...the trumpet blows...

...to say that I have a "love/hate" relationship with playing the trumpet is a misstatement... I don't "hate" playing, just the way my aging body throws stumbling blocks in my path... flaky vision, arthritis, wandering concentration... the true irony is that at this point, I know more about how to "do it right", than I did when nothing hurt and I took physical acumen for granted...I also still have "chops" [the ability to play high, etc.]... but my fingers are stiffer and slower, my tonguing has to be "re-set", I have to NOT be having an allergy attack that stops-up my ears and I have to remind myself how to transpose tricky things[ie piccolo trumpet in A or trumpet in G]... still, after I rub off the "rust" and play a few days, the sound I want comes back [for the most part...] and I do enjoy playing...when I play, especially something I like, I "sing" through the horn... my mom and my BFFL always said that they could tell my sound and that my playing and singing had the "same " tone quality...I have heard that occasionally from others, but mom always said it and I thought it interesting that my BFFL came up with that too all on her own... I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my G trumpet[to replace the one I should never have sold...] and will be playing at church on Nov.25
[Christ the King] on a Vaughan Williams anthem I've done a dozen times before....sometimes, I miss playing in groups, but then I remember that to play in groups, you must rehearse and after 50 years of playing[40 of them as a professional], I don't need anymore rehearsals cluttering-up my life...it's nice, to be able to stay home and not have to spend half the night rehearsing or performing [ I was being paid...], ... someday, I may feel differently, but not today... I have spent thousands of hours practicing and hundreds more rehearsing and then performing, for years of my life, it's now time to slow down and enjoy the music making now that it is no longer my occupation...