Last week I had the pleasure of teaching the wind and brass colloquium at Valparaiso University for Dr. Ericka Grodrian, Dr. Jeff Doebler and the music students.  Ericka and I performed an Oscar Franz duet to start things off, showing the students 'Magic Line Performance' in action! Then I jumped into a big topic I have been thinking about a lot lately: Practicing!  I have been working with many of my students for quite some time now, and though we have huge growth every week, I know that there could be even more room for improvement at home between our lessons.   I put together a presentation for the students of Valparaiso, including long term goal-setting and in-the-moment strategies.  We discovered that we have many great resources within ourselves to find new life in our music and to improve our practicing habits.  We literally danced, we sang and we found great sounds! I also brought my practicing strategies into my lessons this week - what fun to try new ways to get around those big obstacles!
Contact me for more information on my practicing presentation, but in the meantime, here are a few pointers to get yourself started:
- What are your short-term and long-term goals? Figuring those out will help you decide where to focus your time.
- Are you working on technique or on repertoire? Sometimes there is a faster way to tackle your music by working away from it
- Practice in small sections: concentrated work on shorter segments will be more productive and rewarding
- You can either tackle an obstacle head-first or try and go around the the obstacle: both ways may help you find a great solution. 
- When something goes awry, first ask yourself "what happened?" then ask "why?" until you get to the root of the issue! Asking "why"- even a few times can be much more effective than "don't miss that note!"
- Eliminate variables that might be making it even trickier! Is the rhythm difficult? Then get rid of the melody! Singing and buzzing your music can always help!
- Have fun while you practice! There are many great ways to practice and have fun with your music, don't be afraid to try new things, fail miserably, sound bad and celebrate successes on your path to greatness! 

I am not a competitive person.  I like to succeed, I like to be rewarded for my hard work, but I don't need to beat someone to feel like I've won. Maybe this is why I don't mind the competitive element in Solo and Ensemble competition.  While it is a competition, there is no one against you, no scoreboard, only yourself and your own personal bests. 
For the last two weeks, most of my students competed in ISSMA, half of them for the first time.  While they walked away with mitts full of mostly gold medals, I am not so concerned if they are gold or silver.  I am proud of all the marks they earned, every point is well-deserved, and I am happy to have their hard work be recognized.  But what I am most proud of is the work that they did before ISSMA to get there. 
I gave my students demanding pieces full of musical and technical challenges, requiring them to push beyond their comfort zone and previous ability level.  Not one student had it easy; whether it was addressing nerves, tonguing, musicality, rhythm or tone, each had major challenges to conquer to get to ISSMA.  Each student stepped up to the plate and performed difficult pieces both in our lessons and the day of beautifully and with poise.  I was so proud of what they accomplished in abilities and in work ethic prior to the competition, that they had already won by the time they got to contest. 
I also had the pleasure of judging horns, baritones, trumpets and small ensembles in Terre Haute, and it was a wonderful experience. I was especially impressed by the youngest students on their great timing, accuracy, and confidence.  Many of the older students and groups that played also showed impressive technique and attention to detail.  One of the aspects that I urged the students to consider was the performance aspect of ISSMA; whether you play in a classroom or a recital hall it is important to remember it is still a performance and you are playing for an audience.  No matter how you feel about the performance-good or bad- it is important to smile, bow, say thank you or acknowledge those in the room, and to avoid negative comments or actions while waiting for comments.  Enjoy the moment and all that you have accomplished in getting there! 
After many great performances, I look forward to seeing the success to follow in the State Competition!