Showing Up

By Ariel Friedman, guest blogger

This post was originally published at NEC’s entrepreneurial musicianship alumni blog on 9/28/2011, and is reposted here with permission from the author. IPAP thanks Ariel Friedman for sharing this post.

Now that school has started again and I’m not there, I’ve been thinking about how to commit to continued creative growth without the container of school.  I am a classical cellist gone folk cellist gone aspiring jazz cellist, pianist, singer, and songwriter and now that I’ve graduated, one might think I’d have all the time in the world to hone these skills. On the contrary, my days are filled with errands, gigs to play, lessons to teach, and a seemingly endless flow of email-answering and planning.  I feel grateful for my active touring and teaching schedule, but I continue to come up against this question: how can I make my own music and wellbeing a priority?

I think it is the constant striving for creation that propels us forward in this world. No matter how many times I practice a new standard or Popper etude, nothing compares to the satisfaction of writing a piece of music, or adding a new verse to a song in progress. It is this act of tapping into something “beyond the margins of the self,” as Mary Oliver puts it, that I am after—this elusive quality, combining concentration with subconscious, and the time and energy it takes to access it—and what continues to fall to the bottom of my to-do list.

For most of my life, I have struggled with feelings of powerful guilt if I do not somehow improve myself in a given day. It’s only been within the last three years that I’ve begun to access the part of me that creates music, and now there is a new level of commitment at stake. Practicing is still something I check off the list. But songwriting? The creation of new, deeply personal and relevant art? Do these things have a place on my checklist?

Yes.Yes yes yes.

And that’s because it is about showing up. It is about waking up in the morning, doing yoga, eating breakfast, and writing.  If I do not show up to my work, to that higher self beyond my own margins, then that self will disappoint me. Writing, in whatever form, is not about waiting for inspiration to strike.  In the opening line of my favorite essay by Mary Oliver, she writes, “If Romeo and Juliet had made appointments to meet, in the moonlight-swept orchard, in all the peril and sweetness of conspiracy, and then more often than not failed to meet—one or the other lagging, or afraid, or busy elsewhere—there would have been no romance, no passion, none of the drama for which we remember and celebrate them.” Writing takes place when I show up, whether or not I am inspired, day after day after day.

We are a culture who shows up: for our jobs, for our students, our teachers, our families, our partners, our friends. We show up at the registry of motor vehicles when our license has expired. We show up at the grocery store when we’re out of bread. But how often do we show up for ourselves?

I don’t think this answer will come to me in the bright flash of revelation. By now, it is slowly dawning on me that there will never be a day when I say, “Now I am done practicing. Now I have arrived.” If I did arrive (wherever that is), life would be awfully boring. Instead, I am in pursuit of pursuit. For the rest of my life I will be navigating how to write “Show Up For Self” on the top of my daily list, just as I will be negotiating what it means and how to approach the process of creating meaningful music (while, ever-hopeful, simultaneously practicing all of my instruments and genres).  The first, and hardest, thing I have learned is that patience must be involved: patience with the writing process and patience with myself, for the myriad of days when I just don’t show up.

In this monthly blog post, I hope to continue to reflect on my feelings about this issue in relation to my current experiences outside the walls of any institution.

You can read more from Ariel and other authors writing about Entrepreneurial Musicianship at http://necentrepreneur.posterous.com/

Weekly Digest: Dan Pink and Greg Pattillo videos, never stop practicing, travel tips for the flutist

Never stop practicing says 81 year old jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins

A new music school curriculum

Iraqi youth orchestra combats terror with Beethoven

What’s the difference between leadership and entrepreneurship?

Success tips for the freelance musician

5 ways to jumpstart your Yoga Practice

Drop your emotional baggage here and a stranger will recommend a song to help you cope

Speaking of baggage, check out Have Flute, Will Travel for travel tips

Like puzzles? How about some flute puzzles!

Two videos worth sharing:

Dan Pink’s talk on what really motivates us

Real Flutists’ interview with Greg Pattillo

Hanging Elbows

I recently worked with a flute student who was playing with a nice sound which changed into a fuzzy unfocused sound as she continued.  As I observed her playing I noticed that she raised her left elbow away from her body as the music became more demanding. The location of the elbows as you play is a one indication of how much effort is going into playing.

What is your habit?

Investigate by watching yourself in a mirror or by watching a short video recording of your playing.  Moving the elbows away from the body as you play does not need to be part of your playing.  In order for the elbows to move away from the body, muscles in the torso and arms engage which causes tension that will affect the other muscles that you need to play.  If the elbow(s) is held chronically higher, the muscular effort not only limits rib movement which affects the breath but causes discomfort which can lead to habits that aren’t in line with how the body is designed to move.

