Another update (Jeff)

I decided to take a break from practicing/studying and write since I haven't in over a week.

I would have to say the last week was a good week. I didn't really get good until Thursday and Friday, but I think I made significant progress those two days. Something just clicked Thursday and things began to make more sense.

One thing I've realized is that whatever I'm doing (or trying to do) I'm not doing enough of it. I need exaggerate everything, which is the exact opposite of what everyone else is being told... So even though I hear all day long while others are conducting " smaller, more focused, you're all over the place, too big, too much", I just have to ignore that and be bigger and more all over the place... big shock huh...

I'm still trying to work this out. Today I thought I was doing something and I told to do the exact thing I was trying to do. So I just did it bigger. "You're on the right track, now just more" ...

So at least what's in my head is right. I just need to figure out how to get it out of my head and into my arms.

Also, I have to get more comfortable... I think it's just a matter to doing it more and more. I think confidence would help too, but that's a hard one here. Most of the time our sessions are long on criticism and short on instruction and edification, which disappointing and isn't really the best breeding ground for confidence. You never know what you are going to get. Yesterday I got a lot of criticism, today I got instruction. Who knows about tomorrow. Confidence built on a successful day is completely destroyed the next day and you just have come back for more the following day hoping that it will be a good day. That's not to say I'm not learning anything it's just that the environment for learning is a little hazardous.

In other news: it looks like I'll be teaching trombone at UAB next year. So that's kind of exciting. There's a chance I could be teaching at Samford too, but that's still in the works. I'll let you know as I find out more.

Alright back to work... Shostakovich awaits