Playing with the Seattle Symphony is always fun, but this time it was also eye opening. This year in the VSO has been the most taxing year of my life. We played 158 concerts in 39 weeks. It's the most I have done in this short period of time and I've built strength because of it. So when I sat down to play Second trombone with Seattle I was ready to crush some second trombone parts David Finlayson style.  

After the first page, Ko-Ichiro leaned over and asked me to take a little heat off of the sound. So I backed off about 5% and paid attention to not letting my sound cut. I concentrated on always producing a great sound and never taking the sound to its limits for the whole week. My perception was that Ko-Ichiro and I worked together and not against each other. Our unisons sounded like one giant trombone and the tuttis had a great sound that projected to the back of the hall (both loud and soft dynamics). I had my cousin Brandon (UGA trumpet professor) come to the show and he agreed with my assessment.  

I have come to the conclusion that I need to rethink the way that I play trombone. There is a time to play with some cut to your sound, but 90 percent of what you need to do is play with the most relaxed efficient sound possible. Not only will you sound better, you will be able to play longer. I am not saying that I have been playing with a bad loud sound for the last couple of years - I am saying that I can produce an even better, and easier sound.  

Here are some of the positives that will come from this concept change:

1. Your power will increase as your effort decreases.  
2. Your conductor will give your section a green light at all times.
3. You still may get fatigued, but you will always have enough face.
4. Your work satisfaction will go up exponentially.

See what happens when you get your whole section to play like this. This is one of my summer projects, give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

Cheers!