{"id":3733,"date":"2010-01-06T11:18:54","date_gmt":"2010-01-06T19:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=3733"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:04:02","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:04:02","slug":"10-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-a-young-musician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/01\/06\/10-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-a-young-musician\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was a Young Musician"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to most things in life, there isn\u2019t much of an advantage of being older except for one thing: experience.\u00a0 When you live longer, you have more experiences, both good and bad.\u00a0 When I was in high school, and even college, there were many things that I know now that I wish I\u2019d known back then.\u00a0 Here\u2019s my top ten list of things that I wish I\u2019d known when I was a young musician.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Practicing isn\u2019t a matter of how many hours you put in, but how many good<\/em> hours you put in.<\/strong> It\u2019s quality, not quantity.\u00a0 Practicing intelligently is something that my best teachers instilled in me, and it\u2019s vital if you\u2019re going to survive in the professional world.\u00a0 You don\u2019t always have months to prepare your repertoire, and after school is over other demands will fill in the open spaces, and being able to be efficient in your practicing will pay for itself many times over.\u00a0 Trust me on this one.<\/li>\n
  2. Your body is also your instrument – learn how it works and take care of it.<\/strong> I cannot stress this enough.\u00a0 Every year I see high school aged musicians who are suffering from overuse injuries (see #1 above) that might have been avoided with some basic knowledge of how the mechanics of playing their instrument affect their physical well-being.\u00a0 A book of stretches is essential: daily stretching before practice and rehearsals can absolutely save your future career.\u00a0 I recommend the classic book Stretching<\/em> by Bob Anderson. <\/em>There are also such disciplines as the Feldenkrais Method<\/a> or Alexander Technique<\/a> that can help you become aware of your body and its motions that can be extremely helpful both before and after an injury happens.<\/li>\n
  3. Being professional is a 24 hour job.<\/strong> When I was in school, we used to have a phrase that described this:\u00a0 The Conservatory Curse<\/em>.\u00a0 If you were talking trash about someone else\u2019s performance, chances are they were standing right behind you – no matter where you were.\u00a0 What to do?\u00a0 Don\u2019t talk trash about or to other musicians.\u00a0 You never know when or where you\u2019ll run into them again – they might be in a position to help your career later on when you least expect it, and chances are they won\u2019t be in a charitable mood if you\u2019ve been rude to them.\u00a0 I had a teacher who was at the very pinnacle of his profession who I never, ever heard utter an unkind word about anyone, either personally or professionally.\u00a0 It\u2019s a standard that I strive to attain myself, and the old saw that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar is absolutely true.<\/li>\n
  4. Keep busy, and do a variety of things.<\/strong> This was a hard one for me to learn.\u00a0 When I joined the Oregon Symphony<\/a> I was consumed by the demands of my first full-time professional job, but I also played chamber music, filled in with Third Angle New Music Ensemble<\/a>, played recitals and concertos with various orchestras, and in general stayed busy and kept my workload varied.\u00a0 Variety is the spice of life, they say, and it\u2019s very true in the musical world.\u00a0 The main advantage of variety is that each different sort of music-making that you do will reinforce the other.\u00a0 Playing in orchestra demands ensemble skills, which are reinforced by playing chamber music.\u00a0 Solo playing demands the height of preparation and rigorous performance standards, which benefit all of your other playing, and so on.\u00a0 In addition, do things outside of music.\u00a0 I cycle, read, blog, and cook regularly, and this makes my life more balanced and enjoyable.\u00a0 Sure, I still live for my music, but music is just a part of my life, not my entire life.<\/li>\n
  5. Respect your elders and those who have more experience than you do.<\/strong> In music school there are various classes of musicians, but most often it boils down to two: those who can really play, and everyone else.\u00a0 This is all well and good in school, where there is often an unhealthy obsession with competition.\u00a0 In the real world, however, it\u2019s not always about who plays the most accurately.\u00a0 That old guy in the back of the violins might not shred like you do, but he might have played under Copland or Stravinsky, and would have some great stories to tell.\u00a0 He also, chances are, knows pretty much every standard work that an orchestra plays, and would have a wealth of information about bowings and fingerings to share should you hit it off.\u00a0 Plus, it\u2019s just a matter of manners.\u00a0 Be respectful to those who have gone before you.\u00a0 This is a relatively rare thing to encounter these days, and if you adopt these manners, you will distinguish yourself from the crowd.<\/li>\n
  6. Be a sponge, not a faucet.<\/strong> Most of the great musicians, artists, and people in the world have one thing in common: they are constantly learning from the world around them.\u00a0 This is especially important for a young musician.\u00a0 Every new concert, rehearsal, or gig is an opportunity to learn something.\u00a0 You might have played the Dvor\u00e1k cello concerto several times, but did you ever really pay attention to that second oboe part at the beginning of the second movement?\u00a0 It\u2019s cool, and wicked hard to pull off.\u00a0 Listen to how good wind players phrase – try to emulate that if you\u2019re a string player or pianist.\u00a0 Listen to how great singers phrase – everyone should try to aspire to that kind of phrasing.\u00a0 As you learn more, resist the temptation to spew your advanced state of knowledge all over your colleagues.\u00a0 You will quickly earn a reputation as a blow-hard, and no one will every take you seriously again.\u00a0 Seriously.<\/li>\n
  7. Choose aspiration over competition.<\/strong> It\u2019s easy to be competitive – sometimes it\u2019s even fun – but it can go too far.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to let it go to the dark side.\u00a0 Resist that temptation.\u00a0 You want to play more notes faster than the other guy.\u00a0 Louder.\u00a0 Higher.\u00a0 Whatever.\u00a0 Instead trying to tear someone down, look at what it is that they do that you like, and try to figure out how to integrate it into your own playing.\u00a0 Listen to recordings of the great players or singers and try to figure out what they do that makes them unique.\u00a0 YouTube<\/a> is a boon, because there are all sorts of videos of artists new and old, and it is very possible to learn a lot from viewing them.\u00a0 Good teachers take the time to point out great players that can be learned from, and often will loan a student recordings or videos, or even have their studio watch or listen to them as a group.\u00a0 The main point is, make your quest to be better a positive thing.\u00a0 There will always be someone better than you, and always someone less good, and it\u2019s something you should always keep in mind.<\/li>\n
