Do You Need An Attitude Adjustment?

Episode Summary

In this episode, Adam and Bella dive deep into an essential read by Michael Drostee: Do You Need An Attitude Adjustment? We strip away the myths of the "brilliant jerk" and explore the reality of what it takes to be a constantly working, highly respected trumpet player. Your technical facility might get you in the door, but your ability to effectively communicate, collaborate, and leave your ego at the practice room door is what keeps you in the room!

Key Highlights

* The Myth of the Virtuoso: Why bandleaders and contractors will gladly hire a 90% player who is 100% easier to work with over a difficult prodigy.

* Section Dynamics: How to handle phrasing and intonation critiques without getting defensive, and the lasting power of simply saying "my bad."

* Zero Friction: Why treating your gig as a service to the director's vision is the ultimate professional move.

* The Art of Subbing: Why your job as a guest player is to read the room, play the ink, and never offer unsolicited advice.

* Mastering "The Hang": The massive impression you leave by helping the crew with teardown, and the networking power of 2 AM diner food.

* Digital Footprint: Why you must keep the gig gossip and vague-posting entirely off your social media feeds.

4 Steps to a Bulletproof Mindset

1. Adopt the "Sideman" Philosophy: Listen more than you play and actively aim to make everyone else in the section sound better.
2. Practice Professional Communication: Respond promptly, be clear, and treat all contractor interactions like formal business correspondence.
3. Manage Your Physical & Mental State: Keep your endurance high so you always have the energetic bandwidth to handle unexpected gig friction.
4. Cultivate Empathy: Remember that the sound engineer, wedding planner, and other musicians are all fighting their own battles to make the event a success.

Resources & Links

* The Ultimate Warm Up – Keep your chops strong and reliable.

* The Ultimate Technical Study – Bulletproof your daily fundamental playing.

* Visit TrumpetStudio.com to grab your copies today.

Trumpet Studio – Practice Hub app puts everything a serious trumpeter needs in one place: an animated fingering chart, a deep music library, Blues play-alongs, a metronome that counts out loud, and a Record Yourself studio to hear what your audience hears. Built by a Chicago-trained pro in the Jacobs and Herseth tradition of song and wind, it trains your ears instead of your eyes, so every practice session sounds more like music.

Get it on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/trumpet-studio-practice-hub/id318232014