2011 revisited…

Well, there is so much to tell and so little of relevance to this blog.

First, I didn’t sell the Durand.  It sits in my office and get’s blown a couple times a month.  Mostly I play the King at home and not nearly enough.  Mostly just 15 minute sessions working through scales and looooonnnnggg tones.  Then warming up on some of the Elementary and Intermediate Rubank exercises.  Once in a while I pull out my Bach pieces and work on them.

I think this year was a year of working on other projects, namely, going to Vietnam, which I did…and it was wonderful…and maintaining my job status, also great!  I got engaged to my honey in Vietnam, saw Ha Long Bay and Ha Noi.  Ate great food and lost 28Lbs (in three weeks I might add)…felt better than I had in a long time….and promptly gained it back in the first 4 months after I returned.

I did acquire a new horn during the year, an Olds Cornet(Ambassador model if it matters).  I’m hoping to take a few lessons on it and learn how to get a sound out of it other than “Phhhfffttttblaatttt”.

And this post will end my year.  I won’t have anything new at least until January but thought that there should be at least 2 posts on this site this year.

God bless you all and happy blowing!

Selling my Durand

That’s it…I have had enough.  Even as much as I like having a trigger trombone I would rather have a ticket to Hanoi, Vietnam.  The trombone is fair enough for a beginner but my tastes are far above beginner level even if my playing is not.

So, I’m selling.  I’ll post it on Craigslist first but just thought I’d mention it here.  I’ll be asking for $200, which is only a little less than I paid for it.  It has about 60-100 hours of playing time on it and has been treated extremely well.

So, if you live in the Portland area and want to try this horn out (especially if you are in band in a high-school and on a budget…not sure you’ll play past high-school…not worried about having a pro instrument…let me know and we can set up a time in Hillsboro for you to try this horn out.

Meanwhile, I’ll be looking for a Benge or better myself.

Recording the Durand

I know I’ve failed all of you, or at least myself, for not posting more often.

Thank you to all who’ve been reading and have had questions about the Durand .547 horn.  I kept thinking I would be posting some recordings but haven’t even had time to practice much so nothing happened in that dept.

But……I do have news.  Recently my father and I opened up a small software startup in downtown Hillsboro and I will be working nights there after my regular gig validating BIOS software.  I will keep my Durand and a mic with audio interface down at the office to record with some evenings.  I hope this will inspire me to start practicing more as the space will make a great isolation booth/practice-room.  (especially while I wait for software to compile or while just taking a coding break.)

Again thanks for reading and I’ll try to keep things more up-to-date.

Jon

Flamethrower? That plays? Now that’s playing with fire!

Trombone Learning tools…

When I started playing trombone again my friend Steve gave me a little help by showing me some Internet resources to look at.  I got a lot of help from the following ones and they are listed in order of importance to my reacquiring of skills and knowledge.

• Musicracer.com.  This is a great tool to rebuild a persons knowledge of basic theory, note names and fingerings/positions.   www.musicracer.com
• Smart Music.  This is an online music database that will allow a student to access a huge selection of songs and exercises to strengthen skills.  Cost is about $30/year and SO VERY worth it.  http://www.smartmusic.com/
• The Trombone Forum.  Membership is free.  Lots to read, lots to learn.  Excellent community.  http://tromboneforum.org/
• Doug Yeo.  Mr. Yeo is the bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony.  He is also one of the most prominent writers on the subject of trombone on the Internet. Look through his site…there is much to learn and much to entertain.  http://www.yeodoug.com/
• The Online Trombone Journal.   This is a great site for beginners or those returning to the instrument.   Also check out the classifieds.  http://www.trombone.org/jfb/

Fail to succeed…

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

Not really sure about this but, the ability to learn from failing oft seems the only way to move towards success.  If this is true I’m well on my way to being president of the world.

Unfortunately, I don’t appear to be learning enough.

So on Hannah (and Zach’s) wedding day I performed my trombone solo, “Air on the G string” by J.S. Bach.  I was tragically nervous but hit my first note just fine….then screwed up the second note and the following two bars.  recovered by the 6th bar and things went fine from there…only speeding up two phrases by a little bit.  If it weren’t for my piano accompanist, Joseph, I would have really messed it up.

Anyway, I learned much from the experience.   Practice like your serious about the piece.  Practice like there won’t be time to practice later.  Know the piece….listen to pro’s versions of it.   Get a recording of your accompanist playing the piece….preferably on the piano that it will be performed with/on.  Get that recording LONG before you are going to perform the piece so that you have ample time to practice to it.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to fail but do try to pick a piece that you might be able to learn in the amount of time that you have available.  If you KNOW that you aren’t going to be able to play it well enough after working on it for a few months/weeks/whatever…..maybe you’ll at least have enough time to make a different selection of music….or at least cancel  your performance without inconveniencing someone too much.

Lastly, dare to fail.

Bill Pearce has passed on…

Bill Pearce (83) In Memoriam

Trombonist Bill Pearce died on February 22, 2010 at the age of 83 after a long struggle with Parkinson´s Disease. Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and inspired by the playing of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller, Bill Pearce served as a bandsman in the Marine Corps during World War II. He got his start in broadcasting at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago with his late-night radio program, “Nightwatch”; in the 1970s, the show was renamed “Nightsounds” after he founded Bill Pearce Associates. He recorded several dozen trombone solo albums of gospel music – mostly on the WORD label – many of which have been released on CD. In 1992 Bill Pearce was inducted into the national Religious Broadcaster´s Hall of Fame.

Douglas Yeo interviewed Bill Pearce in 1998 for the Online Trombone Journal; that article, along with several audio clips, may be found at: http://trombone.org/articles/library/viewarticles.asp

A detailed remembrance of Bill Pearce and his life may be found on the Nightsounds Radio website at: http://www.nightsoundsradio.org/memorial.cfm

Reprinted from the International Trombone Association’s web site without permission.

http://www.trombone.net/news/news.cfm?ID=1376