How do we deal with the many challenges of getting and keeping work in the arts? Well, I don’t claim to have all the answers but I can encourage you to do one thing that you can actually control: work your face off, always! Check out the video for more.
Is work ethic underrated? How important is it to work harder than EVERYBODY else? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on December 9, 2010 by Thomas Burritt.
Guiding Principles – Part III
By Thomas Burritt
Having a passion for pedagogy has taught me a lot over the years. One important idea that I’ve developed along the way has to do with perspective. I’ve found that a student can learn more quickly by focusing on general perspectives or guiding principles. These general ideas work to enable the student to apply and connect specific techniques to the aesthetics of musicality (phrasing/interpretation). Each post in this series will focus on a different “guiding principle”, a general concept or idea that can point artists in the right direction.
Guiding Principle #1 focused on identifying and acknowledging the war going on inside of you between your “true self” and your “ego”. Spending time only with your “ego” results ultimately in misery while spending time with your “true self” produces personal fulfillment and artistic inspiration. Guiding Principle #2 outlined the importance of connecting daily to our “true self”, selfishly spending regular creative time that encourages inspiration to pervade our musical expressiveness on a regular basis.
With the big picture laid out, we can now re-think how and why we practice and perform our crafts. Why not start with the million dollar question? What is the purpose of technique?
Guiding Principle #3: Technique is only a tool that transmits inspiration.
Why is technique important? Technique is ONLY important to communicate and transmit what is in that “quiet dark corner, deep deep inside you” (remember this from Guiding Principle #2?). In other words, we learn technique so we can clearly communicate what it is our “true self” directs us to say.
While I think many of us learn technique for the right reasons, I, for one, often struggle with how to apply it and can easily forget why it is important. That said, our guiding principles, if internalized, should keep us focused!
Have you mastered guiding principle #1? If you haven’t then your “ego” is still in charge. Your “ego” encourages you to practice technique for the wrong reasons, thereby distracting you from successfully applying it to a meaningful musical situation. What are the wrong reasons you say? Here are only a few that I have fallen victim to over the years.
Wrong reasons to learn and master technique:
A mechanism of self evaluation.
If you evaluate yourself on technical prowess only you will burn out.
To flaunt it.
Flaunt means to “provoke envy”. This desire is entirely “ego” based.
So you can play a specific kind of repertoire.
There is nothing wrong with working on specific technical challenges certain pieces present, but also work more generally to build technique for any and all situations you could find yourself in at any given moment.
Instead, do your technique work everyday, no matter what repertoire you are playing. Don’t evaluate yourself only on how your technique is developing. Instead, evaluate your ability that day to shape a musical phrase using that technique. Or, more concretely, what were you able to communicate as you played a certain passage? Inspiration often comes as a spontaneous musical thought as you are playing. Did inspiration allow that to happen in your practice session or concert? If so, then you succeeded! Application is the key. The good news is, your “true self” is really good at that! If you build technique for the right reasons your “true self” will communicate unique musical thoughts, and your technique will transmit those to you and your audience. Isn’t this the whole point of being an artist?
This can be a really “hot topic”. What are your thoughts on these ideas? Leave your comments below.
I must acknowledge Stephen Pressfield’s “The War of Art” in the refining of these ideas. This book is truly epic and you can purchase it here.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 28, 2010 by Thomas Burritt.
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The photo in this post is used under the Creative Commons License: Attribution – NonCommercial – No Derivs 2.0 by Thomas Hawk on Flickr.com.
By Adam Groh
Lately I have kept coming back to one particular thought about percussionists… Why don’t people know more about the music they are playing? As in, there have been so many instances where I’ve seen a person play a piece without knowing anything about the composer or how the piece was conceived. Maybe this is an issue with other instrumentalists too, but I wouldn’t really know it. All I know is that we, as percussionists, are trying to gain legitimacy and defeat the perpetual label of “just drummers,” and we can’t even say three words about who wrote the marimba piece we’re working on… even if the composer happened to win a Pulitzer Prize or is one of the leading performers and pedagogues in our field. (more…)
Guiding Principles – Part II By Thomas Burritt
Having a passion for pedagogy has taught me a lot over the years. One important idea that I’ve developed along the way has to do with perspective. I’ve found that a student can learn more quickly by focusing on general perspectives or guiding principles. These general ideas work to enable the student to apply and connect specific techniques to the aesthetics of musicality (phrasing/interpretation). Each post in this series will focus on a different “guiding principle”, a general concept or idea that can point artists in the right direction.
Guiding Principle #2: It’s Good for us to be Selfish.
