"Practice Your Way To The Top" and "A Musical Transformation"

Byron Stripling is an internationally recognized trumpet player based in Ohio.
Career highlights include performing as a featured soloist with many of the world's great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony under John Williams and Keith Lockhart. Byron also played lead trumpet with the Count Basie Orchestra under Frank Foster, and portrayed a young Louis Armstrong in the Broadway bound musical "Satchmo!" He takes special interest in developing talent in young musicians, and hopes that the comments below will help students of all ages.

Practice Your Way to the Top!

The great Emmet Fox once said, "Practice is the price of proficiency." In regards to daily practice, most of us think more than we do. The concept is nice, and we even recommend it to our friends, but we rarely get around to the business of really doing it ourselves. In the middle of an embarrassing performance we vow to ourselves, "I've got to start practicing." But as soon as we leave the stage, we turn on the television, grab some chips, and our vow is broken. We quickly forget that great performances are built on a foundation of consistent, arduous, daily practice.

We make appointments with other people we wouldn't dare break. Make a practice appointment with your self and keep it. Beginning is often the hardest part, but you can help yourself by scheduling your first session early in the day. Promise yourself to do a few sessions before noon, and you'll send your brain the message that daily practice is now a priority in your life.

Daily practice is the first great law of musical achievement. This law has been on the books since the beginning of time and has never been repealed. Make a commitment to make daily practice a ritual, like brushing your teeth or combing your hair. Write it into your personal constitution and make it a part of your identity.

What should I practice? How long should I practice? Do I need a daily routine? These are some of the questions that will come up as you start to design your daily practice program. You'll want to start a journal so that you can clearly see your questions and answers. Writing things down crystallizes your thinking and gives clarity to your thought process. Record in your journal specific problem areas, and the length of each session. I recommend a minimum of two or three 45-minute sessions a day. Also, record how much time you're spending on each area. You may find that you're spending more time entertaining yourself with hot licks than actually getting down to the business of intelligent practice. It's also important to write down the reason you are practicing, a particular solo, exercise, etude or scale. If you have a strong belief that what you're practicing is valuable, you're more likely to continue working on it with enthusiasm.

Knowing what to practice can also be a problem. A good private teacher can guide you in the right direction, and there are many great masters who can help you. All you have to do is ask, and they are more than willing to share their insights and experiences. But instead of asking, "What kind of mouthpiece do you use?" What model horn is that? "Do you use the new super duper valve oil?" "What's your highest note?" Ask intelligent questions: "How much did you practice when you were younger?" "Do you recommend long tones?" "How much time should I spend on my routine?" "What patterns do you use in scale practice?" Meeting with a master is an opportunity to learn from their life experiences. Always prepare and think of quality questions so you'll get the most out of your time with a master.

Another great law is the law of incremental improvement. This law says that all of your musical success will come in small increments. If you practice daily and if you practice intelligently, this law says that you must over time, become the musician that you want to be. As you begin to realize the law of incremental improvement, the law of momentum will naturally start to take affect. This law says that you build on your own success. Like a snowball rolling down a steep hill, your musical achievements will continue to get bigger and better.

Practice everything as if you were performing your Carnegie Hall debut. This is one of the most powerful skills you can ever develop. As this becomes a habit, you'll sound less like you're practicing when you find yourself in front of an audience. Schedule and perform – without stopping – a personal recital for your ears only. At the end of the week, record your performance, and upon completion analyze your recital. Later, when you begin to develop more confidence, put yourself on the line by performing this same recital for friends and relatives. (There is no better motivator than a gig!) These baby steps will give you confidence as you begin to perform before larger audiences.

It doesn't matter what you say; only what you do. Develop an action orientation towards daily practice. Make it a positive addiction. This is the ultimate investment in yourself and it will continue to pay dividends as long as you make deposits. This discipline will redefine who you are and give you confidence in all other areas of your life. For the serious musician, daily practice is not a trend; it is a way of life. Through it you will experience the ultimate joy of a job well done.

--Byron Stripling

A Musical Transformation

I want to help you create a musical transformation for your life and your career. Along with this transformation I want to give you an upgrade. I want to put your musical skills and abilities in a first class seat and let them take you to the top of your profession. I've shared this information with thousands of musicians around the world and have seen it instantly change their lives. I'd like to be your coach and share with you these same skills and strategies. I'd like to upgrade the way you practice, perform, and generate business for yourself. This transformation will be strengthened by your desire to commit yourself one hundred percent to working on these skills. A career as a musician is so challenging that if you can think of something else you'd rather do or be -- do that. I'll be truthful with you, the process of becoming a musician will take every ounce of strength you can muster.

An Action Orientation

The 21st century is abundant with information, and we all have access to that information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's even more incredible to realize that knowledge doubles every 10 years. I was always taught that knowledge is power, but I've come to change my view on that. I now agree with Napoleon Hill who said, "Knowledge is only potential power." It does one no good to buy recordings, books, and magazines unless you act on the learned knowledge.

