Welcome to the clanet ninja podcast. My
name is Jay Hassler. As always, I'm
doing my best to bring you the finest in
clarinet information and entertainment.
Happy New Year. It is 2026 and thank you
James Dander for playing us in once
again today. Are you frustrated with the
progress you did or didn't make last
year on the clarinet? Happy New Year.
Let's get this year to be the best year
for you that you've ever had on the
clarinet. What I want to talk about
today is really the environment which we
practice. I've got some PDF documents
that are going to help you with this.
So, go down to the description or the
show notes and find your way to those
documents cuz they are going to help
you. And they are free. Yes, I tell you,
free. And when I'm talking about the
environment, I'm not talking about your
practice space. I'm talking mostly about
what's up here in your head. And these
are some things that are going to really
help you get organized and get in the
right mental framework to get your best
work done. Most people and clarinet
players think that getting the job done
has to do with discipline and willpower
and working hard.
And it kind of does. But I want to
switch how we think about that. And I
want to think about drive. Instead of an
outside force pushing you to get
something done, think of it as the
internal force, the joy, the love of
music, and the clarinet that's going to
propel us forward rather than push us.
One thing that I've learned is that our
drive can flourish if we're in the right
environment and an environment that
allows us to find the most organization,
the right attitude, and the right way
about going into our clarinet practice.
The most important principle here is
that you are the same musician, the same
client, the same person, no matter what
environment you're in. The difference is
that depending on what environment
you're in, the opportunities for
learning and growing are different. And
let's talk about structuring these
environments, understanding them, and
designing them in a way that's going to
help you the most. And let's start with
the people that you are around. You've
experienced this, I'm sure, where you're
sitting next to an amazing player and
your level gets lifted up. You're
playing better than ever before. And
then other times, you're sitting next to
somebody who is having a hard time that
day or isn't giving it their best effort
or maybe just isn't that great of a
player. And your level will also go down
a little bit. And that is an indicator,
I think, of something that we all know.
Proximity matters. Success is
contagious. So is mediocrity. So, be
strategic with who you spend your
musical time with. There are three
people that you need to outwork. The
past you, the past you that gave up when
it was a little bit too hard or didn't
seek out the support you needed when you
knew you needed it, the future you that
already has what it is that you want.
And that voice counting on you to quit.
And sometimes in a toxic environment,
that's somebody else.
a different type of toxic environment
when that person ironically could be
you. You don't need to outwork the
world. Just these three versions of
yourself.
And if you do it long enough, you will
not only improve, you'll be free. So
proximity does matter. But here's the
thing. It's not really just about who
you are around physically. It's about
protecting what's going on inside your
mental space. Your mental environment
dictates your results and success
just as much as your practice room does,
maybe even more. So, let's look at three
ways to guard your mental environment.
Number one, guard what enters your mind.
One of the ways we traditionally talk
about how to guard your environment is
that whole idea of not looking at your
phone in the first 5, 10, 15 minutes
after you get up because it can be like
everybody that irritates you if you go
on social media is right there. And
imagine if they were right there when
you woke up in real life talking to you
right when you woke up. That is a
terrible way to protect your mental
environment. But that is a general human
life bit of advice that I'm giving you.
You didn't ask for it, but you're
welcome. Number two, be very selective
about who you share your musical goals
with and really only share them with
people that have earned your trust. In
an unfortunate way, not everybody that's
in your circle is actually in your
corner. That is a tough one to swallow
at times, but just because they are in
your ecosystem, there's no
responsibility for them to be in your
corner. And that is okay. There's no
problem with that unless you misidentify
that person you're around for a person
that's in your corner. Proximity doesn't
equate to loyalty.
Alignment with that person does. And
again,
be proximate to a lot of people.
You have things to offer them. They have
things to offer you.
But just remember who you're actually
aligned with and who you're not. So you
keep the people in your most trusted
circle
to be ones that are on your side working
with you and to support you. And you'd
better do that same thing for them.
