The gift of music was given to me. The possibilities of enhancing this gift through music lessons were given to me. The opportunities to play and be recognised by my peers and the public were given to me. All I have done over the years is to try to be worthy of these gifts. I try to do this by attempting to fulfil my responsibility by serving the music (as player, teacher and conductor) and hard work.

By attempting to put the music first and not trying to serve my own ego-oriented goals, many 'problems' do not occur. For example, if I'm totally involved with making the music sound as beautiful and passionate and strong as possible, there's no room left to worry about whether 'I' might miss a note, or how the audience will perceive 'my' performance. In other words, total involvement in serving the music leaves no room for negative thoughts to clutter the concept. This, by the way. is something which has to be practised on a regular basis. It is not something which one suddenly stumbles upon.

One more important point. The word music itself draws from the source 'Muse'. In my opinion this is often overlooked in that we often tend to equate the making of music with something which also had its roots in ancient Greece, the Olympics. I do not wish to negate the prowess of artists possessing superior technique - not at all. It must, however, be made clear that technique is something which can (and should) be pursued and mastered. A Muse, similar to a butterfly, can be pursued and enjoyed, but never captured and owned.

Before attempting to play any piece, look at it carefully away from the instrument. Familiarise yourself with the style, rhythms, accompaniment and overall shape of the piece totally before you let the trombone touch your lips. Then you will know precisely what you are aiming for musically; the only task then, which may be difficult of course, is representing it technically.

If you find a piece hard to grasp musically, then perhaps you should a yourself seriously whether anyone would want to listen to it. I have sat through many performances of good technique but great musical uncertainty. A listener can grasp good musical author and forgive a technical blemish, I correct playing without musicality worthless. Obviously the ideal is a blend of the two.

Notation must be "seen through" order to find the music lying underneath just as words and sentences are symbols of ideas, not the ideas themselves. This, teachers note, is of inestimable importance from the very beginning of anyone's playing career. Children should be taught to "free" themselves of the notes while still reading them.

If this sounds strange or paradoxical, think of the parallel of the young child who is beginning to speak fluently but who becomes baffled and intimidated by written language; only when the child realises how the words are pronounced and what they mean can it start to speak correctly from the written page.

Music is much the same. As soon a youngster starts an instrument, dots, shoved in front of its face and it is taught to obey the grammatical correctness the written symbols, usually at the expense of the feel or sound of the music. The Suzuki Method of violin playing and the general methods of teaching in the East bring notation in at a very much later stage than we do in the West.

Most music, like language, is divided into phrases - the equivalent of sentences. There are of course the individual notes and ligatures which are the equivalent of letters and words, and on the larger scale, sections and whole movements which might be regarded as the equivalent of paragraphs and chapters. In musical sentences, there is usually a focal point to which the music moves. In longer phrases, there may be two or three which need negotiating. These are often based on harmonic tension and relaxation, and the very movement of these (an amalgam of rhythm, line and harmony) is what gives music its very shape. All notes, whether detached, legato, tenuto or staccato are part of this overall shape and once understood, the music starts to make sense. This feeling of phrasing and style must be part of the fundamentals of teaching.

Musicians of all sorts should adopt inquisitive attitude and attempt to embrace as many styles of music as possible, often ones that rarely involve their own instruments, in order to have the depth to explore and perform widely.

So many of people's so-called 'likes' and 'dislikes' are only a shield for their lack of broadmindedness or indeed, inability to perform or assimilate diverse musical styles. Once this principle of a musical approach is grasped, things begin to fall into place, and different techniques become appropriate to the needs of the music. Music-making is then pursued from the proper end; at the moment most of it is like looking the wrong way down a telescope, with the music having to fit the trombone rather than the other way round.

What I am saying presupposes that the technical side of playing is adequately looked after as musical awareness increases. Much of my work as a teacher in further education is, unfortunately, remedial. Certain ingrained physical problems of breathing and particularly articulation are often very difficult and, in some cases, impossible to eradicate once the body has become sufficiently conditioned to them, much to the frustration and often anger of the student.

How many students of other disciplines arrive at university level to be told that for the last seven years they have been ill-informed in the fundamentals of their subject and must re-learn many principles once again. Not many, I am sure, and yet at music college entrance level, my colleagues and I hear trombonists arrive, often with the blessing of the highest grade available in the instrumental examination system who are woefully inadequate in most areas of technical performance. What are the reasons?

First of all, the main board behind the grade system does not insist on players of each genre of instrument taking the appropriate examinations. For instance, an organist may judge a trombone player and a violinist, an oboe. Also, peripatetic teachers are often obliged to teach all brass instruments and to most valve layers, the trombone with its unique slide, is a mystery. Some of these teachers, especially with appalling cutbacks in education, do a wonderful job, particularly in motivating and enthusing the young, and it is not my intention to condemn them. Perhaps educational videos may be the answer to helping all brass teachers understand the basic mechanical requirements needed for the young trombonist.

Just one further comment that I can't resist, having been given a temporary soap box. The mouthpieces and instruments that we use are indeed the tools of our business. But most players' unique qualities lie in their physical make-up Oust as a singer's voice is unique to him or her), and the extent to which they have worked in maximising their innate talents. Instrument and mouthpiece design is important and we are all grateful to manufacturers for attempting to update technical excellence. No mouthpiece or instrument however, has in itself a sense of rhythm, style, taste or fine sound quality, let alone being able to turn a musical phrase beautifully. A good musician would sound good on virtually anything, and a poor player on the best instrument would remain a poor player, although decent equipment of course make everybody's life easier. If in doubt always look to yourself honestly for any problems that you might be having firsst, before rushing externally to get another new mouthpiece, booster, open-wrap F-section, lacquerless bell, etc., etc.

Eric Crees was born in London in 1952. He studied at Wandsworth School, where, in the famous boys' choir, he worked with many distinguished professional orchestras and conductors. Of particular importance was the school's long association with Benjamin Britten who wrote a solo part for him in the 'Children's Crusade'.

I am a melodic trombone player. In fact I practise the art of lyrical trombone playing. The upper register is easy to get to, but once you get up there, how do you get down? That has to be done with fluidity and control.

I make use of things I learned very early on in my career such as, you don't play positions you play notes. Playing G flat, A flat and B flat above the staff in third position makes a lot more sense than going into the closed positions. So I was able to perfect a way of playing that everybody says was very recognisable.

I always say that Bob Florence made a trombone player out of me. He didn't know that the best keys for trombone are the sharp keys, and he wrote in some atrocious keys.

I think the reason I worked more than anybody else and did better than anybody else in the amount of work I did was because I always honoured my first commitment. If it was a $17 transcription date as opposed to a $1,000 picture call, and the transcription date came in first, that was the date I honoured. Sure I'd call the contractor and ask if I could get out of that small segment of time it took to do the transcription, but if he said no, then it was the transcription date. I always honoured my first commitment.