Therefore, the information I'm about to share with you won't work unless you do. Acting on it is crucial to your success. Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us that, "Who you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you're saying." Who you are will be determined by your actions. That's why your mother always told you, "Actions speak louder than words." It's not your knowledge, the mouthpiece you play, your rare collection of John Coltrane recordings, or the fact that you took lessons with Johnny High Note. Your consistent actions tell everyone and yourself who you are.

It's also important to understand that developing an action orientation is your responsibility. It's not your college's fault, your parents, music teacher, or anyone else. Any movement in your life, positive or negative, has taken place because of your actions. Becoming a victim will only stunt your musical and personal growth. Finally, the great thing about an action orientation is that it gives you energy. Guess what happens when you learn and then do the thing you've learned? You get instant energy! You may feel balanced because you've acted on what you know is in your best interest. This burst of energy soon becomes a positive addiction and you can't wait to do it again. You'll soon find yourself on an upward cycle of success.

Reinforce Your Learning

You need a way to capture knowledge before you act on it. Undocumented thoughts have no power unless you can systematically organize them to fit your personal thought process. I encourage you to print out a copy of this information, then write comments and notes in the margins, and highlight and underline sections that speak to you. You should then go to the suggested reading list and begin building you personal library. If you can afford it, always buy your books so that you can read with a highlighter and pen. Make each book like a personal diary in which you include your own thoughts and ideas. Also, buy a notebook and copy by hand the things you've underlined. (The arduous process of copying by hand, if done in the right state and attitude will involve more of your senses and therefore increase your retention of the concepts.) I will also ask you to do various writing assignments, so always keep your notebook close at hand for these. The purpose of all of this is to give you a blueprint or plan for your musical life. It's been said that the best way to predict the future is to plan it. The writing exercises in this course will help you formulate a plan that will catapult you to the next level of your life ... if you work your plan!

Superior Musicianship

Your goal is to become one of the best. To become an outstanding superior musician. When there's a call for your instrument, you want them to immediately think of you. Daily practice allows you to shape, mold and sculpt this vision of greatness. The things you do in private, when no one is watching, are the things that will allow you to score big in public. No one will see all the hard work you've done behind closed doors, but your musicianship will be revealed each time you play your instrument. After you've discovered the joy of daily practice you'll find this discipline spills over into other areas of your life. If you can commit yourself to the challenge of a practice program, and follow through on that commitment, what else could you do? Sell yourself on daily practice. It's the ultimate investment in yourself. Your daily deposits into this account will pay big dividends for the rest of your life. (For more information on daily practice, please click here: Practice Your Way To The Top!)

Attentive Listening

One of the greatest laws of life is that the more you give, the more you get back. That law also applies to listening. As a musician you must give of yourself as a listener. This is different from the passive listening you may have done in the past. From now on you've got to be a participant in the act of listening. You must become an attentive listener. Music no longer becomes background, but jumps to the front and center of your attention. This way of listening is the next big step in your growth process.

As you listen to your favorite artist, bathe your ears in their sounds. Put on the software of your brain. Listening in this way you will form a concept of how you want to sound. Once this sound is firmly embedded in your brain, your body will do everything possible to reproduce quality sounds when you're playing your own instrument. Soon, the myriad of quality sounds floating around in your brain will join together with the daily practice you're doing and you'll begin to sound like yourself.

Use your notebook to make a list of your favorite players. If you have virgin ears, check with your teacher or a good musician and get recommendations on gook choices. Another good place to get suggestions are liner notes. Many performers mention their favorite artist and recordings in the liner notes of their own recordings. You'll want to make a note of what all your favorite musicians listen to and check out their listening list. In the beginning, you'll want to make sure your list is historically balanced. Give yourself the musical edge by listening to as many different styles as possible. Later, you can narrow down your list to players of whom you have a special affinity.

Dance has always been an important part of music. One of the great gifts you can give yourself is to watch natives dance to their own music. Go to a Latin music concert and watch how Latin people dance to their music. View videos of lindy hoppers dancing to Duke Ellington's music, go to the ballet and watch them dance to European Classical music. You'll find that each of those cultures has a different feel or physiology to their movement. As you listen to the music, snap your fingers, and nod your head then begin to move to the music in the appropriate way. You want to establish a physical relationship with the music. Additionally, these movements will loosen you up and give you more energy. (That's why it's good to begin your session with a little movement, or add it when you're feeling lethargic.) If you feel nervous about this, remember that you will be doing this for yourself, in the privacy of your room. The experience may feel awkward at first, but soon you'll start to see changes in your rhythmic feel, and the process will give you yet another insight into the music.

The great rewards of attentive listening is that soon, everything that enters your ears becomes a part of you. When your ears get to that advanced stage of development, they being to retain ideas at a much faster level. Therefore it's very important that you begin this process as soon and as often as possible. Listen to music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Always have your headphones on or your stereo playing. Never drive in your car without the cassette or CD player playing your current assignment. The goal is to flood your brain with quality sound and use those sounds to create the ideal you.

--Byron Stripling