Friday, May 26, 2006

Musical Friday 55

There were many tears and arguments from the children regarding instrument practice and many complaints about surly directors and lazy band members. Much money was invested in mouthpieces, mutes, reeds, lessons, and concert clothes. It all melted away when trumpets played powerfully, the lone oboe sang out confidently, and the audience erupted in wild applause.




The spring concert is always great fun. The kids really get to show how much they've grown musicaly during the year. They get some input into which pieces they perform and there are also some featured smaller combos. Each grade has its own band because the school is so large so we can really hear the difference in each band as the kids gain experience and skill. Lots of people remarked on the trumpet section in Diana's band. It's unusual because of the 7 members all but one are girls and can they ever wail on that brass!

trumpet



Calypso's band is unusual in that it has her as an oboe player and another student who plays bassoon. Double reed instruments like those are really difficult to play well. Directors will bend over backwards for double reed players who have any kind of skill or, at this age, a kid who is willing to play. Calypso has figured out the advantage she gains by playing a 'rare' instrument and she delighted in having a solo during one of the pieces. As a side note, she found her clarinet. Thank goodness!

Oboe-88



And not to be left out, on Wednesday night at the 'try an instrument night,' Isaac signed up for trombone. He was courted for cello, drums, and trombone. He was hoping he'd do well on the saxophone but the reed was problematic. He got a decent beginner sound out of the trombone though and he thought that slide was an awful lot of fun. He's got this perfectionist streak and he's very hard on himself so we've warned him it takes a long time to build a lip and he needs to know he won't sound great at first. He's one who really needs to know what difficulties to expect or he gets discouraged when he hits a bump. Now the hunt for an instrument and another teacher begins.
Trombone


Wish us luck and have a great weekend!

20 comments:

BTExpress said...

My son played the violin and was very good at it. I wished he would have kept at it.

The Village Idiot said...

Hey! Our younger one's band concert was last night! Lots of tootin and honkin' as we call it. (She's on her first year of clarinet).

I'm all for it!

Rock On,
the idiot

ps- your "peas in the middle east" pun actually made me groan out loud. Well done!

ALRO said...

Hehe.. In my band, i'm partial to my harmonicas ! ;)

I use 5 regularly.


A-Harp (If a song is in E)
E-Harp (If a song is in B)
F-Harp (If a song is in C)
C-Harp (If a song is in G)
D-harp (If a song is in A)

Typically - the songs we do are in those 5 keys...there ya go..

lecram sinun said...

Hey, pretty soon you guys could start your very own dixie band. :)

S said...

Such a musical family! Yes, I say a band and a stand up comedy team we have here!

Kelly said...

I did choir all the way up until 12th grade and love the spring concerts.

Anonymous said...

Awesome!!!

Yall have a wonderful extended weekend!!

Hey be careful too would ya?? :-}

Logophile said...

ooo
Love the fiction/non-fiction and the music.
Sounds like a good evening and way to go little Limes!

lime said...

bt, calypso actually started with violin and did really well.

tvi, tis the season...glad i could make you groan. bwahahahaha.

alro, cool. i've never been able to figure out the harmonica.

lecram, yep. mr. lime plays tuba. i can't play my guitar anymore and i sing in the key of z. i'm thinking i can do the davy jones thing and shake a tambourine.

bare, comedy team, alright i can do that! i've got pratfalls down!

myutopia, fun memories huh?:)

steve, thanks!

logo, glad ya enjoyed:)

James Goodman said...

You musical fiends have a wonderful extended weekend. :D

Anonymous said...

It's great that they want to play instruments. I never did but my little brother taught himself how to play guitar, base, keyboard and drums. I impressed the hell out of me.

Have a great weekend!!!

Anonymous said...

* bass even

DaMasta said...

I loved band! My instrument of choice was Clarinet. I also played Baritone and of course bass clarinet. I would sit in the third row and play as loud as I could.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful post. My son started out with flute (yeah I hear the snickers) He has branched out to include piccolo, drums, sax and piano. I am amazed at his committment. We had the spring concert recently as well and the Jazz band was spectacular! Ryan plays sax in the jazz band thank you very much! Have a great weeeekend babe and thanks for your words.
TG

Melissa said...

I'm a total band geek!
What a great short story.
Myself, I've played the piano since the ripe old age of 5.
I also play the flute (and picked up a variety of other intruments along the way as a result) and in higschool I was in the concert & jazz bands/choirs, I also played in the valley wide symphony and youth symphony and travelled across Canada with a musical group as well one summer before I graduated (among other things).
Yes, music has taken me quite far in my life. I've enjoyed every moment!
Tell your children Well done!!!
And yay on finding the clarinet. ~phew~

Moosekahl said...

That's awesome that your kids go somewhere where they still have band...I picked up the alto sax in fourth grade and moved to the tenor in 6th. I loved it. I can finger my way through a clarinet if I need too, play the Jeopardy theme song on a flute and tabbled with classic guitar, bass guitar, chimes.

now as an adult I want to learn to play steel guitar and dobro (Sure I spelled that wrong). Isaac should hook up with Os, he's a master bone-ist :) Have a great weekend.

Gary said...

There is a high school here in Houston that has a jazz band. I have been to a few of their concerts. I always love seeing the kids mastering their instruments.

Fred said...

Good luck, and have a great holiday!

Hypersonic said...

Nice Blog now linked.

EmBee said...

My son got stuck playing the flute for music class in 4th grade. He was absent the day everyone got to choose what instrument they wanted to play. He tried the entire year to get one note out of the damn thing and was never successful... That didn't stop him from getting an A in Music though... Go figure?