Curate your input. Do a social media
audit. One of the things that I found is
that social media is amazing to get a
lot of information. a lot of clarinet
playing and a lot of things. But one of
the things that I found is that there
are certain people who I might actually
really like. I just don't like their
social media presence. And I've got to
figure out who's the right person for me
to be following on social media because
if it's draining me to consume their
social media, I don't want that to be a
part of my life. I might want them to be
a part of my life, but not that to be a
part of my life. There are some nuance
distinctions here. But if you find
people on social media that you find
inspiring, supportive, and I don't want
to make you sound like a mercenary, but
useful to you, follow them, interact
with them. It's a magical thing to be
able to do. And remember, comparison can
be very, very useful for learning,
but it can at times be toxic to your
identity. Unfollow, mute, the people
that drain you. Interact with the people
that inspire you. Social media, we
really got to pay attention to it. It
can do a lot for us. And hey, by the
way, if you're enjoying this, if you're
finding this useful, like, subscribe,
share with a friend, do some stuff to
help it get out in the world. I would
appreciate it. And anyone who likes to
clarinet, wants to get better at it
might appreciate it, too. I hope they
do. I hope I'm a person on social media
that you find supportive and really
engaging and someone that really does
want to help you become the clarinet
player you want to be. So, we've talked
about curating your mental space. Now,
let's talk about the people you actually
need in your musical life. A lot of
getting better at the clarinet is
certainly how you go about doing it, and
that's important. Most of my videos are
about that. One of the things we often
forget is who you need in your life in
order to get the best path towards
getting a system to put all the how
into. And I'm going to tell you the
three kind of avatars, the three kinds
of people. There can be multiple
versions of each one of these that you
need in your musical life. The first
type of person you need in your life is
a mentor. And this is a situation where
most of the time it's a teacher of some
kind. Uh, and that's the normal way in
which he goes about. But it doesn't have
to be only a teacher. If you're sitting
next to someone in an ensemble who's
really, really terrific. Watch and
learn. Don't tell them that you're my
mentor.
Just internally take things on as if
they are. Watch what they do, how they
do it. Ask questions of genuine interest
and excitement. The second type of
person you need is a peer partner of
some variety. Somebody who's
approximately the same level, supports,
acts as some level of comfort, but also
someone that challenges you. Somebody
who you're working together with in
order to make the progress that you want
to make. In a perfect world, there's
lots of these in your life. people that
share your joy uh of music and a lot of
times specifically the clarinet. Keep in
mind what I said earlier. It's not just
about comforting you and making you feel
good. It's about
engaging in challenges with you. The
third type of person you need in your
life is some version of a student. Uh
most comfortably that comes when a
person asks for you to teach them
something. Uh a lot of times we'll find
ourselves in situations where we have
information and knowledge and ability
that somebody close to us in an ensemble
doesn't have. And it's a wonderful way
if they come to you with questions and
uh things that they want to be able to
do that you can do. All of a sudden,
you're in a place where you can do
something that is really, really helpful
to you, which is go from our original
place of understanding and then being
able to do it. That's where we are when
this person comes to us. And then trying
to explain it really adds a challenge
and a way for you to refine your ideas
and knowledge and ability
into something that can be passed along.
In doing this, you're going to learn a
lot about yourself. You're going to
learn a lot about the clarinet. And
you're going to get stronger with the
things that you know. And so, you can
see that this is a very circular thing.
In some moments, you're exclusively
learning. In some moments, you're
sharing. And other moments you're doing
some form of teaching. hopefully uh one
that is invited because if it's not
invited or it's not welcome, it is
absolutely a situation where you can
very inadvertently with good intentions
become a toxic person. So be careful
about that. Now these three
relationships, the way I think about it,
uh comes in this sort of framework where
we think of yourself as being in three
different types of rooms. The thing to
keep in mind is that you are exactly the
same. No matter what room you're in, you
are you. And what we need to do in that
situation is find what's going to be the
best strategy for us to get the most out
of it. Room one is where you're the
weakest player in the room. This is a
wonderful place to be. You sit and you
watch what other people do, how they do
it. You absorb things. You ask good
questions and questions that show
respect, admiration, and that can get
information that you want to help you
really elevate your level. Most of what
you're going to do in this room is in a
room metaphorically or literally is
don't talk except ask a question,
listen, pay attention, and absorb as
much as you possibly can. Room two is a
very interesting place, and there's a
lot of pitfalls in room two. Room two is
where you are equal. You're equal
socially. You're equal in terms of how
you play. Everyone's within the same
realm. And this is where you can find
your practice buddy, right? And and you
can you can find somebody who's working
on the same things you are. It's easy to
get competitive in this situation. But
keep in mind, competitiveness can be
very very helpful in learning. It can
also be troublesome. So, it's a matter
of keeping your authenticity, keeping it
kind of in your own house to say you are
using your drive to learn how to get
better. You're not judging yourself
against these other people other than to
say, "Hey, they can do something I want
to be able to do or how did that happen
so fast? What what did you do?" Like,
"How did you do this?" Share ideas, but
ask more questions than you offer
examples of what you did. And you're
going to be a very popular person in
that room. somebody who's interested in
challenging yourself, somebody who's
interested in getting better and using
all the people around you in a way
that's healthy and uh non-toxic and it's
going to do a lot for you to think of it
that way. And then there's room three
where you're a stronger player than the
people around you. And this is also a
very very interesting room uh because
it's important to keep things to
yourself. Be a leader in the same way
that when you were in room one and
you're around mentors, you saw what they
did. You saw how they did it. Do that.
