We got dumped on with about 1.5 feet of snow this weekend. More is expected tonight and Monday morning through the afternoon. It is a pretty amazing thing to see. It?s funny — we spent most of the weekday worried about a terrorist attack and we should have been concerned with mom nature. Now THIS is a show of power. I used the time to get in a lot of quality practice. Usually short focused sessions of 15 to 20 minutes with 30 minute breaks in between. It was great.

I spent a lot of my time practicing mostly long tones and soft playing. I tried something different that was suggested by a friend. I opened the blinds and watched the snow swirl about in front of me. I tried to play something on horn that matched what I saw and felt. It was difficult at first but after a while it became easy. As soon as I ignored the sounds I was making and focused on the flakes, the wind, the huge drifts, the trees bending and swaying ? it was easy. I may challenge myself this way more often. It?s more of an exercise in expression than anything else.

The long soft tones have really made me focus my embouchure. I have a feeling I was playing more spread out and not direct (for lack of a better word). Getting a nice tight air stream really gives you a good sound not just when playing soft ? but when you play loud. It really gets the corners burning when you do it right and that tells me I?m building muscle (and endurance). I think I?m on to something here.

I discovered a really cool online music service called Spinner. It has several different music channels and they play without commercial breaks. The Bop channel is fantastic. If you curious and looking for some fresh sounds – check it out: http://www.spinner.com.