  8. Diversify: learn about other art forms.<\/strong> When I was in high school and college I was always interested in lots of stuff other than music.\u00a0 I built models, took photographs, rode my bike, read tons of books.\u00a0 Aside from the outside activities, it\u2019s also very valuable to learn about the other fine arts from the time periods of the music that you\u2019re working on.\u00a0 When I was in undergrad at the University of Puget Sound, there was a lot of coursework outside of the music program, and writing was stressed through the entire curriculum.\u00a0 My final senior paper was about Schoenberg and the Blaue Reiter Almanach<\/em><\/a>, which took an entire semester to research and write, and coincided with a chamber group of mine doing Schoenberg\u2019s Transfigured Night<\/em>.\u00a0 I found that being exposed to the entirety of what Schoenberg\u2019s great artistic school was up to at that time very helpful in trying to figure out how to present the piece. When listening to lieder, for example, you might want to read more of the poetry by the poet whose words are set by the composer.\u00a0 Or you might want to take in a play related to a work you\u2019re performing, or that\u2019s contemporaneous to the work you\u2019re studying.\u00a0 Music doesn\u2019t exist in a vacuum, it\u2019s part of a greater artistic and social movement, and so too should you.<\/li>\n
  9. Learn the business of music<\/strong>.\u00a0 This can never begin too early.\u00a0 If you do wedding or occasional gigs, learn to draft a contract to cover the eventualities of things going awry.\u00a0 The musical portion of an event is often the last to be hired, and there is almost never time to get things staked out much in advance.\u00a0 In addition, learn how to write a good, attractive resume.\u00a0 Make sure that you know how to use online social media to your advantage: put up videos of your playing on YouTube (but only if it\u2019s really good), set up a fan page on Facebook<\/a> with photos and audio files,\u00a0 and set up a Twitter account related to your performing activities.\u00a0 The possibilities are virtually limitless, and as the generation that is the first to be fully immersed in these new media formats, you have the power to make them work for you.\u00a0 This is such an important arena that such formerly conservative institutions as Juilliard, Curtis and Eastman are adding curricula that address self-promotion and survival in this new media landscape.<\/li>\n
  10. Love what you do – and remember to nurture that love.<\/strong> When you\u2019re young and just finding your way, your relationship with music is passionate and full of zest and ardor.\u00a0 Over time, setbacks and the less positive side of the business (and it is, ultimately, a business built on an art form) can make one become lazy, jaded, and cynical.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to forget that you used to love the Beethoven Fifth Symphony after you\u2019ve played it a dozen times or more.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to nurture the basic love for music and performing that you have right now.\u00a0 Spend time regularly investing in that initial stock of love that you have for music, and it will sustain you over the long haul.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When it comes to most things in life, there isn\u2019t much of an advantage of being older except for one thing: experience.\u00a0 When you live longer, you have more experiences, both good and bad.\u00a0 When I was in high school, and even college, there were many things that I know now that I wish I\u2019d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[247,2],"tags":[2066,3660],"class_list":["post-3733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-things-i-wish-i-knew","tag-viola"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-Yd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6964,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/10\/07\/encore-post-10-things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-a-young-musician\/","url_meta":{"origin":3733,"position":0},"title":"encore post: 10 things I wish I knew when I was a young musician","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year, this seems to resonate even more with me. Click here to read the original post. I'll write about this weekend's concerts soon.","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14287,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/09\/26\/a-few-more-things-ive-learned\/","url_meta":{"origin":3733,"position":1},"title":"A few more things I’ve learned","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Several\u00a0years back, I wrote a post\u00a0or two about things that I wished I'd known when I was a younger musician \u2013 as a student, freelancing, and the first few years in a professional orchestra. A few more have percolated through my subconscious lately, and these are more about things that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "practicing"","block_context":{"text":"practicing","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/practicing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_7496","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/IMG_7496-500x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16127,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2019\/09\/07\/back-to-school-only-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":3733,"position":2},"title":"back to school, only not","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This past Friday the Oregon Symphony began its 123rd season. I, however, did not begin my 24th season. Just over a month ago, I broke my left collarbone in a cycling accident. That's old news - you can even see my X-rays (before) here and (after) here. 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It crystallizes how a lot of those of us who have busy orchestral careers have learned, out of desperation and necessity,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "practicing"","block_context":{"text":"practicing","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/practicing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"kageyama","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/kageyama-e1375843480280.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6978,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/10\/12\/things-from-the-misc-bin\/","url_meta":{"origin":3733,"position":4},"title":"things from the misc. bin","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm still not sure what I liked the most about our recent guest conductor Rossen Milanov. He was charming. He spoke well, both to us and the audiences. He had interesting musical ideas, especially in the Haydn, which is where most conductors either soar or founder on the rocks. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/photo2_2_large-300x451.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7601,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/15\/on-practicing-a-guide-to-good-work-habits\/","url_meta":{"origin":3733,"position":5},"title":"on practicing – a guide to good work habits","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 15, 2012","format":"aside","excerpt":"I came across this article on what makes for good practice habits (which has been making the rounds of musicians on Facebook today). 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