Its time to perform! How are you feeling? Are you mentally preparing yourself or are you just going to pick up your trumpet and see what happens?

Do you have expectations for the day? Do you know what results you want? Will you be disappointed if you don't achieve them. Did you have a good day playing yesterday?

These are exactly the same question that exist before a practise routine.

Your expectations must become conscious and more importantly, REALISTIC!

Performance is where you discover your true ability. Learn to observe your performance and use bad days as motivation to practise.

Part of being a performing human being is experiencing a degree of inconsistency. Being a trumpeter is definitely a roller coaster ride. Correct, daily practice reduces the severity of the downs and makes the ups more regular. However, you will always experience highs and lows. Learn to accept that as human nature, then you can remove the anxiety and just observe the journey. You actually learn more on a bad day when it feels difficult.

No golfer hits the middle of the fairway EVERY time! The best players hit it more often. Practise and realistic expectation delivers better results as there is an acceptance of reality: NOT EVERY DAY IS GOING TO BE YOUR BEST DAY!

Enjoy the fact that you are playing trumpet and making music. Leave the ego at home and play for the love of it, not to prove something to someone else.