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This week on the podcast, I’m excited to bring you a great interview with Wiff Rudd, professor of trumpet at Baylor University. Wiff is well known in the trumpet community for not only his brilliant playing, but for his ability to effectively build a healthy community within his trumpet studio.
Wiff and I covered a lot of topics in our 2 hour and 15 minute interview. A great deal of our discussion involved “Side By Side”, the book he recently published. I hope you find our discussion encouraging and helpful in your efforts to establish or find a supportive community for you. Here are some takeaways from our episode:
Building Community
The resources that exist from what healthy communities look like and how to build them are vast. I asked Wiff what he believes the very first step in that journey is, and he replied, “Connection”. Making space for connection between a teacher and a student is what he believes will spark all the necessary inspiration for continued community building. Taking ownership and investing yourself in those around you seems to be beneficial for all parties involved.
Never Stop Growing
One thing that resonated with me during my conversation with Wiff is how open he is to new ideas and his continued efforts to grow personally. It’s clear that although Wiff’s ideas are meaningful and worth considering, he’s able to put himself second in service of serving his studio and the music community at Baylor. If others have great ideas, he wants them and to see if he can incorporate them. It’s a great example of what it means to “Never stop growing”.
Big Things Usually Have Small Beginnings
I’m always fascinated to hear how projects like a book, podcast, or other forms of media get their start. It was awesome to hear that Wiff’s book started as a series of topics he would present at clinics and masterclasses, and over time he realized there were a great deal of people interested in further discussion. It’s similar to my episode with Josh Jones, where his book started out as the exercises he was using during his teaching, and it expanded from there.
This concept has two applications for me. The first is if you have big dreams, it’s ok if you don’t have all the pieces put together yet. The second is you never know how the things you are doing now will evolve over time. Stay open and look for opportunities to grow and serve.
I hope you enjoyed this episode with Wiff Rudd! If you wouldn’t mind leaving a rating and a review on iTunes, I’d really appreciate it. Don’t forget to share on social media so others can find the episode and enjoy it themselves. Thanks so much for listening. Stay strong, be kind to yourself, and never stop growing!
Until next time,
Ryan