Techniques of Trust

Let It Happen

Stop Trying to Be a Good Musician

Permission to Fail

Articles from Flute Talk Magazine

Techniques of Trust

When I play the fast movement of Bach's Sonata in E minor, BWV 1034 I have problems and lose my confidence I think about it being difficult because it has too many notes and I know I will stumble and make mistakes. As a result, when I get to a tricky passage, I either slow it down or mess it up. My teacher has told me to trust myself because I know the notes, What else can I do?

There is a big difference between blind trust and trusting what is trustworthy. The critical question you should ask yourself is where your attention should be when you get to those fast notes. Your problem is that your attention and energy are in many places, What works for your teacher, the editor of the music, or even yourself in practice may not work during performance. Under the most difficult conditions, what works best is often the least likely choice.

An example of this is the experience of learning to ride a bicycle. Do you remember the feeling of traveling fast over a smooth surface and then suddenly hitting rough, bumpy gravel? The same feeling happens when skiing smoothly downhill and then encountering bumpy snow or small moguls, or running down a hill with rocks or other obstacles. In each of these situations as in the Bach sonata, the natural instinct is to slow down, be careful, defend, and protect oneself from getting hurt (or making a mistake). If it is impossible to slow down sufficiently because the speed is too fast, chances are you will stumble and fall. Yet the last thing one thinks of doing is aggressively getting into the hazardous spot and letting go of being defensive.

When riding a bicycle over rough terrain, the best way to control the situation without falling is to relax and let go of fear, which will seemingly lighten the body weight to travel over the rocks. Tension makes us feel heavier and inhibits our ability to respond instinctively. Occasionally the body can negotiate quickly and more naturally without conscious effort.

The essence of the challenge is trusting yourself under fire and knowing what action to take. Take, for example, a piece of music with a tempo marking of J = 144 Allegro vivo. Sometimes when a player performs the music at the correct tempo, it is a boring, clumsy, tentative, and stiff performance. Instead of observing numbers, a player can perform it with reckless energy and enthusiasm. Does this still capture the spirit of the music, and is the tempo fast enough? Occasionally we can trust the articulations in tricky passages, yet other times we can ignore them and play the passage more comfortably by following natural instincts. By listening carefully, you can decide which sounds best and which articulations to trust.

There is a big difference between believing or hoping something will work and accessing what works best for you. Trust is a metaphor for who or what performs best in every situation. Sometimes it is better to trust the feeling of calmness or beauty. Other times the most musical playing is from being reckless, playful, or vivacious. When falling down a hill, trust your feet to balance and carry you. In music trust your fingers to move by themselves without mentally directing them to be too cautious. Trust the numerical tempo marking, but also trust the feeling or character implied by the marking.

Returning to the Bach sonata, explore for yourself what is the most trustworthy way to bring life to the music. Practice it in a variety of ways, and be certain that your body knows the notes well enough to play without reading the music. Then experiment by playing the passage in many different ways. Trust the steady beating of the metronome, and trust yourself to play the piece without making any mistakes. Let go of the need for accuracy so you can trust yourself to play with vitality and energy. Play with reckless abandon, and permit yourself to make mistakes. Play again and concentrate on a feeling excitement. Another time let your fingers go wild. Of all these ways to play, decide which comes closest to being the sound you want.

Once you have concluded what sounds best, when you play that same passage again, return to what works. Trust the most trustworthy version, Don't return to the cautious, tentative feelings that never sounded right. By drawing from the most appropriate feeling, energy, quality, or experience, you can recreate the best sound every time. It may be a little scary, but it is more trustworthy.