My Plans for Musical Progress in 2025

Welcome to 2025! 

How are we doing? Are we feeling settled into the New Year? Have we got the less than vibrant combination of dry January and ‘new year, new me’ diet on the go? 

Quite frankly I’m pleasantly surprised with myself - I’ve been upping the fitness regime (I know, I would gasp too!). Well, by upping it, I mean increasing it from no exercise to some exercise. But of course it wouldn’t be me if it was sensible, would it? Myself and two of my banding buddies, have been going to fitness classes, but not just any fitness classes - oh no - these are ‘Bounce’ fitness classes. Think aerobics but on a little sport trampoline - exercise that Tigger would approve of. They’re great - I love them! 

There is a point to this story - I promise!

Well, as the classes didn't return for another few days and we were clearly missing them, we decided to go along to a local step aerobics class on the second day of the new year. I don’t think I’ve moved further than the couch in previous 2nd of Januarys - so, progress! So, off we went - I was thinking a Jane Fonda-style, bit of a boogie to some 80s beats.You know, ease me into the new year. Well, dear reader, it would seem we stumbled into the ‘advanced’ class. There was choreography! CHOREOGRAPHY!! The instructor was less Jane Fonda and more G.I. Jane - although very encouraging (I imagine it was through pity, as my face turned into a beetroot and my breathing became wheezing)...there was one point where I was seeing stars and could smell colours. But we did it and there is a reason why I’m telling you this. I’m glad we did because this is exactly the attitude I want to bring into 2025. 

It’s safe to say that the 2020’s have been anything but uneventful, so I’ve been of the opinion to tiptoe carefully into the last few years, wincing, holding my breath and trying not to touch anything until I get my bearings. I’ve held myself back for a long time now with the worry of - well what if it goes wrong? What if I’m disappointed. What happens if other people don’t think that idea is any good. What if (*gulps*) I FAIL. I am done with this. 2025 is going to be a big ‘ol year. Wedding bells are on the horizon, it’s the last full year of my 20s. And It’s Not a Trumpet turns 10 this year. I stuck my head tentatively above the parapet last year with the blog and it was the best year it’s had. 

So, I’m documenting it here - 2025 is the year I grab the bull by the horns and if you’ve been feeling similar to me, I hope you do too! With that in mind, here are my new years resolutions to make 2025 one to remember (for all the right reasons) in my brass banding life. 

1) Consistency Over Perfection

I’m applying this mindset to everything, not just my banding. I’m the type of person who gets excited over the prospect of improving oneself. I start the year with big plans of 2 hour practice sessions everyday - alongside a 9-5/5-days-a-week job, 4 hours of band rehearsals (minimum) and now fitness classes and then get all annoyed when the burnout sets in by week 3 of this grand masterplan for musical self-actualisation. 

This year we’re going for consistency. Manageable goals that still offer results. So, this year I want to have dedicated a minimum of 25 minutes to practice, every single day. It’s enough time that can be easily slipped into the day and long enough to achieve something productive, particularly if I’m consistent. Chances are, if I have the time, I’ll probably carry on past the 25 minute point. But I’m hoping this will encourage the results I’m looking for this year without the inevitable burnout and frustration that has inevitably happened in years gone by. 

2) Play 25 New (to me) Pieces

I discovered a lot of new favourite pieces last year, through our concerts at Rainford Band and I’m sure this will continue as we prepare for our performances this year. This year, I’m going to try and make the effort to supplement any new pieces I play at band with new works at home during my practice sessions. Just to be clear, it would be amazing to play 25 completely new works, but if that’s not possible, the goal will include any pieces that are just new to me, i.e. I’ve never played them before. Whether it’s excerpts from test pieces, new solos or just new bits of concert repertoire - I’m looking forward to expanding my musical repertoire even further next year. I’m quite excited about this one!

3) Continue to Expand and Grow It’s Not a Trumpet

I had a lot of fun playing with different types of content and different blog topics last year - I even dipped my toe into the world of live commentary and was completely humbled with your positivity and enthusiasm. So, you can expect more of the same in 2025! I’ve got quite a few ideas planned, some fun, some (I hope) useful! I’m very self-critical and, like I said before, I do a great job at holding myself back, so I’m going to try and be braver and just create and seek as many new opportunities as I can and see what happens!

4) Learn How to Swing

Steady, mind out the gutter, if you please! I obviously mean swing as in play in a more naturally jazzy style. There is a lot of jazzy, swing-style music written for brass band, heaven knows I’ve played enough of it over the years. However, I realised this year that even though I play an instrument (flugelhorn) that is very much at home in the jazz genre, I play swing and big band type music in the typical brass bandy, rooty-tooty, jazzing-by-numbers kind of way. Sure, I can do a bit of lip bending and half valving and add in a twiddly bit here and there, but I want to be able to play with the effortless style the likes of Derek Watkins and James Morrison can get out of a flugelhorn. Obviously, I won’t be a patch on either of those two legends - I’m ambitious, but not delusional. It’s a skill I really want to try and develop this year, so I don’t sound like the brass band equivalent of Julie Andrews trying to be Frank Sinatra 

5) Have Fun!

Last year’s focus was taking the stress out of contesting and viewing it for what it is - an opportunity to work on a piece in depth and enjoy a day out with my bandmates. This year, although I’m still after progress, I really want to prioritise taking a minute to look around and enjoy these experiences. To really soak up every minute of our concert performances to be in the moment on the contest stage and not see it as something to be nervous for or to get through. At the end of the day I spend hours in the band room and practicing at home - you should really enjoy the end result, shouldn’t you!? I feel sometimes I don’t give myself the chance to actually enjoy the performance thoroughly rather than grading each note or each piece as good or needing improvement.

So, there we have it - those are my 5 new year’s resolutions for 2025. To give myself credit, I did quite well with last year’s resolutions, so the pressure is on this year to keep it up!

I hope 2025 is your year. Whether you’ve set yourself your own resolutions or have a goal in mind for the year or you just want to make it through the next 12 months and see where life takes you, I hope it’s a good one!