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EVALUATE your Equipment: Make sure everything is in good working order and you have all the necessary supplies and equipment for the task. Also, evaluate if this instrument is the right fit for what you are trying to accomplish.
‘FINGERING CHARTS’: Don’t be afraid to spend time learning all your instrument’s alternate fingerings/positions, finding its specific tuning tendencies, and discovering all its unique capabilities. (Read the manual!)
TRAIN with a great teacher: Find a great teacher. Better yet, find multiple teachers and learn from all of them. (Live teachers are better than online, but online can work in a pinch.)
PRACTICE: Experiment and practice with the instrument regularly to grow your ability and confidence with its use. Build your skills, trust in the process of consistent practice, and don’t give up. Know that you will get it eventually if you just keep practicing!
TROUBLESHOOT: Accept failure as an expected part of the learning process. Evaluate what went wrong, troubleshoot the problem to find a solution, and try, try again until it works.
Then … continue the cycle and go through the five keys again: Evaluate your equipment but with new, now experienced eyes. Find another fingering chart/manual and learn a new way of doing something. Continue to train, practice, and troubleshoot. In short, foster an attitude in yourself to ‘Never Stop Learning’.
Want to learn more about these KEYS-TO-SUCCESS? Check out the series of Articles I wrote for the Texas Bandmasters Association Magazine!
