Sports mentality. What does this mean? What is 'having a sports mentality'? Take Tiger Woods. He didn't become the greatest golfer in the world purely with natural talent. Now, I'm sure that he has bags of natural talent, but everyday, he would go out and practise hitting shots with a sand wedge. He knew that in the high pressure environment of a championship match, he may mis-hit the ball into a bunker. But because he had spent hours practising, he knew that he would still be able to hit the ball out of the bunker.
To me, 'having a sports mentality' is playing to win rather than playing not to lose. Just like Tiger Woods with him practising bunker shots just in case. As you know, I'm on a speech recovery programme. As well as dealing with the physical blocking of stammering, I have had to development a sports mentality in order to improve my speech. I have a set of tools and techniques to help me, and I practise, practise, practise using these tools and techniques with family, friends, others on the speech programme and work colleagues (these are all comfort zones to me), so that when I enter a challenging, pressurised speaking situation, I know that my speech will hold up and I won't have a bad experience. I play to win.
What's this got to do with banding? Think about it. It has everything to do with banding. If we want to improve our playing both individually and as a team (our band), we need to practise. Practise in our 'comfort zones', such as in the band room on a Wednesday night, in our homes. Even at your workplace like I do. By doing this, when we play to a concert audience, we know that we can play the music. When we walk out on a contest stage, a pressurised situation, we know that we have put the hard work in beforehand and know that, despite the nerves, our own playing and that of the band will hold up.
We all know that we need to practise playing to get better. It's the same for those who play a sport. You only improve if you put in that extra time. But have you thought about it before as developing a different mentality. Think of it as getting good at the aport of banding.
You may see where I'm coming from with this and agree, or you may think it's a load of nonsense. To me, adopting a sports mentality is probably the biggest factor that has helped me get to where I am with recovering from my stammer. Plus I spent most of last week in Cork on a McGuire Programme speech course, which provided the inspiration for this blog post.
Our Band
On stage at the 3rd Section Nationals Finals, Harrogate 2008
hey nice post Shaun, you are absolutely right, the sports mentality is the right approach for what we are trying to do, you have every right to post these thoughts, you are a superb example of what can be achieved. I hope other players read this and ask themselves "can I find 10 minutes a day to practice?" I am sure the answer will be "yes". I would like to do an experiment where some players or all are monitored over a month, practicing for 10 minutes every day. I wonder what the results would be? I think I will try it out.
ReplyDeleteMolto serioso !
ReplyDelete@ Andrew. Thank you mate,as you know, I put a lot of thought, and at the end of the day, a lot of me into the post.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous. Yes, it is much serious. But I set up this blog to try to get members of the band discussing a whole range of band related stuff. If this includes 'serious' posts, then so be it. Clearly I put a lot of 'me' in this post, but I think its relevant.
Andrew- Your comment about 10 minutes practise a day rings true. I ensure that I have 20 minutes working on my breathing every morning. And it makes the world of difference.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this may have been a self-indulent post as 'anonymous' hinted. But I hoped this blog would generate some serious discussions. There is an open invitation to post articles after all.
hey andrew what an excellent idea im up for the challange,as fof shaun s blog absolutely spot on.
ReplyDeleteAndrew & Simon, this is great stuff guys. Just the sort of ideas I hoped the blog would generate. Shame it's just us 3 muskateers though...
ReplyDelete4 muskateers shaun!!! I love this blog Shaun it is really made me think thanks. The thing is I think I need 12 hours to get silverado right!! Any ideas as to what things would help me think in quavers?
ReplyDeleteJust doing a bit of advocacy work for 'Old Nick'. There are still hobbiest banders to consider after all and some members who may not have as stronger grasp about home practice as others. This is not to say that I disagree with what has been said previously by Arthos, Porthos et al but more direct/targeted guidance should perhaps be considered.
ReplyDeleteTracey - sorry, you are contributing a lot to this blog with your comments. I was referring to the number of authors - maybe you should sign up? Have you tried counting in quavers? When Nigel B suggestd this at rehearsals, I find it really works.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - would you care to expand/clarify what you mean with a 'more targeted guidance', I'm interested. I consider myself a hobbiest bander with barely any time for home practise. I know that my playing won't get back to the level it was, say, 20 years ago without a heck of a lot of practise. But, that doesn't mean to say that I don't want to improve still. Everyone in the band must want to improve, or they wouldn't have put in the effort to get the recent Kingdom of Dragons up to a high standard in time for Stevenage - probably the most difficult piece of music the band has played for many years.
By the way, I love your witty play with words ;-) why don't you become a blog author, you clearly have a lot of interesting contributions to make. To keep your anonymity, you could adopt a pen name, perhaps 'George Eliot'?
@anonymous your comments about direct/targeted guidance are valid, it is thoughts like these that are good for the band and the players, that is why this blog is important to bring to the front the concerns and feelings of everyone.
ReplyDeleteTracy: there are more than 12 hours before Sutton Prom so don't worry, if you would like me to go through it with you give me a shout.
keep up the blogging
Direct/targeted guidance ?
ReplyDeletePractice for practice sake can be detrimental. Setting aims and objectives (what you want to get out of the session) and the best way for any one individual to successfully attain the desired end result are very important, if not essential. Hence the need for guidance and support in this area as there may be players who do not have the necessary tools or experience to get the very best out of the time that they spend practicing. Surely there can be nothing more demoralising for a player than to have practiced a difficult passage all week only to be told by the MD to 'take it home and have a look at it'. I'm sure we've all been there !!
