt you from future opportunities. Generally, the factors I consider when choosing between two gigs are my comfort with the music, the compensation, and the distance, along with my general treatment and happiness.

The December Workshop

The final Instrumental Workshop of the year was on December 19th which featured short performances from each of my students. I am really pleased that the ice was finally broken with regards to performance anxiety or reluctance. I really believe that these Workshops provide an excellent opportunity for students to perform for their peers in a friendly setting in order to gain performance experience.

I gave a brief presentation on practice methodology which I divided into three headings:

(1) Environment (the practice space)
(2) Tools (the equipment used)
(3) Musical Goals: long, medium and short-term

The class then performed Frère Jacques as a three-part round on their various instruments which consisted of guitars and a keyboard. I only wish that there were some wind players in attendance like last month. The guitarists did a great job playing in the key of Bb.

The next Instrumental Workshop will be on January 23, which is the third Monday of the month as usual.