It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times...   I know what you are thinking.  However, this is not A Tale of Two Cities, and this story can be read in one sitting, rather than forcing you to miss an entire week of work to complete it.  This is a tale of two selves: one self, doing all of the work, pulling off miraculous stunts of timing and dexterity; the other self, barking commands, doling out criticism at a pace that would make a hummingbird weep, all the while remaining almost entirely ignorant as to how things actually get done.  In reality, this tale more closely resembles Cinderella than Dickens’ classic.   It is a tightly woven story about the inner conflict that runs within each of us every time we pick up a trumpet, or for that matter, any musical instrument.  We know this story well, for I am not the only author.  We each write it anew everyday, a constant running dialog between our conscious mind and our subconscious mind.

In the article, The Bell End, which I wrote for a previous edition of LivMusic News, I discussed a way of practicing that centers around visualizing the way you want to sound, keeping the conscious mind at bay.  But what exactly is the conscious mind?  What is the subconscious mind?  We all have an idea of what these things are, but I think a closer look is merited.

Play a short section from a solo or etude and listen to what goes on in your mind.  If you hear a voice calling out instructions and dishing out judgments about what you sound like, then you have found the first character in our drama, the conscious mind.  The conscious mind is the ruler and judge of the body.  He pretends to know everything that is needed to execute any task to perfection.  In the case of the trumpet, he issues commands on how to breathe, how to blow, how much pressure to apply, the position of the tongue…  In reality, though, he is an uneasy king.  He knows that he does not know how to play the trumpet.  He knows about playing the trumpet, understands elements of it, but has no chance of actually putting it all together.  You see, knowledge is the domain of the conscious mind, not the subconscious mind.  Knowledge is the key to the pride and power of the king, but in reality, very little knowledge is required to play the trumpet.  This is an extremely important point, and one worth interrupting our story to illustrate.

You don’t know how to play the trumpet.  If I asked you if you know how to play the trumpet, you would undoubtedly answer, “yes”!  You would be wrong.  You may be able to play the trumpet, even extremely well, but you do not know how to play the trumpet.  The knowledge any of us have about how to play the trumpet is extremely sketchy.  Picture in your mind one of those diagrams of the human muscle structure that we all used to see in Health or Science classes, the ones with all of the indecipherable names of muscles we didn’t even know we had.  With that picture in mind, I want you to show me every single muscle involved in taking a breath, show me how they contract or release, and tell me with what amount of force they do so.  Careful now, don’t get them out of order, or move one to quickly.  Don’t forget the ones on the side!  Do you still feel like you know how to play the trumpet?  Okay then, let’s take a look at the embouchure.  Surely, if you know how to play the trumpet you will be able to tell me the function of every muscle in the lower face, right?  You’ll be able to say whether a particular muscle moves or not, and if it does, how it moves and with what kind of force.  Here is a list of muscles in the lower face; you simply need to describe their position, movement (if any), and force with which they move:

• M. zygomaticus
• M. masseter
• M. buccinator
• M. triangularis
• M. incisivus labii inferioris
• M. mentalis
• M. orbicularis oris
• Pars alaris m. nasalis
• Pars transversa m. nasalis
• M. depressor septi
• M. incisicus labii superioris
• M. caninus
• M. quadratus labii superioris
• Platysma
• M. quadratus labii inferioris

My guess is that by now, you are feeling that your knowledge about how to play the trumpet really isn’t very detailed at all.  But before you go out and invest in a medical book outlining the function and role of these muscles, realize that even if you did know what every muscle did, you wouldn’t be able to play the trumpet any better.  In fact, the effect would likely be quite the opposite.  This is because you don’t play the trumpet using knowledge, but rather skill and experience, and these are the domain of the Cinderella of our story: the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is a miracle.  It executes a plethora of tasks at a dizzying pace.  It is running all of the minute muscles in our fingers and abdomen as we play, while simultaneously operating each and every one of the facial muscles mentioned above.  All of this just to play a simple song.  Meanwhile, as our conscious mind is absorbed in playing our nice little tune, the subconscious mind is also taking care of all the essential body functions, and monitoring the nervous system for any sign of trouble.  Ever notice a bug land on your leg while practicing?  Did you reach down and smack it before you realized what was happening?  Yep, that’s right, you-know-who at work again. 

The tragic thing about this tale is that the minute one thing goes wrong with our playing – missed note, fuzzy articulation, wrong fingering – the conscious mind is screaming derogatory remarks from his perceived lofty throne.  As if he, with his book of inadequate knowledge, has any idea how to make even one simple note come out the end of the horn.  But no matter how unjust, the subconscious will always obey the conscious mind.  There will be no rebellion; no prince to whisk away our poor battered self.  So what is to become of our doomed heroine?  That is up to you, because remember, you are the author of this sordid tale.

The truth be told, our conscious king is not evil, he just doesn’t understand his role.  The conscious mind and subconscious mind were never intended to work so independently.  They were conceived as a team, to work together to achieve amazing things, but somehow that balance has been destroyed.  Now, that original relationship must be restored in order for us to realize our full potential.  The key to that restoration is to clearly define the roles of each self, and to make sure the conscious mind does not overstep its boundaries. 

The conscious mind has a very important role in playing a musical instrument.  It is the voice of guidance, and the final judge of our musical product.  It is very important that these tasks be carried out with a very light hand, though, lest the balance be hopelessly lost once again.  The guidance that the conscious mind provides should be on the very highest level.  It should simply picture the goal.  If you want to play a high C, for example, then the conscious mind should provide a vivid sound-image of that note, and a feel-image of what it would ideally feel like to play it.  These images must be positive in their nature because it is precisely these images that the subconscious will attempt to realize.  This cannot be overemphasized.  The conscious mind does not process the negative in any given image.  If you think, “don’t miss that high C,” the conscious mind hears, “miss that high C”!  It only processes the image.  It cannot see the circle around it with the line through it.  All images constructed by the conscious mind must be what is desired, not what is feared.  This process requires a highly disciplined conscious mind, because usually the conscious is heavily influenced by fear and has a tendency to flit about whatever the body is involved in doing, shouting instructions that are largely detrimental.  While playing, the conscious mind has only one job: visualizing what is desired.  That is all.  A tight grip must be held to ensure that no other task is attempted by the conscious mind.  This grip allows the subconscious mind the freedom and quiet to do its miraculous work.  It’s a simple concept, but it takes time to master the skill.  The conscious mind has an uncanny ability to sneak away and poke its nose into the “how” of playing, rather than staying focused on the “what”.

In its role of judge, the conscious mind must operate with equal care and restraint.  Many times, when a mistake is made or a visualization is not realized, the conscious mind reacts with fury and harsh, belittling, criticism.  This kind of response makes it that much more difficult for future goals to be met, and further beats down our already beleaguered subconscious.  The conscious mind must provide feedback and criticism in the same manner that you might address a promising student.  Words must be chosen carefully, and harsh reactions and sweeping reprimands must be avoided.

If both of these roles are carried out in this manner, the subconscious and conscious minds will once again work as a team, and new levels of ability will be realized.  Our Cinderella will have finally been rescued, but not by the Prince.  No, in our story, the wicked stepmother rescues Cinderella.  The beastly woman who had tortured her incessantly has finally learned the value of having a truly remarkable young child left in her care.

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