Why you should read this...

Mr. Adam often talked about Gallwey's book in trumpet class and with students in trumpet lessons. This is not a book about playing tennis. It's a book as it states on the cover, The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance.

To achieve peak performance in trumpet playing you need to learn how to think about your performance and goals in a positive way. This book helps make you aware of things your mind is doing to your detriment that's preventing you from success, and how to work to achieve better results. You can become unaware of your inner dialogue and as Mr. Adam would say, "You need to put on a new record".

If you think of your mind like a computer, it simply carries out instructions given to it. If you erase an important file from your computer, the computer executes that instruction even if it is to your detriment. The mind works in a similar fashion, if you give it instructions good or bad, it will process them the same. If while playing the trumpet as you approach a difficult passage, you continue to tell yourself this is too difficult, you will fail, and you don't deserve to play this better, your mind will execute those instructions even though that isn't a desired outcome. As a trumpet player, what you need to do is tell yourself good information to be executed that focuses on the sound you want and how you will reach your listeners in a meaningful way when you perform it. This isn't about tricking yourself, it's about directing your attention in a fruitful way.