I used to play trumpet...I think. It was a long time ago and wait...yes, it's all coming back to me now, yeah I played trumpet and as I recall it was a pretty major part of life. It stopped being fun, oh, right around the time I was finishing up my music degree. So I slammed out a few management courses so I would actually be employable (well, okay, I actually slammed out an entire minor in the subject). I taught music to cadets for awhile and eventually put my trumpet away and moved on to other pursuits for a few years.
Lately though, I've been looking for some kind of outlet. A few years ago I bought a guitar and have yet to figure out why a bunch of stoned high school kids can play one and I can't. In the end, the thing to do seemed to go back to playing trumpet if only to rid the cadet corps I volunteer at from its horrible taped version of “Sunset”.
I needed a new trumpet. My B-flat had become so leaky it was beyond repair (as per instrument repair goddess Nichol). After more than 20 years dedicated service from my Bach, I retired it and went looking for a new trumpet.
Bach, at one time, was the end-all and be-all for professional trumpets (at least it was to kids growing up in Red Deer. What the members of the LSO were playing in the late 80's, I couldn't tell you). Yamaha had been coming onto the scene more and more as I was studying in uni. I've spent about a year researching trumpets (it's a bit like buying a car, these things aren't cheap), I decided that I would go with a Yamaha Xeno.
My chops are good for about half an hour, right now. I try to play every day and I spend about 15 minutes working on cadet levels to get things back in to shape and then I screw around playing along to sad Blue Rodeo ballads. As a kid, when I started playing, it was the norm to beat playing by ear out of students. I'm using this re-learning period as a time to develop better improv skills. By the way, I love owning my own house. No stupid towel on the carpet, I let the ol' spit valve rip wherever the hell I want (I promise to clean the carpets before the next party).
I could care less if I ever see another symphony excerpt or serious solo piece ever again. Hey, I don't even want to sit on a community band somewhere reliving my hay-days at university playing Hal Leonard “Music from the Movie Titanic”. For all you closet band geeks, swing by some time, we'll jam. It'll be fun and Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor never have to know how badly we're butchering their songs.