I think of the elbows as hanging from the arm/shoulderblade joint on one end and from the hands on the other.  This is a good way to invite the arm muscles to release.  One image I suggest is to imagine that light weights hang from the tips of the elbows to remind you to simple let the elbows and arms hang.

What to do?

First find out if you move your elbows out farther when the technical, sound or endurance demands of the music increase.  If you do, it is time to map the movements you need to play the passage.  Any change in how the elbows hang could be a sign of compensation for limitation in other aspect of your playing.  Two of my favorite Body Mapping resources on arms are Lea Pearson’s “Body Mapping for Flutists” (GIA), and David Vining’s “What Every Trombonist Needs to Know About the Body” (Kagrice Brass Editions).

Weekly Digest: We’re all weird, never stop learning, doodle!

Start planning for next summer, attend the Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop, a performing workshop for adults

Have a great idea for the flute convention for next year?  The deadline is October 1, 2011. Members can submit the online application here.

Heading into the studio?  Here are some tips from Musician’s Way

Read the 20 vocabulary words every “wanna’ be” entrepreneur should know

Listen to Renee Fleming talk about legato singing with Antonio Pappano

Check out bioneers, they are social and scientific innovators from all walks of life and disciplines

and then power your productivity, and remember you never stop learning

Be a part of participatory art and just admit it, we’re all weird

Go ahead, doodle!

And read some rules for the practice room and get some great tips on practicing

And ask yourself:  What if the focus of our performance could be on creating magical moments?

Peruse some free jazz resources from Jamey Abersold (free as in no cost…)

Some tips on time management and building a portfolio, part 3 and overcoming your fears

Some reflections on a horn player with tendonitis

Read the latest on declining SAT scores and what it means

And look at a school that works to bring out the best in its students

Participatory Music-Making Part 3: Applying Concepts Meaningfully

Note: After a long hiatus, I’m happy to announce that I’ll be updating this blog regularly on a monthly basis from September through May, with a few Special Edition posts along the way!

I’ve recently been exploring concepts of audience participation. Specifically, I’m trying to demystify the ubiquitous slogans (how many times have you seen “interactive musical events” slapped on to concert programs lately?) that are too-often misinterpreted or misused, and in doing so discovering ways to design events that engage all stakeholders and add long-term value.

NFA Recap

So I’ve been back from the convention for a few weeks already, and I haven’t found the time to be able to write anything!  My head has been swimming with thoughts and ideas, but, fortunately for me, business has picked up in a big way and, well, I had a lot to catch up on.  You see, the last day of the convention, an article about me and my boot camp class was run in the Sunday paper.  A full page full color spread in the Lifestyle section!  I’ve seen an increase in personal training clients from that, so I’ve been up to my eye balls in writing plans, training clients, running my boot camp classes and responding to the emails and questions I got from NFA.  I have put out a newsletter since then, which gave a big update on the convention, and if you aren’t signed up for my mailing list, you can do so in the bar to your right where it says “sign up for our newsletter” and I will send you the latest one!

Oh yes, and if you want more information about my boot camp classes (the one to the right was taken at our beach location) you can check out the new website! It’s at www.PCBeachBootCamp.com  I’d love it if you left a comment and can give me your feedback.

So what happened at the NFA?
Presentations!!!!
As stated in previous blog posts, I was very blessed to have been able to give two presentations.  The first was on Friday at 5 PM and was a panel discussion titled “Injury Prevention and Pain Management”.  My fellow panel members, Dr. Susan Fain, Karen Lonsdale and Lea Pearson along with myself all spoke on different topics relating to playing the flute and some suggestions on overcoming the special health challenges it presented.  Lea talked about breathing and body mapping, Karen talked about the ergonomics of the flute and how to set up for practicing be it solo or in a band setting and Susan talked about some common injuries and solutions to them with posture and stretching.  I, of course, gave a quick overview on the benefits of strength training for flutists.  I had so much to say and sadly, I ran out of time – 10 minutes just isn’t long enough!

