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I'm just curious, what do the most succesful tubist read.
I know for example from Gene Pokornys CD, that he's a great believer of Stephen Coveys Seven habits of the highly effective people.
Are there any other books of this kind ?

"The Inner Game of Tennis", both the original and the edition for musicians, is highly regarded. For those unfamiliar with these books, they deal with several topics related to performance, but especially our ability to trust our bodies to perform physically without getting our analytical brains involved in the process. I've only read the original, mostly because I've heard several trusted musicians say that the original was really better than the musician's version. I recommend it highly, especially for people who tend to choke when the pressure is on.
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Joe Baker, whose recommendation carries approximately 1x10**-6 the weight of Gene Pokorney's where tuba playing is concerned, but is a world-class choker.

Thanks for the answer !

One of my pro tuba mentors recommended:

"The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart" by Madeline Bruser.

While it deals with other instruments, including strings and the author's personal experience with piano, I still thought it was a very worthwhile read.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... s&n=507846

"think and grow rich" by napoleon hill

mandrake wrote:Have you read the Covey volume? It's a great book, really. I have periodically thinking about reading "The Inner Game of Tennis", although I don't have problems performing.

In fact ...

Joe Baker wrote:__________
Joe Baker, whose recommendation carries approximately 1x10**-6 the weight of Gene Pokorney's where tuba playing is concerned, but is a world-class choker.

... Mr. Baker could probably use to give me a few lessons on how to screw up a performance.

I don't play tuba well enough to really call what happens in performances "choking", and that's not where I really have my problems with performance anyway ...

... but follow me to the golf course, watch me hit a bucket of balls when it doesn't matter, then follow me to the first tee!!
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Joe Baker, who is suffers far worse performance anxiety with 3 golfers watching him drive than with a whole auditorium full hearing him sing or play.

Mostly the newspaper and a mag called Honda Tuning.

It's been SO long since I've taken reading seriously...

I've read Inner Game and a bunch of other stuff but I wouldn't call any of it "successful."

For some people, "stage fright" means they get nervous. For others, it's a full-blown "grizzly bear chasing me and catching up" type of adrenalin reaction that appears out of nowhere, on some occasions and not others, and which is totally uncontrollable via any mental or physical activity.

I haven't met anyone of the "run from the grizzly bear" category of stage fright, who has been cured of it via any means whatsover. I suspect that after the first or second time it happens it's in the Pavlov's Dog category of conditioned response. Many people resort to Inderol or something similar to deal with it, and rarely get any understanding of the need for medication, from those who don't have this level of adrenalin response.

MA

My problem is 'analysis by paralysis', not really 'stage fright'. And if I played golf as often as I play the tuba, I might not have the problem. But I think "Inner Game" helped me to be aware of my tendency to try to contol actions that I had already thoroughly trained my body to follow, and I've used that awareness to push back the desire to over-analyze. I wouldn't call it life-changing in my case, but I would definitely call it helpful and enlightening.
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Joe Baker, who hasn't felt stage-fright since he was a kid, but has flubbed some things because of wrongly doubting his preparation during a performance.