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Clifford Ramos

Professor Beadle

English 115

5, October 2017

In the Spotlight (My Graded Essay)

Have you ever done a performance in front of people? Performing in front of small or

large audiences can be both pleasing and rough. I have been playing trumpet since the tender age

of 7 and showcased my talent in many diverse performances both by myself and with groups. A

trumpet is the most merciless demanding instrument. When a trumpet misses a note, everybody

knows. Performing on stage is always a challenge as we try to sound as perfect as possible.

Trumpet playing is both a jubilant and frightful experience. When I play my trumpet with

beautiful sound and tone, it allows me to feel confident in my playing. When I feel this tenacity,

music that I play will attract the audience even more giving me a successful finale. On the stage,

when I squeak or miss a high note everybody can hear it because its projected out towards the

audience. When I start making errors throughout my piece it shows and reflects the skill level

Im at. Experiencing mistakes in anything I do, whether its on a math test or in a car driving test,

enhances my understanding in improvement. The monstrousness within this musical space

reveals that the audience has high expectation towards the musician or musicians. Ways that

many musicians counter the monstrous fears in this performing space is through the awareness of

sounding professional, the practices you put in, and the approach to judgment and criticism.

In any performance you do there is high expectations. Executing flawless sound in front

of people is not always easy but with practice comes the reward of beauty and success. The

pressure of sounding great is one of the biggest expectations audiences want to see if the

performer is excellent or poor. Looking back, I remember playing with my church worship band
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at my church and there was this fast paced song we had to play. During the song I stopped

playing because I couldnt find where I was. While the others continued to play, I rushed to find

where I was in the song. At last, I finally found my place in the music and I continued on

playing. Little things like this can portray the preparation you put in the song and the

professionalism you look like on the stage. Moving past errors whether its on a stage, field, or at

school takes practice and skill. Making mistakes creates lots of obstacles. It can cause

embarrassment, stress, and doubt towards yourself. But the key skill every musician knows is to

forget about the little errors and to just keep going. Quickly refocusing yourself together after a

mistake is the key to improving time and time again. This can relate to not just in music but in all

things such as high school breakups, speeches, sports, art, card games, school, and more. This

type of mindset of forgetting is so common in life. Having a short attention span towards certain

situations that you do is critical in the growth of maturity, improvement, and success.

In any space, a monstrous thing can form anytime. In the space of performing music on

stage, practicing is a must in order to succeed in what youre playing. Without practice you

perform with an unsatisfactory quality of sound portraying a bad trumpet player. In the book,

Understanding Rhetoric, by Elizabeth Losh, Johnathan Alexander, Kevin Cannon, and Zander

Cannon, these authors portray the importance of practicing. Losh, Alexander, Cannon, and

Cannon state, Texts can be performed in other ways, too, and these forms of presentation--

sometimes taking place off the page-- also require reflection and practice (Losh et al. 138). In

talking about revealing the performer within the text, these authors express the importance of

what it takes to become a successful performer in the point of view of literature. The

monstrousness behind not practicing can result into embarrassment and a loss of credibility. The

book, Understanding Rhetoric, highlights the factor of practice and how it is essential if you
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want to be outstanding. This type of evidence supports the context of needing to practice in order

to perform exquisitely in the space of a music performance on stage.

In the space of a music performance in front of an audience on stage many factors come

into play in order to counter the monstrousness that come with performing on stage. One

common monstrousness is approaching judgment and criticism. Judgement and criticism is told

both positively and negatively. After an Easter worship band performance at my church I

received many compliments from the audience such as a lady saying, You played so well and

amazing keep it up!. Many times I would get constructive criticism from my conductors and

peers such as, Clifford, you need to stay on time and focus on the rhythm. Many musicians,

such as myself, use other peoples judgment and criticism to heart and use it to improve

themselves. Negative judgement such as, He looks and sounds unpleasant, can affect how you

view your skill level. For dealing with negative judgment its all about how you take it in. There

are ways out there that can help you deal with these situations. One way is using the judgment or

criticism as a drive to improve. Its all about how each and every individual takes in these

judgments or criticisms. This ultimately reflects yourself and how you perceive things. Stage

performances are one of the many types of activities where judgment and criticism reflects how

you do. Wearing nice concert black suit, pants and shoes on some performances and wearing a

formal tuxedo on some Middle and High school concerts is an influence on how the audience

perceives me and my experience in being a trumpet player. In the book, Understanding Rhetoric,

by Elizabeth Losh, Johnathan Alexander, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon, these authors

illustrate changing to meet the needs of different audiences in a literature point of view. Losh,

Alexander, Cannon, and Cannon portray this idea by expressing, So Im trying to try out a lot of

different aspects of who I am because different communities will find certain identities more or
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less credible or reliable (Losh et al. 123). Using different aspects to comply with the audience is

all part of the process of achieving success in any kind of performance. In the book,

Understanding Rhetoric, these authors convey that writers also need to meet the needs of the

audience if they ever want to have a strong piece of writing. In the space of performing on stage

dressing appropriately, behaving properly, and performing with superb tone are ways to refute

negative judgment.

Ways that many musicians fend off against doubts and fears in the music world is

through the awareness of sounding experienced, your work ethic, and the way you encounter

other peoples opinions. In whatever talent you have in life there are always going to be ups and

downs. We are all capable of achieving success, its just the way you accept the fact that there is

going to be a journey of highlights and challenges along the way. Playing in front of an audience

requires hard work, but it does lead you into many triumphs and success. Every musician knows

the road is long if they wish to thrive over the top players week-in and week-out.
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Works Cited

Losh, Elizabeth, et al. Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to Writing 2nd Edition.
2nd ed., Bedford/ St. Martin's, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116, 2017, pp. 138
Losh, Elizabeth, et al. Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to Writing 2nd Edition.
2nd ed., Bedford/ St. Martin's, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116, 2017, pp. 123