So, You're Getting Better Too Quickly...
The main problem with playing the trumpet it that it’s too easy. Consider how many times you have thought to yourself: If only this were more of a challenge! I can’t stand making such speedy progress! Why am I such a consistent player when I put in so little effort? Well, I can help. Here are some critical DOs and DON’Ts to help you slow that improvement right down to a satisfying crawl.
DO Consult strangers on the internet for advice, especially when you have a private teacher. No one knows your needs better than an amateur cornet player in rural Oregon you’ve never met who came back to playing last year after a thirty-year career hunting poltergeists at inns and B&Bs and building a hempseed-based jerky substitute company. Why, without once hearing you play or seeing how you look while you do it, he’ll have a dozen pertinent suggestions about breathing and the value of max-out lip slurs that will really knock down those pesky areas of technical growth you’ve been suffering with.
DON’T Maintain an open line of communication with a competent private teacher. The last thing you need is regular feedback from someone who knows you and your playing challenges firsthand, makes a living playing and teaching the instrument, and has a vested interest in your success. Taking lessons with an experienced and skilled teacher who has a well-trained critical ear will, nine times out of ten, lead to noticeable improvement on your part, and we can’t have that.
DO Change equipment frequently. Remember - consistency in trumpet playing stems from having too little positive feedback on eBay, so the more you buy and sell, the less you need to worry about accidentally buckling down and learning to play the instrument and mouthpiece currently in your possession. If possible, have between six and thirty-five mouthpieces easily accessible at any given time. This way, if you’re having difficulty popping out that high F or clearly articulating that scalar run, you can throw in a different mouthpiece and presto! Now you have the same problem, but with a different sound and worse intonation. As an added bonus, the muscle confusion will probable shorten your useful practice time for the day, which is a great way to curtail unwanted productivity. If you’re really lucky, tomorrow’s warm-up might even suffer, too.
DON’T Record yourself. Why would you ever want to do that? A realistic idea of what you sound like should be reserved only for the private teacher you don’t have (see above). Start connecting your imagination with the sound coming out of the bell, and what do you think is going to happen next? That’s right - progress. Yuck. If you only think for a moment how many top professional performers and teachers advocate recording oneself, it becomes obvious pretty quickly what a terrible idea it is.
DO Strive to keep technique and musicianship as cleanly segregated as possible in your practice sessions. Some people (crackpots) might try to tell you that command of the instrument should be in service of making music, but leave that hippie nonsense for people who are trying to get better. Play a scale like a beautiful melody today, and you might accidentally do it again tomorrow. Best to keep things as dry and lifeless as possible. It’s safer that way.
And lastly:
DON’T Listen to great music too often. Hearing performances by top-flight artists can have the dangerous side effect of inspiring you to reach new heights with your own playing. Even worse, people might get the idea that you actually like music, which I think we can all agree is not a good look. What is this, 1950? Get real! If you have to spend time listening to recordings at all, limit yourself to YouTube videos of student recitals. In appropriate doses, these should be all you need to keep yourself treading water in the practice room for many years to come.