Guiding Principle #1 focused on identifying and acknowledging the war going on inside of you between your “true self” and your “ego”. Spending time only with your “ego” results ultimately in misery while spending time with your “true self” produces personal fulfillment and artistic inspiration. So, you’ve read the first post in this series and you’ve acknowledged this struggle that every artist has and that’s the first step. Now, we need put in place some steps that will help us spend more time with our “true selves”.
This summer I spent some time with my family watching the very successful television series Friday Night Lights. In Episode #3, season 4, a character, portrayed in the show as an eclectic visual artist, was asked what the most important thing an artist has to do to become great. This is what he said: “You must be selfish. Your going to spend your life trying to express some quiet dark corner, deep deep inside you (your true self). You will put aside love, God, and life, in order to follow this craving. Screw everybody else and maybe you have a chance.”
Now, that is a bit hard core, and I get that. That said, I believe every artist has to come to grips with balancing their creative “true selves” with “love God, and life”. The problem is, as an artist, you already know full well that “your going to spend your life trying to express some quiet dark corner, deep deep inside you”. You know that this internal urge is relentless and simply can’t be denied. You also fear that denying it and trying to move forward without it will only lead to misery.
What then do we do? Should we “screw everybody else” as the above quote suggests? How do we handle the “love God, and life” part? Well, I am certainly not claiming that I know the answer to either question, but I do think we can focus on a few guiding principles that will help us manage both sides of the struggle. The key is spending time on a regular basis with our “true selves”.
Guiding Principle #2: It’s Good for us to be Selfish.
The very act of being selfish, if in the right context, actually helps us get in touch with our “true selves” Guiding Principle #1. Here are some tips I’ve found helpful.
1. Set time away EVERYDAY to be creative. A Pro is selfish about setting time aside.
2. Practice technique, but also practice being musically expressive. Technique is “ego” driven while the act of being musically expressive is “true self” driven.
3. Evaluate your practice time by asking the following question: “Was I expressively musical today?”
Also, during your daily creative time, deny your “ego” at all costs. Do not let “him” in. He wants to tear you down, tell you that you stink, and unfairly compare you to others, remember guiding principle #1? Your “ego” is a false representation of who you are so be selfish about denying “him”. In fact, he is jealous when you are selfish because “he” knows “he” is powerless when you connect to your “true self”.
Instead, selfishly spend time with your “true self”, allow inspiration in and that technique you have been working on will work, that bad habit you have been addressing will cease to exist. I know it doesn’t make sense but if it did, it wouldn’t be art. Somehow, accessing inspiration by spending time with our “true selves” has the power to apply ALL the technical issues that we have been painstakingly working on in the practice room. “It” bridges the gap between mechanical repetition in the practice room and the implementation of that work in performance. After all, Isn’t this process the main goal of learning to be a musician? Your “true self” is truly genius!
But what about “love, God, and life?” Well, I’ve found that experiencing inspiration EVERYDAY by connecting to my “true self” actually allows me to better experience “love, God, and life”. After connecting to my “true self” I feel invigorated to experience my whole life. I know it sounds crazy but it should come as no surprise, of course, because your “true self” is truly genius and capable of WAY more than your “ego”.
What are your general reactions to these ideas? How do you learn to apply technique to musical expression? Leave your comments below.
I must acknowledge Stephen Pressfield’s “The War of Art” in the refining of these ideas. This book is truly epic and you can purchase it here.
Originally posted on DrumChattr on November 18, 2010 by Thomas Burritt.
Many, many great things happened at PASIC and for my next few articles, I’d like to recap some of the things that I was able to attend. During PASIC preview week I hyped the new College Pedagogy Committee Mentoring Day which I was able to attend on Wednesday. It was a GREAT day and it would obviously be impossible for me to capture the entire day in a blog post, but I want to relay some of the points that I thought were critical, even if some SEEM obvious. I do want to make it clear that I cannot do the day, or any individual sessions, justice in this medium. What I address will only scratch the surface of the content covered.
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser spoke twice about communication, and knocked it out of the park BOTH times. Some of my favorite points are listed below: (more…)
What is the difference between a CV (curriculum vitae) and a resume? In this post I want to discuss the major differences between a CV and Resume and show you an example of each. As a student, I think it is very important to have an updated resume. You will need to use a resume for grad school auditions and job interviews. It also comes in handy when you apply for scholarships at your university or to PASIC. Keep all of your programs and try and update your resume at least twice a year (Summer and Winter Break). (more…)
Skype Lessons with Dr. Gerhart