Trumpet - A Rambling Account

Band started for me in the 5th grade when I was 11 years old. I wanted to play an instrument small enough to fit in my back pocket so I chose a picolo. We trooped down to the music store downtown, maybe Parker Music, and I was dissuaded from the picolo and persuaded to try a flute. Somehow that did not work out for me and I switched to cornet. My memory of these machinations does not include how long this al took.

Anyhow, my folks bought me a used Eklhart cornet and just like that I was in the band. This is where my embouchure got screwed up. The band director was a string player and he told the brass players to smile and blow. Yaaarggghhh.

What I remember most about band in elementary school was getting the cornet to and from school on my bike. I would put the handlebar of the bike through the handle of the case and try not to have the case hit my knee as I pedaled or screw up my steering. This mostly worked but occasionally led to a spectacular fall.