Be a strong player. Recognize that
you're in a place where your leadership
skills as a musician and as a
clarinetist are offering something to
the group in a way that in the other two
rooms it's not really happening that
way. You're not necessarily in a
leadership role. But also keep in mind
the people there if they're approaching
it the same way you are will ask
questions and they will get information
from you and you can give it to them.
But the gift is what they're giving to
you which is the opportunity to play the
role as leader and practice doing those
things that you learned in room one and
talked about in room two. And so it's
it's a it's a tricky place to be in the
sense that it really does take a lot of
discretion, let's say, to be helpful,
but also recognize in your being
helpful. And that might just be not
talking and being a strong player for
people to come in at the right time, to
play the right rhythms, to do all those
things, a a sort of a model for tone or
articulation, whatever it is that you're
offering,
just do it quietly. just do it. If
somebody has a question, they'll ask you
and uh
it'll work really really quite well for
you and will will really foster the
things that you're getting out of the
other spaces and environments that
you're in. Keep in mind that in room
one, you're not inferior.
In room three, you're not superior.
You're the same in all these different
rooms. And the reason I'm talking about
this is because your approach to
learning in all of those situations
needs to be strategic so that you can
get the most out of the environment that
you're in in that moment. Keep in mind
that you want to be in all three of
these types of rooms on a regular basis.
You want to stay humble, you want to
stay challenged, and you want to stay
generous. Those are really really
important things and they have different
weights in terms of where you are and
how you fit in. There are two different
approaches in all of these rooms. One is
a growth centered approach and this is
the wonderful place to be. There's also
a way that I think all of us at times
want to be recognized for what we've
done, the effort that we've put in and
the results that we've gotten. That's a
recognition focused approach. And
I don't think it's going to take any of
us any time to really recognize who's
the more popular person in in this
situation and and who do other people
want around because you definitely want
to be somebody that other players want
around. You want to be somebody that
somebody wants in your group and a
growthminded approach where you are
honestly excited, inquisitive, and you
really want to get stuff from other
people and give things at appropriate
times to other people. That's where
you're going to find the sweet spot. Uh
because what happens is people either
they keep growing, but if they're
looking for recognition and not looking
for new inputs, people tend to plateau.
And this plateau can cause a lot of
frustration and anxiety and it can it
can really grind on us on the inside.
When you're the worst person in the
room, that's great. When you're the best
person in the room, that's great. When
you're one of the people in the middle,
that's also great. You use your
strategy. You figure out how to exist in
that environment. And from a selfish
standpoint, what can you get from it?
And the more honestly you're looking at
what you can get from it in I guess
that's fundamentally selfish, but at the
same time selfish with benefits to
everybody in the room. That's exactly
where you want to be all the time. It's
always true that an excited, genuinely
inquisitive and supportive person is
going to function in all these different
environments
much much better than if you're missing
any of that. Opportunities will multiply
if you're that growth-minded person
who's asking questions, excited, coming
in prepared, doing their best, choosing
your times to talk. Really, really
important. And this is where in this
group setting is when you can actually
do a lot of your improvement much beyond
what you can do on your own. And so
these are crucial moments. These are
important moments in all of our lives.
And I want you to think about how you're
functioning in that in terms of how it
seems to other people. Important. Way
more important is how it's functioning
for you and what you are getting from
it. So you've got the three people in
your life. You've got this room's idea
of how to function, where are you and
and how can you best service yourself
and the people around you. This is sort
of the way in which you take the things
that you practiced on your own and you
really amplify the results from that.
And keep in mind, no one needs to know
that they're your mentor. No one needs
to think that they're your student. You
don't need to think you're anybody's
mentor. Just do what you do. Be excited
about playing the clarinet. Ask the
questions. Get the knowledge, share
freely when asked, and you're going to
be one of the most popular kids there
is. I want to give you one last idea
about how to take from other people. And
in a way, it's not really taking. They
still have it. They've just given it to
you also. It's infinite. And it comes
from an unexpected place. One of the
things I feel very very fortunate about
in my life is that I've had plenty of
opportunities uh on Broadway matinea
days to go out to lunch with really
wonderful players that I'm working with
on a regular basis. Or if you're on tour
and you're hanging around before, after,
during, whenever, you can find lots of
wonderful conversations about how people
play their instruments. And it's almost
more interesting to talk to people that
don't play the same instrument as you.
