Play Better with this One Weird Trick!

Yes, I am writing recorder clickbait! I couldn’t resist.

Mostly that’s because I am delighted by the very idea of recorder clickbait!

But it’s also because it’s exceedingly rare that I, or any other music teacher, can offer you a simple trick or quick fix. Learning to play music is a schlep. It involves the slow accretion of a constellation of complex, evolving skills and processes across very long time horizons. It is not straightforward; it is not linear; and in fact I’d pretty much call it hack-proof.

Except, that is, for this one weird trick!

So what is it, already?

Pretend there’s a note after your last note.

Lasts notes are challenging. I can’t tell you how many saggy, warped, droopy final notes I’ve heard (and produced!) over the years. I think it’s because once you get to the last note, it’s easy to drop your concentration. Part of you thinks you’re done playing, so you let your air, and your musical intention, quit before the note does. This leads to endings that are out of tune, wobbly, and/or just plain blah.

But if you pretend there’s a note after your final note, I can almost guarantee that you will invest your former last note, now pretend second-to-last note, with air, life, and shape. You won’t let your breath down early, or lose your musical intention, because you’ve convinced yourself there’s more music to come.

Then, once you’ve played your note, you can let this imagined future dissipate.

Don’t quit making music before you quit making sound! Pretend there’s a note after your last note.

It’s one weird trick that, yes, actually works.