Letter To Younger Self About Becoming A Great Trumpet Player

Over the last few years, in news interviews you will see celebrities writing letters to their younger self to give them advice.  I decided to write a letter to myself about how to become a better trumpet player and a musician overall.  

Here are some tips that I would like to share with myself and with you as well.  

Be Patient Yet Urgent

In March 2017, I got to speak with Wynton Marsalis in a private interview that I later made public on Behind the Note Podcast, he said something that stood out to me. It's something that I'll always remember. 

He said, Be patient yet urgent. And I thought that was very well stated. So many times we feel like there's so much to practice that we'll never accomplish everything that we set out to do. There's always something to practice. 

And you have your sights set on something ahead that's currently out of your reach. It's important to be patient in that scenario and take one step at a time. It's okay to practice things slowly at 60 beats per minute or slower.

It's okay to turn the metronome up one notch at a time. 

When you're patient, you look back and realize that you've actually come a long way. It's good to have patience with yourself. If you don't you'll become frustrated, and it's hard to make growth and positive gains when you're not in a positive frame of mind. 

Did you catch that?  Keep a positive frame of mind.

The other side of the same coin is that you don't want to be so patient that you become lazy. So practice with a sense of urgency. I've learned that as long as you show up on a daily basis in focus, this will be covered.

Your Body is the Primary Instrument

Over the years, I've taught thousands of students, and there is one large misconception that will cause people to fall short of their goal in terms of playing the trumpet.

They think that in order to achieve a desired result that they need to manipulate the trumpet.  When the truth is, trumpet players are really controlling their body. The trumpet will only magnify the energy that the body puts into the trumpet.

So whenever there's a challenge that seems to really hang you up, just know that you have more lessons to learn in teaching your body to play the trumpet or allowing your body to play the trumpet.

There are a few fundamental areas that should be attended to. 

One is the imagination. 

The sound begins with your concept of it.

And to produce that good sound, your body needs to be in order in the areas of wind control, tongue placement, posture, and fingers. If your fingers are in coordination with your tongue and your wind and you have good posture and a solid concept of sound, then you stand a very good chance at being successful on the trumpet.

Which leads me to my next main point. 

Continuously Listen To Music

You stand a better chance of having a solid concept of sound if you listen to music. And if you want to be a great trumpet player, then it's important to listen to everything that you can get your ears on.

One reason is because everything is related. So even if you choose to specialize in a certain style of music, it can still be very helpful to be aware of other styles of music that are going on in other parts of the world.

That's easy to accomplish these days with technology because all we need to do is get on the computer and go to the search bar and type. 

If you have a solid concept of what a trumpet sounds like in salsa music and how the time would be interpreted in salsa music versus sound and time concept in jazz swing music versus sound and time concept in hip hop music versus pop music versus gospel music . . .

It can only help you as a musician even if you choose to specialize in only one area. 

But there's another reason that you should listen to as much music as possible. Listening will help you to internalize the music and a great musician internalizes the music.

This takes time and this takes work. 

Music is not something that you can cram for and be successful. You need to study it every day of your life.  

And so when you are doing dishes, listen to music. When you are grocery shopping, listen to music. When you are exercising, listen to music. When you're driving in your car, listen to music. 

There are also times when you should have deliberate listening sessions where the only thing you're doing is listening to music.

This will help to get the music into your subconscious. This will help to get the music into your soul, so that when you are performing, the barrier of idea to execution is minimum or nonexistent.

Deliberate listening sessions combined with diligent practice sessions lead to excellence in execution. 

Don’t Settle For Anything Less Than You Imagine

People need to come to understand and realize that they are one of a kind. There is no one person that is like another person in the history of the earth. There has never been another person like you.

There will never be another person like you again. You are unique. You are one of a kind. You are created by God's hands. He gave you the breath of life. You're created in his image. And by that we know that God is the creator.