I've learned a lot of things from
hanging around with some of the great uh
lead trumpet players in New York talking
about resistance, the where they want
the resistance. Do they want it in the
bore of the instrument? Do they want it
in the mouthpiece? Do they want in the
front of the mouthpiece? A big and to
talk uh they they are as interested in
mouthpieces as we are. That shocked me.
But why the why of it and what the
results are in their sound is really
really interesting. And there's not a
direct oneto-one application of how you
can take this information and use it,
but it does give a lot of ideas that we
wouldn't get from other clarinet
players. Talking to a saxophone player
about where they play on the read or how
much lip they have out, it's really,
really interesting and can give a lot of
insight into the things that we already
know, the things that we're already
doing. Why is it working? Why is it a
struggle? How much bow weight does
somebody use? And why do they do it? Uh,
if you're playing a concert, as I have,
and Hillary Han is a soloist and you
happen to be hanging around with the
string player, you can ask them, "How is
she doing that? What's going on?" And
those things are some of the most sort
of resonant things that I have learned
as a musician that I've then taken and
applied to the clarinet. Staying
curious, staying interested, and
authentically excited for other people,
what they do, and what they know is one
of the most fantastic ways to get new
ideas and information to take to your
mentor to say, "Hey, I was thinking
about this. Does this apply in any way?"
And that can open up new conversations
with people you're already working with.
Maybe the person that sits next to you,
uh, a stand partner in a community band
will be able, oh, that's interesting. I
never thought of that. This is what I
think. This is my initial response that
can take that and go lots of different
directions. But let's put this all into
a framework that's actually going to
help you. Let me organize what we've
talked about so far into four areas of
focus. And they don't happen 1 2 3 4.
They happen all at the same time. And
that's a key thing to keep in mind.
Number one, our mental energy. Who gets
it? Why do they get it? How do they get
it? And keeping control over that.
Number two, your musical network.
finding a mentor, finding your peers,
finding the people like your people.
Always remember to check your local
college because they have a music
program and they have wonderful events
going on there and it's it's a great way
to hear young musicians that are great,
that are getting better and find a way
into your musical community. Number
three, our practice systems, our rituals
and habits that make success inevitable.
And never forget James Clear's quote
from Atomic Habits. We don't rise to the
level of our goals. We fall to the level
of our systems. And number four, our
physical space. It's probably the least
important of all of these, but if we've
got a clean desk, a clean music stand,
we have a clean mind, and we're able to
focus on those things that we need to
focus on. All of these ideas work
together.
The right mental framework, the right
mental place gives you the energy to go
out and build your network and find your
people. These people then show you the
systems that you need, right? You don't
have to tell them they're doing that,
but they are doing that. And then those
systems essentially when we get to the
end, those systems are what make your
success
almost a guarantee. I want you to get
these PDFs because here's what these
PDFs do. It's like having a road map to
success. It's the difference between
hoping that you're going to get better,
doing things that people said, but in a
way that's not organized and isn't going
to give you maximum benefit to giving
you a direct path to success knowing
that it's going to work. Now, let me
bring this all together and show you
what to do next. Problem with your
progress isn't you
kind of, but we're fixing it today.
You're the same musician in every
environment. What changes your results
are the people you're around, what you
consume mentally, and the systems you
build. All of these are controllable.
Your mental diet is choosable. Your
proximity is adjustable. Your systems
are buildable. Now, if you're thinking,
"This all sounds great, but where can I
put this into practice?" The clarinet
ninja dojo was built with all of these
principles in mind. It's all three rooms
built into one. It's a community of
growthoriented adult clarinetists at all
different levels. It's that mental
environment we're looking for.
Inquisitive, supportive, and non-toxic.
It's got systems. It's got a plan for
you to go through with all the support
that you need. Plus, there is a world
class, that's me, clarinet teacher,
right there to make sure you're doing
all the right things and supporting you
in the way that you need. So, you're not
just getting the mindset and the
community, you're getting the systems
and the support and everything you need
to become the clarinet player you want
to be. Step one, get the workbooks.
They're going to give you a pathway,
things to fill out, questions to ask
yourself to get yourself on the right
path. Second step, if you want the full
system, the community, the instruction,
check out the clarinet ninja dojo link
down in the description or the show
notes. This year, don't just set goals.
Design an environment where success is
inevitable. So, get to work on your
systems, get your clarinet out, and
we'll see you in the dojo.
