After marching season is over and brass players can finally have normal looking lips again, concert season begins. Now you will be required to sit on stage with other players and play more music ( Hey, at least it's air-conditioned). Playing in concerts demands more of players than even a marching band does. Here are some tips to lessen those demands and get the most out of concert playing.

First and foremost, you must LISTEN! Just like on the marching fields, a person that sticks out above everybody else because they're playing too loud will make the band sound awful. A good rule to stick to is to not play louder than the person sitting next to you. If everyone is doing this, then nobody will play louder than anybody else. This also means that you play the same style that the rest of the band plays. Think of how peculiar it would sound if a trumpet played in a jazz-like style during Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Always listen and match the rest of the band.

Another tip is to be quiet and not drive your band director crazy! Loud rehearsals almost always result in getting nearly nothing done. In rehearsals where everyone cooperates and no one talks, more can be accomplished because the director is not distracted. Don't be the bad apple in the bunch because being disruptive rubs off on others.
Always have a pencil at rehearsal so you can mark your music. Little reminders of some sharps and flats have saved my tail many times. Don't be afraid to do this - professionals do the same exact thing.

Practice your part in such a way that if you had to play it from memory, you could. One of the biggest showings of how well you know a piece of music is whether you can play it from memory or not. Don't memorize it all in one practice session. Instead, memorize the piece because you have practiced it many times.