We had a really wonderful turnout and I did not have enough handouts for everyone to get one, so if you would like a copy of my handout for this presentation and did not receive one, you can download it here:

Using Strength Training to Prevent Injury and Improve Pain

My second presentation was just me and it was on Sunday at 8 AM.  I went far more into depth about the benefits of strength training for flutists, and then demonstrated proper weight lifting form (which we all did together), did a little body mapping in finding where our hips are (here’s a hint, it’s not the bone that sticks out) and then we did some sample stretches and some activation exercises.  It was a lot of fun, and again, I ran out of time.
The easiest way to for me to remedy my problem is for flute clubs and associations to hire me to come out for a day or a weekend to give a workshop and then we can really go  in-depth about how things work, and do some exercises together!  In fact, I had a few people approach me about doing that very thing so be on the lookout to see me coming to your area and if you would like me to come to your area, you can get in touch with me by emailing me at angela@musicstrong.com or via the contact link on my website: www.musicstrong.com

Again I had a great turn out and ran out of handouts so if you would like a handout and didn’t get one, you can download it here:

Lift, Play, Love : Basic Weight Lifting for Efficient Flute Playing

I also had a “muscle man” image that I used that went along with both handouts. You can get him here:

Career Development Workshop

I am very grateful to have been selected as a participant in the 2nd Annual Career and Artistic Development Committee’s Career Development Workshop.  The room was not nearly big enough to hold all the people and we had people spilling out into the hallway trying to get in!  We learned a lot of things: from how to write a mission statement, to a bio, to a cover letter, to how to take a good publicity photo and what NOT to do.

In addition, I and two other people got to present our business ideas to the group and ask for help on certain parts of our projects.  I presented my business Music Strong, and while it is not exactly in its fledgling stages and I have a lot of the work done, my biggest problem is in reaching my audience.  I needed help finding out how to go to where the flutists are and where the people who need me are.

I got a LOT of positive feedback from people who heard me; compliments on the business concept, comments on how excited people were that I was doing this and overall enthusiasm for my business.  I also got asked to come give a presentation in Texas, so be on the lookout for information there!

Other wonderful happenings

I had a lot of great things happen at the convention.  Besides my name getting out there and being recognized, I was also asked to help man the Performance Health Committee’s booth.  I was more than happy to do so – not only for the opportunity to socialize and network with my fellow health professionals, but to answer questions and help the myriad of people who came by with health questions.  It is so rewarding to be able to look at someone, listen to their problems and even if you cannot diagnose or fix their problems, you can give them HOPE and that is super exciting.

I made a lot of new connections, new friends and got a lot of great music I hope to be performing soon.  The convention was a success in every way and I’m very blessed to be able to have been a part of it. Now I’m working on presentation proposals for next year for Vegas!

If you went to the convention, if you got the chance to come to these presentations, workshops or even if you didn’t, I’d love to hear your comments about it and if you have suggestions on future articles or presentations, I am welcome to those as well.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from the convention.  I hope you enjoy!

See you in Vegas!

Related articles

• It’s a Wild Ride… (fluteangel.wordpress.com)
• Off to NFA! (fluteangel.wordpress.com)
• 6 Ways to Mix Up Your Strength Training (fitsugar.com)
• Is Fitness Boot Camp For You? (everydayhealth.com)
• How to Lift Weights Properly for Strength Training (fitnesstipsforlife.com)
• A Flutist’s Self-Worth (innovativeperformanceandpedagogy.wordpress.com)

The Return of the Weekly Digest: Partnering with non-profits, musical inspiration, creativity

Learn how to Partner with non-profits, from the musicians way

and Use social media to your benefit in finding employment

Find your musical vision here with Astrid Baumgardner

Check out  7 steps for forging a unique musical identity

and read about 21 income models from David Cutler

Discover the Community Arts Network, a wealth of examples, research, and wisdom about community arts work

and then browse the Carnegie Hall’s Online Resource Center and the Center for Music National Service’s new website

Renew yourself with musical inspiration here

and support Syracuse’s new El Sistema-inspired program here

Check out some El Sistema Jobs:

Allentown Symphony’s newly formed El Sistema Lehigh Valley program announces two job opportunities:
http://www.allentownsymphony.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=NT-eQi5vuII%3d&tabid=146

Waterbury Symphony Orchestra continues the search for a Program Director to lead the El Sistema-inspired “Bravo Waterbury” program: http://www.waterburysymphony.org/education/elsistema/index.shtml

and read about how a Venezuela prison orchestra is giving hope to inmates

Did you know that keeping the beat helps kids become better readers?

Get your students improvising with the Improvisation Calendar by Wil Offermans

And renew yourself with Sir Ken Robinson’s take on creativity in the schools

And Jeffrey Agrell’s take on myelin, smart homework, interleaving, and the horn

And Lisa Canning’s take on imagination, creativity, productivity

And Elizabeth Gilbert on nuturing creativity

Unfortunately, creativity is not as well received as we think

But here are some tips for lifelong creativity

A reminder of upcoming flute competitions

And to finish, the revenge of the bassoonists!

