Contest Focus

Contest Focus is difficult in my opinion, playing in a brass band as a hobby has it's own draw backs, you don't get paid, you rely on 20+ other players to put in the effort and attend rehearsals as well as yourself. Playing is not an everyday affair for most second section bands, would you be expected to turn up once a week and perform at a high standard for your day job, do you think the results would be consistently good, probably not, so why do we beat ourselves up about contests? I personally like the challenge, it gets the players of the band playing regularly which must be good for the overall output, it is team building and rewarding when things go right on the day, it is also good to know where you sit in the scheme of things, as a player and a band.

Contest focus can be difficult to obtain, if you have nothing to aim for then what is the point some might say, well there is always something to aim for: staying in the section, going for the section above, whipping the competition, grabbing the trophy or just trying to be the best you can at the time. Take your pick and you have then obtained Contest Focus.

That's Entertainment

Three words . . . . Venezuelan Brass Ensemble. I read about this group of brass players here and knew I had to find out more. So I checked out youtube and found this. I urge you to watch this and not be amazed at the playing, but, more so, without a smile on your face. I couldn't stop grinning when I watched this clip. And neither could the exceptional musicians performing (yes, performing, not simply playing) the music. To see players on stage and clearly enjoying themselves is truly refreshing.

They have an CD available and I so nearly purchased it from iTunes. But didn't, because I would be missing out on the whole experience of the Ensemble; yes, technically they are superb (check out some of their other videos), but I would be missing their joy and exhuberance of playing; and the audience reaction.

This got me thinking; do brass bands take themselves too seriously? I'm not saying that we should go on stage, particularly at a contest, grinning like Cheshire cats. But, we are still performing to an audience, whether it's in Stevenage at the Areas, or Hunstanton bandstand in the summer. I now see where Nigel is coming from when he tells us to enjoy performing on the contest stage, let alone when playing concerts. Afterall, we have spent several months working hard on a 12 minute piece of music; don't we deserve to savour the moment . . . and enjoy it?

You can find out more about the Venezuelan Brass Ensemble, and the fascinating 'Music as a social program of the Venezuelan State', which nuture this talent here. And enjoy another version of Leonard Bernstein's 'Mambo' from West Side Story here, just watch the audience and performers' interaction without smiling.