Former principal trombonist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Myers now channels his passion into
Ascenda Music Publishing while continuing to perform in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Let’s say you have a choice: you are offered two gigs that pay the same. They are both at exactly the same time, and you can only accept one of them. Gig 1 is with exceptional musicians who unfortunately have a reputation for being snide and complaining. Gig 2 is with a fine group of professionals who know how to value each other’s presence and respect their work. Which gig do you accept?
Of course, all things being equal, it’s an easy choice. An enormous part of being a professional musician is how you interact with others. Here are three things you should remember about your attitude that will improve your value to a group.
Since everyone on stage is human, we inevitably encounter differences in sound, approach, and musical convictions. You can make everyone’s time together more enjoyable by adjusting your sound to allow greater integrity to the sound of the group. Sticking rigidly with your deeply felt interpretation—or insisting there’s only one way because your teacher told you so—can lead to feelings of being unsettled, both musically and interpersonally. We can more readily achieve desirable musical outcomes if we are ready to adjust and make it work with our colleagues.
If the norm in a workplace is a general lack of respect among colleagues, we shouldn’t be surprised if the quality of the work is subpar. We produce our sound more confidently and consistently if we feel the support of our colleagues. Here the Golden Rule applies: show respect for your colleagues, and they will return the favor.
We musicians are always under stress—hectic schedules, traffic, family concerns, not to mention all those notes to learn, along with the high expectations to produce your best work all the time. However, we have control over how we experience our performing life. We could succumb to the stress and anxiety, but we can also choose to allow the joy of music-making to be your habit. Joy is infectious. Your joy can be the spark that inspires your colleagues to play their best.
Former principal trombonist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Myers now channels his passion into
Ascenda Music Publishing while continuing to perform in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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