Reflections of Europe 2009 - Just Getting There!

The week before we were to fly out to Europe was jam packed with activity! Preparations, gigs, teaching, etc. was absolutely consuming my days... Monday and Tuesday consisted of rehearsals with Temple Jazz Orchestra in Temple (about an hour drive from home).

Wednesday was jammed with teaching, Thursday was a rehearsal with Memphis Train for a wedding in Dallas on Saturday as well as teaching...

Friday night was a "Bon-Voyage" concert in Temple that we arranged to say "Thank You" to Scott & White for helping fund our tour.

Saturday was the drive up to Dallas, perform for the wedding till 12:30am, drive home and basically sleep for about 4 hours. We were to meet the group at the airport at 10am. I hadn't packed yet, so getting up at 7 was mandatory.

We were shot! Because of adrenaline and excitement, Anna and I were unable to sleep for most of the 1 hour / 9 hour flight (Austin - Houston / Houston to Paris)!

Once in Paris, it was 7:30Am, our tour group leaders told us all to NOT sleep... so our day was filled with activity from the moment we got off the plane.

One member (who shall remain nameless) left his passport in the seat pocket and forgot to grab it as we exited the plane in Paris. This delayed things by nearly 2 1/2 hours (lots of hurry up and wait). Then, we couldn't locate the bus that was to be our mode of transportation for the next 2 weeks. So, by 11am we were loaded on to the bus and on our way to a river tour in Paris. Beautiful sights as you can see above!

After the boat tour, we were once again dropped off (by the famous Opera House) for a 1 hour look-see. Tim Cates, Sparky Thomason, Anna and myself walked around and even stopped in for a tort.

Once we all got to the hotel, the temptation to lay down and sleep was extreme... but we persevered and went to have some mussells at a nearby street cafe - then found Tom (director of TJO) and walked to the Moulin Rouge. Dinner at 6:30pm with the group and then time to CRASH! No alarms for us!!!!

6th Grade Student Who's Made GREAT Progress

Below is a video of one of my young students playing the new KF model mouthpiece by Austin Winds.

She played up to a high C so effortlessly, that we just had to see how far we could take it. On this video, she's playing a 2 octave F major scale!

Enjoy!

Video On How The Chops Work!

Push Through The Hard Times!

Everything runs in cycles and it's easy to coast when things are good. But when things get rough, it's easy to get discouraged... just like feeling some days that winter will never end and spring is eons away.

The same holds true with most everything else in life. Most fitting is practicing. As of late, I've been really pushing to improve the fundamental aspects of my playing that I had avoided for far too long. It's easy to "not" work on something and be able to rattle off a laundry list of reasons as to why you haven't, couldn't, didn't, etc. At some point, all players will be faced with these facets of playing, and they have the chance to either face them or turn away.

when you start working on things that you're not comfortable with (in my playing - sight reading, and improvisation)it's fair to say that you will hit a wall. This proverbial "wall" will give you 2 choices once again - face it or turn away.

This is where most stumble and fail because they STOP! The players that push through find sunny skies and green grass on the other side... if you listen to the "small voice" saying this is hard and succumb to the negativity, then most likely you will not succeed. This is the ONLY difference between success and failure!

PUSH THROUGH THE HARD TIMES!!!!

COMMITMENT!

There is a lot of misconception on what talent, God-given gifts, and "natural abilities" are as well as where they come from. To say that someone is naturally gifted is a misleading choice of words vs. a true statement. The unique qualities of this consist of learning a skill, trade, or task quickly... this requires the learner to be engaged, open, willing, and able to listen without the use of "I Know That" getting in the way!

If you listen to the greatest trumpet players of today - at one time they were at the same place you may be currently with your playing. Whether they gained the knowledge early in life or if the desire to learn came later is no matter. What does matter is that they did the required due-diligence to achieve their abilities.

As Bill Bartmann says - put some skin in your own game and commit to learning! Become a ferocious learner and you'll amaze yourself as to where you can go! We create our own limitations by listening to negativity, thinking "I know that", and not being open to new information!

Keep driving forward!

Keith

STOP Competing!!!

For most of us (young & old) we end up trying to compare ourselves to other players... who can play faster, cleaner, higher, louder, improvise better, etc. and what ends up happening is our true message gets lost. Our true sense of purpose is not to be a better player than anyone other than our former selves.

What often happens is we get so caught up in this "who's better" mentality that we end up losing focus and sight. It can become so negative and destructive that we start looking down on other players, people, ourselves, etc. To hear someone who is inspiring or a fantastic player is a beautiful thing. Take that listening experience away as a method of keeping site of what needs to be worked on in our own playing. Not to compare or rate ourselves against someone else.

Each of us has different experiences, backgrounds, and opportunities. We are exactly where we're supposed to be at this moment!

Like I mention in "Secrets to Efficient Brass Playing", practice the things you can't do well or that really intimidate you. The more you work on these things, the less they will be a big mountain of fear and intimidation. Chop a tunnel in that mountain one swing at a time! No one else matters - no one else's opinion counts! Just keep striving!

Keith

New Mouthpiece Update

As I had written about a couple of posts ago, I have a new mouthpiece that is very comfortable and I'm enjoying immensely.

What the designers (Austin Winds) and I have decided to do is offer it as the "Keith Fiala" model mouthpiece! But, we're going to do it with a twist.

We plan on offering a "kit" that the customer can customize to their specifications... offering 2 different backbores to choose from and 3 different cups (tops) that can vary in diameter and / or depth... all placed in a nice decorative storage box.

This concept came from all of us that are involved in this project being massive equipment junkies! We all own tons of mouthpieces - most of which will never be used as intended again. Most are sitting in a box on the top shelf of a closet and a few select ones are now expensive paper weights! If I start fishing again, I'll use some as sinkers...

Coming up in just a week we will be debuting this mouthpiece kit for sale... please keep coming back and checking Brass Player Solution

Sincerely,

Keith Fiala
Brass Player Solution