Defying all expectations, the Ten-Year-Old chose the trumpet for his 5th grade band instrument. After an early life of hitting everything in sight with sticks, the $400 drum set we bought 2 years ago remains idle and dejected in the basement.
However, the trumpet has brought musical enthusiasm to the house. He seems to be a natural trumpet player, as he spends much of his time trying make it go Higher, Louder, Faster. But mostly Louder. Here are his experiments and results so far:
- Play Standing Up Inside the House (good loud notes often accompanied by yells to be quiet)
- Play Lying Down on the Ground (hard to get a lot of air out, sound is muffled)
- Play Sitting Down (Better than Lying Down, not as good as Standing Up)
- Hold Trumpet up to Sister's Ear and Suck In Breath (can't even get note off before getting yelled at by parents)
- Play Outside (loud notes not accompanied by yells as much, plus can play in direction of neighbors whose kids’ had high school bands for six years)
- Play While Marching Around (hard to keep lips on mouthpiece)
- Play on Top of Play Structure (Loudest yet, sound bounces off houses)
Other experiments:
- Can You Kill a Bug by Playing a Trumpet at It? (Not yet)
- What if You Put the Bug in a Glass and Play Directly into the Glass? (Yes, that does the trick)
- What if You Play Along with a CD? (Based on experiments conducted so far, can play louder than Miles Davis on "Kind of Blue")
6 comments:
I like the picture of Kokopelli playing the trumpet instead of the flute. Have you introduced him to the pocket trumpet yet Dan? There really is such a thing. They make some very high end ones and there are some crappy ones from India too.
Patty had some good ideas of "Things you can do with a Trumpet", just can't put em down here...
hahahahaaa!!! Awesome! :-)
My parents made me play in the garage when I was learning tenor sax. I was told I sounded like a dying moose in heat.
I am not entirely surprised by a trumpet killing a bug. I was stuck in front of them for years in marching band. I got revenge in jazz band because the speaker and amp connected to my microphone was behind the trumpets. Hitting the lowest B-flat I could really, really loud would rattle them a bit.;-)
Are you guys renting a trumpet? If so, I can save you some bucks with my old instrument, though it will prob need some repairs.
You obviously have never seen the musical "Gypsy."
Hey! Drew plays the trumpet! But not much in the house anymore. That's why we pay taxes to have a music program at school. With a big, soundproof room.
John
Ah yes - this post brought back memories! We have 4 and it was just assumed in our family that they would take band and learn an instrument. Part of it was economics - free lessons at school and the possibility of buying used instruments. Part of it was the fact that neither my husband nor I had such opportunities in our school days. Besides, none of us are very athletically inclined, so we didn't push the school sports. I nixed percussion right off the bat because I at least wanted to hear a tune of some sort coming up from the basement bedroom. Daughter #1 started out on clarinet and continued through high school, and also learned tenor sax for JrH jazz ensemble. Daughter #2 started out on flute, switched to trumpet, and ended up in percussion - how she did love playing those giant kettle drums in orchestra. Daughter #3 did flute, using the flute that #2 had abandoned, but also dabbled with piano and guitar, and has now in her adult life purchased a piano and taken up the violin! Son #4 did tenor sax using the instrument we had from daughter #1, and also dabbled in guitar, using daughter #3's guitar. All still enjoy music. And isn't there a connection between music and math skills? I always said that when one is 60 plus years old you can still sing in a choir or play your instrument in a community band but you are probably not going to be chasing a ball around a soccer field or doing jump shots on the basketball court with your arthritic joints and artificial knees and/or hips. Yeah, I know I was a mean momma making them stay in orchestra/band through high school. Although choir was optional, 3 of the 4 did that too. So let's hear it for music!
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