The IPAP Weekly Digest is back in action now after a busy summer as well as a last-minute move to Rochester, NY which we are so happy to call our new home.  See you next week!

15 year old Annie Wu and Beatbox Flute

Annie Wu was the 2011 National Flute Association High School Competition Winner in Charlotte, NC. She lives in Pleasanton, CA and studies with Isabelle Chapuis.

You can follow her on her youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/fluteycutie27

The Three Beats for Beatbox Flute is a composition written by Greg Pattillo, and was commissioned by the NFA for the High School Competition. It was written in the winter of 2010-11.

The sheet music is available for instant downoad here:
http://store.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=6FJBE_LIVE

Thanks to Catherine LeGrand and Melissa Snoza for sharing this on facebook!

–Laura

Practice like you train

I had a perhaps not so novel idea today. Why should we practice the same things every day? Instead, why shouldn’t we have a larger purpose for every single practice session and take some ideas from runners?

I’m a lapsed runner of sorts. I still run regularly, but I haven’t trained since I was an overly enthusiastic newbie two years ago. I’m in a rut. In this rut I let my subscription to Runner’s World expire, too.

I resubscribed in a hope to get some kind of motivational tip that would spur me back into a crazed training phase. I’ve been reading a few pages here and there and I read today about how and why you should have a purpose before you even begin running. Without a purpose, it’s too easy to get bound up in time contraints, the weather, or any of the million other reasons we usually fail to do what we say we’re going to do.

Yeah, we should have a purpose when we practice. That part is pretty obvious. But have we related our purpose to longer term goals in a meaningful way?

I run about 3 to 4 times a week. One day consists of a long run, which serves to build up endurance and help strengthen the legs and I do speedwork once a week to get faster. The remaining 2 days are easy runs, where I’m letting the work of the harder two workouts settle in.

I hate doing the same thing every day, so I’m not one for making up a routine. Instead, I tend to go with the flow which sometimes sets me up for failure. Translating my running workouts into my flute workouts might help me reach my goals faster. So here’s a quick sketch of how my different training runs relate to my practice sessions:

The Long Run – A longer than average practice session that gives you adequate time to cover all the areas of your playing that need consistent attention. It’s also the time to just enjoy the feeling of being able to play your instrument and not have to watch the clock.

Speedwork – Technical practice. Want to bump up your scales a couple notches on the metronome? Treat this “workout” as speedwork and limit to one or two days a week.

The Recovery Run – Focused, slow practice. Practice what you need to, but let your body assimilate the changes you’re making in your playing. Enjoy the recovery.

The Social Run – Jam session!

The Whatever Run – Play what you want without pressure. Use it as opportunity to explore different areas of your awareness. Or don’t.

*Originally published on The Sensible Flutist, August 2011

© Alexis Del Palazzo 2011

When Was the Last Time You Took A Break?

Like most siblings, I grew up driving my brother crazy, and him doing the same to me. He’d try to hug me, I’d get grossed out, he’d get mad, I’d cry, you know, the usual. Then I went to college and left him at home with mom and dad and the coolest thing happened: we became friends.

I count my brother among one of my best friends now. He knows me unlike few others (save my husband and parents) and can relate to me on a large scale. We both love music (though in different ways), LOVE lifting and can talk for hours about nutrition, psychology and our workouts.

One of the funniest things that happens between us happens over and over again. One of us will call the other looking for advice about some aspect of nutrition or asking some question about “why is my strength stalling? I can’t bust through my plateau!” etc. and invariably, one of us will ask the other

“When was the last time you took a break?”

It never fails, give us a few months and one of us will be calling the other complaining about something and that question will arise from the other one of us. That’s one of the neat things about having a sibling with which you share a lot of common traits: we undersand that both of us

• overanalyze things to death
• are dead-set of getting things right the first time
• When we get into something we go in 110% – we don’t dabble….which invariably leads to burnout

All of these traits can be seen in a positive or negative light. On the positive side, the analyzation leads to greater self-awareness and discovery with deeper understanding for future struggles and the perfectionism and enthusiasm belie a FANTASTIC work ethic. On the negative, the analyzing will drive our friends and/or significant others crazy, we tend to lose out on the learning process by perfectionism and by ceasing to dabble in something, burnout occurs a lot faster. I’m willing to bet that a lot of you reading this can relate to me on one, if not all of those personality traits.

So the question invariably comes up

When was the last time you took a break?

From dieting?

From training?

From practicing?

etc.
The list can go on and on. We all need times of solitude, times of respite, of quiet. We need times to break out of our routines and habits – which is why we go on vacations. But sometimes, you don’t necessarily need a vacation from life, you need a vacation from your workout or your diet.