And if you're created in his image, then you also are a creator. And if you're a musician, you have chosen music as one medium to demonstrate your creativity. Your creativity is like no other.

So it's important to do your best to get the ideas that are in your mind out of your mind and into the air. 

That's why when you write music and rehearse it for the first time him and perform it for the first time and record it for the first time, it always seems so magical, because it is!

So don't try to sound like anybody else, because you are one of a kind. Don't settle for anything less than what you had in your imagination. Your music is special. 

Work on Having Great Relationships with People

A long time ago, it used to be that celebrities and performers could be like Batman. You'd see them perform, and then after the performance, you don't see them. And that's not okay anymore, if it ever was.

So in terms of having a fan base, it's important to be in contact with them. It's important to be available to them. It's important to have communication with them, because what we do is really a form of service. In other words, it’s all for them anyway.

And if you choose this path of work, you must serve your fans. Serve them by creating good music. Serve them by having friendly conversations with them. Serve them by listening to them. 

Secondly, always have a heart and attitude of service when it comes to your fellow bandmates.

You may be the leader on paper, but that does not make you any better than them. 

Being the leader should only make you the greatest servant in the group. So when you write the music, write it in such a way that you highlight their strengths.

When you perform the music, do the same thing. Support them.  

When the performance is over, be sure to stay in contact with your bandmates. Even when there aren't performances on the schedule, they are your bandmates.

These are the people that you have chosen to spend a good portion of your life with. So take a sincere interest in their well being, in their family life. Take a sincere interest in their desires and their vision for the music as well.

If you do this, you will find that the music will be incredible, but you will also grow as a person. 

Be Diligent In Practice

There is no other option for great trumpet players. You chose to play trumpet, so you have to practice nearly every day.

How is this any different from any other musician, you may ask. 

Well, every musician should practice daily, but there's something about playing a brass instrument and playing trumpet specifically that makes it more imperative to practice daily.

I like to compare it to keeping score in bowling. 

If you get a strike in the first frame, you have the potential to have 30 points in the first frame which ultimately gives you a chance at the highest score of 300. But if you get a gutter ball along the way, you no longer have the option of reaching that full potential score.

The the frames add up. Trumpet practice is the same way. The days add up. So never try to do too much at a time. Just do your best to put a nice long string of practice days in a row. that'll do you better than trying to cram.

There are people who look up to you, so take that seriously and be the best example that you can. 

One time, I went to a concert at my local community college, and to my surprise, there were some former students of mine at the concert too.

They were probably in their early 20s. They were definitely out of high school and young adults. 

They all were taking a picture and asked me to join, but I politely declined because I felt as if I was not in the best appearance for a photo. And I instantly regretted it because I saw that they were a little put off by my refusal to take a picture.

It in the moment. I didn't understand just how important a photo with me would mean to them. I was only thinking of myself.  So from that day on, I promised myself to be more aware of situations like that and to take pictures if people ask.

On a different occasion, it I went grocery shopping. I like to go grocery shopping either when the store first opens in the morning while it's still dark outside, or late at night, about 30 or 40 minutes before the store closes. I do this to avoid large crowds.

On one occasion, I remember being in the milk and egg section, and a worker looked at me once, then twice, and then on the third time, he approached me and asked, are you Chris Davis?

And I said, yes, I am. And then he told me that he just purchased my CD. And he went on to tell me how much he loved my music and how much it meant to him. This was the first time anything like this happened to me.

I was just in my local grocery store doing my shopping, and I could see in his eyes that the music had affected him in a positive way. 

When you when you take action on the ideas that the Lord God has put into your heart, and when you put your ideas out into the world, other people will become blessed by them.

You have to understand two things always:

1. continue to do good work. Don't hold your ideas for yourself. 
2. when your ideas are out there and you work diligently, people will begin to notice you.

It becomes that much more important to be the best person that you can be. Even when you think no one is watching, because someone always is watching.