Music Adventure Intro

‘Bout time for another adventure, wouldn’t you say?

This one has a lot longer time scope than my previous adventures. So Ima have to back way up in time to get you up to speed. 

Where to start?

Mom and dad sat next to each in the band at North Bend High School in North Bend Oregon. I have no pictures of this. Wish I did. Pretty sure mom played an old silver baritone and dad played a cornet but that would make one or the other of them last seat. I’ll ask. 

I am the youngest of four siblings and all were encouraged in music and allowed to choose their instruments, and I think there is an innate, if not enforced selection of a different instrument for each child. The eldest, Jeff played a beautiful silver trumpet. Sister Barb played a tenor saxophone. Brother Chris played trombone. Arriving last, I really had little choice, and was forced to pick up mom’s old silver Baritone. It wasn’t all that bad. It was narrower in diameter than the modern horns of the time (1970s) and silver, thus a bit more piercing than new baritones of the time. 

But let’s face it, the baritones are the nerds of the band, along with french horn, bassoon and bass clarinet. But I made the most of it. 

To this day I am an exceptionally poor reader of music, especially written notes in a staff, which is strange because mom has always been an excellent piano, and is specifically great at sight reading — basically reading and playing four lines (or more) of music simultaneously, in time. She was so good at sight reading that her instructor could never tel if she had practiced. 

In 1973 we moved to Southern California at which time all of us were enrolled in a local marching band that was independent of the school system, mostly because it was a summertime activity to keep is out of trouble. The Torrance Area Youth Band. Eldest brother and sister went into the senior band, for eighth grade and up, and my nearest brother and I went into the junior band. 

I still have my jacket:

It fits Nan.

And here is my brother and I in our uniforms. 

As I said, I have always been terrible at reading music, especially on the fly, and mom noticed both of us having problem actually playing music in the band. We would just stand there with the instrument to our mouths, staring blankly at the music and not playing. So mom sat us down next to the piano and pounded out all the notes straight into our memory, which is great because once it’s memorized you don’t have to carry the music on the parade route and flip through for the book for the next song. 

We played Sousa:

The Thunderer 

Jeez! Look at all those runs. No wonder mom had to pound that into our heads. And you know what?  I still have this song memorized. Though in reading this, I think the director had the baritones playing the sousaphone part, since a grade school seldom has a kid large enough to carry a sousaphone, and somebody has to play that low brass part. 

Here’s and example of the song from YouTube:

We played about half Sousa and march standards and about half new (at the time) stuff that can mostly be called Spanish power ballads. Like Get it On:

Easy to play and sounds really powerful. Lotsa trumpets just blowing their brains out. See. I’m already starting to be a music snob. 

So, a youth band, or any school band is primarily designed to keep kids busy and out of trouble. It’s not really intended to teach you anything about music other than to behave, stay in your place, and play the necessary notes at the required time. But, funny thing — they can’t prevent you from learning music and music theory simply by paying attention. 

I learned a lot about music theory, where the bass line should be, where all of the other parts should be, simply by playing the bass line and listening. I know what I like and what sounds good to me. But have no idea of any nomenclature or how to discuss this stuff with anyone other than by just playing. 

To this day, when I hum a song, I hum the baseline (I call it "the other melody"). 

I went on to play in every band of every school I attended for the rest of my education, clear through college, though I didn’t join the college marching band until my final two senior years (you heard that right) at the university of Idaho. Here’s a picture of me being a dork, dressed as a chicken, marching as a sousaphone for the university of Idaho:

Beak and all.