Wanting to improve is one thing. I'm sure that is a given. Having the wherewithal to make it happen is another. Perhaps questions need to be asked of all players about what their motivation is. What do they want from banding? What are their aspirations and do they need more help to reach them? Where do they see themselves and the band in a few years and, more importantly, how best to get there?
Regarding pen names, perhaps 'Ellery Queen' would be more appropriate ?
Hi Shaun, I am happy for you to add me as an author if you would like. With regards to the quavers i have tried i seem to be able to do it when I have bars rest but when I go to play I don't. I think it might be one of those things to practice. Manda said that she always counts in quavers and she said it really works. I'll get practicing!.
ReplyDeletethanks Drew, I am pleased that I have more than 12 hours before sutton prom and I have practiced nearly every day on it and listerned to it on Youtube and still are struggling but I will keep going. I'll give you a shout, thanks for offering.
ReplyDeleteTracey - drop me an e-mail via the link on the band's website and I'll sort it out. Practising in quavers really does work - I'd not really thought of counting sub-divided beats before, but now, I pretty much do it automatically.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - thanks for the clarification. Once again, I agree completely with what you say. Without wanting to go back the speech programme I'm on, but goal setting and having defined objectives plays a big role in moving forward with my speech - parallels again with improving with banding.
As for asking players what their motivation is; going back to one of your earlier comments about hobbiest banders, although I may be wrong, but I suspect some don't have aspirations to move to the heady heights of the 1st Section etc, hence their motivation won't be as great as others. Would be good if more of the band commented on this thread to get more of a feel for people's thoughts...
Totally agree with need for practice but I need 40 - 60 mins a day. I realise I am no where near the rest of the band standard but love the challenge. Having only played for 5/6 years I am very aware I am punching above my weight. Should I join a band in the fourth section? When I joined the band, Littleport were in the fourth section- yet the players havent drastically changed- to strive for the first section etc would definatley mean I would have to find another band, perhaps that is what is needed. Reduce the number of 'Hobbiest' as you call them or in my case the weakest link!! Amanda 5th cornet!
ReplyDeleteAmanda just to let you know you are a valued manber of the band,to make things easier and take the pressure of you and miles i think richard was going to do what we did at the area ie he was going to go on 3rd and either you or miles to go on 2nd.at the end of the day the band does'nt want to lose you.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, at the end of the day, most of us (me definitely included) are hobbiest banders. Your contribution to the band is equally of value as anyone elses. The most important things are that you give it your best and, more importantly, enjoy it :-)
ReplyDeleteIts Eleanor here - I love the post you wrote Shaun. At the end of the day, it doesn't take one person to win a competition or one person to make a concert good, it takes team effort. Everyone is a valued member, and nobody should feel as though they are a weak link.
ReplyDeleteI've also found that practising doesn't have to involve playing pieces. Nigel told me that doing exercises from Preparation, Practise, Performance will make the muscles in your mouth stronger therefore improving your playing ability but its something you have to do constantly, even if it is 10 minutes a day. Its certainly helped me, and if it can help me, it can help anyone!!!
Eleanor, thank you for your comment. It is about teamwork, and I don't think that can be emphasised enough. If you've read my most recent post, I'm currently in Coventry on a Mcguire speech course. There's 14 new students here who, wednesday night struggled to say their name, let alone anything else. 24 hours later, they all stood up and proudly said their name and their address. And they each got a round of applause from everyone else (about 100). Why? Because it's a team effort. We all want the same thing. And we want each other to achieve it too. And here's the important bit. Because, no matter how long we've been on this programme, we're all equal. No-one is a weak link and no-one is judged on their ability. And because of that, everyone feels part of something special.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda thanks for contributing to the blog, I have been in the band since 1978 and throughout my banding career at Littleport I have seen so many types of players, ages of players and ability of players. from 4th section for all of the 80's, 4th to 2nd in the 90's and now heading for 1st section. I started on 3rd cornet and felt a bit alien to the rest of the band because my ability was not as good as the seat above, however the spirit of banding has kept me going through 30+ years. Your contribution to the band is vital, the band has moved up the ranks in recent years and that is due to hard work and commitment from the regular players like yourself, Nigel is looking to take the band into 1st section with the players that have been there from when he took over, it will be a fantastic achievement.
ReplyDeletePlease don't worry about where you are at the moment, every player is a valuable member of this great band, 2nd section bands accross the country have the same issues and concerns that we have, this is one of the reasons the blog was set up, to share problems etc. and then look at ways to help players through their concerns. If you would like some help with any of the pieces please give me a call, if I can pass on any of my knowledge and it helps no problem.
Morning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of all of the comments above. Being an old banding git (along with Andrew K and a few others) you get to understand that all bands have their ups and downs, as do players. Littleport Band is no exception. We have had some not so good days and some very good days but what is clear to me is that our best performances have always been given as a result of hard work in the bandroom. I know that it can be tiresome and inconvenient at times but I think that's just the way that it is.
This leads me to another thread. Extra rehearsals. I think that we definitely should schedule more rehearsals prior to the Sutton Prom concert (more hard slog for all) which would help give everyone the confidence to give good performances over the summer and beyond.
i think horward is right we do need extra rehearsals for the sutton prom,just to give us more confidence for the concert and summer season.For us to become a first section band we need to have the standard of a first section band before the area's in march, and hopefully come out with a win as a result. With nigel bramley's guidence, along with hard work and commitment from us we can do it.
ReplyDeleteThank-you all for your positive comments- Eleanor- I have ordered the book! It is sometimes difficult to keep going when you feel like you are in making very little headway and with a busy life don't feel as if you have the time and energy to practice! Extra rehearsals would definately help!
ReplyDelete