Two Take-Home Points

1. If you find yourself asking “when was the last time I took a break” and have a hard time answering definitively, that’s your first clue it’s time for a break

2. There are warning signs everywhere

• you are not sleeping well
• you have no desire to workout
• you are frequently tired
• You DREAD going to practice and when you are there, you get very little done, you have little stamina
• You are in pain more often
• The things that used to bring you joy now cause you dread
• just thinking about your workout makes you tired
• you suffer physically. This can be seen in any number of ways, be it lack of sleep, lack of interest in things, joint pain, muscle pain, headaches, feeling “wired but tired”, hair becomes dry or falls out, you get sick more often and take longer to recover (sick can mean anything from viruses to allergies, because your immune system becomes cocmpromised)

The gym is for tearing down, rest is for repair and building

When you lift weights, you aren’t going to build or strengthen your body, you are literally tearing your body down. You cause low-grade (sometimes mid-grade) inflammation and during REST is when your body repairs the damage you’ve done, creating new tissue, stronger or bigger tissue. If you are constantly working out, going heavy 6 days a week and not giving your body a chance to repair, pretty soon you’re going to hit a wall.

Rest is underrated and you desperately need it. If you’ve been lifting 5-6 days per week for years, I beg you to stop. Switch to 3 days a week and work your whole body. Do the big lifts: deadlifts, squats, bench press, pull ups or rows and throw in extra stuff for mobility and stability like lunges on top of it. It will feel weird at first, but I dare you to do it for 3 months and see if you don’t grow more during that time than you ever have since you started.

Sometimes, you need a break from your diet.

We have break times like this at Christmas, Thanksgiving and maybe your Grandma’s birthday party, but if you have been anal retentive about your diet or even been gung-ho and “on your diet” for months and can’t remember the last time you just let yourself eat….it’s time. You have to be willing to trust yourself that you will do yourself no harm by not tracking and weighing your food. If you’ve been dieting for months and can’t remember the last time you ate at maintenance calories, then today is the day. Stop today and take 2 weeks, starting today, and eat at maintenance calories.

What about practicing?

So what happens when you take a break?

You might find out that a host of good things happens. Not only does your enthusiasm for the sport or the instrument return, in regards to lifting: you might have gotten stronger, or bigger or even leaner, depending on what you were trying to accomplish in the first place. When the inflammation response goes down, water drops, muscle repairs and hormones stabilize, good things happen and suddenly, what you were training for, actually starts to work the way you were hoping.

Calves like these are grown OUT of the gym. Just ask my brother, they belong to him and he works out 2 DAYS A WEEK.

In regards to practicing, I assure you, your technique does not fly out the window, your tone does not disappear, nor do you simply lose everything you worked for in the last decade. On the contrary. Just like in lifting, good things can happen. Your tone, your technique, your memory, whatever you’ve been working on can actually IMPROVE!

Point in case…

Let me tell you a story. At some point during my first year of graduate school I said to myself “I want to be principal flute of USO” (the top university orchestra). I thought this thought once and filed it away in my subconscious. I worked very hard on my excerpts and worked all year to improve.

Then came the summer. I knew I should practice, and I did, in fact, but I practiced piccolo mostly. I didn’t practice that much. A few hours a week, maybe, not a few hours a day. I began practicing in earnest about a week or two before auditions for the next school year, just to see how things were.

I stepped into the practice room and to my amazement,

• my tone was better
• my technique was spot on, better than during the school year and more accurate
• my excerpts, while certainly not flawless, were better than I had ever played them, even without working on them all summer.

I went in to the audition room, played the Debussy the best I ever had (in one breath no less!) , nailed William Tell FLAWLESSLY, had FUN in the audition and guess what? I got 1st chair.
What happened?

What happened was that I gave my body, my mind and my abilities time to rest. I worked hard all year on improving my technique, my tone and my excerpts, then I basically took 2-3 months OFF. It allowed my brain and my body to actually absorb and process what I had learned. You see, you don’t necessarily get better when you are in the middle of practicing, the results show up later. What they forget to tell you is that it’s partly a result of rest.

So, take heart from my story, and take a break. Your body will thank you.

Related articles

• The pitfalls of perfectionism vs. good-enough marketing (fletcher-prince.com)
• Women: How NOT to Get Bulky (fluteangel.wordpress.com)
• How to break the plateau? (ask.metafilter.com)
• 2011 Perform Better Summit Rundown! (malepatternfitness.com)
• I’m Breaking Up With the Scale! (angelabullock.wordpress.com)
• Work the Weakness in Workouts and in Life (nancyjohnsonchavez.com)