Taps.

[chasem]

Southern Breeze,

My son, for now plays the trombone. He is always looking for a new and challenging piece to learn. While I know that the registers are different, the trombone is not traditional, my son at 12 is very young, we do have a tradtion of service in our family.
macG

How long has your son been playing trombone? I've played for roughly 9 years now, though not as much in the past two.

[Riverkilt]

Thanks Breeze,

Our little town only started having Veteran's Day parades five years ago. This is the first year the local high school band joined us and the first year there were tributes in the city park after the parade.

As a finale' one of the young men in the high school band blew Taps on his trumpet. He did it perfectly and hauntingly.

Usually Taps tears me up. Yesterday I was preoccupied by an old Marine, I know to be crazy from Nam, who turned out in full field gear and an M-14 with magazines taped back to back. One of the VFW honchos, a local judge, very quietly asked the guy to at least put away the magazines for the parade. He did.

Not sure if preoccupation was for the M-14, been 40 years since I've seen one...or knowing the guy was crazy and had them magazines tucked away. He also had a gernade on his belt and the kids all asked him if it was real...he never answered.

Looking back, I really believe the power and reverence of Taps kept the crazy guy from getting anything but sentimental.

Ron

[Southern Breeze]

It is my honor to play.

[macgreggor]

chasem,

My son just took up the trombone this year. Don't know where he got his talent from. I cannot play an instrument if my life depended on it and my dear wife, god bless her, might carry a tune if the lid was tight enough on the bucket. It is a pleasure to hear him pick up a tune in minutes and then play aroun with it in the next half hour.

To keep it on topic, I of course am kilted most of the time I am listening!

LOL

macG

[chasem]

Excellent! I love playing the trombone. It's an excellent instrument for expressing one's self. I hope your son enjoys it for years, and I hope you enjoy listening to it for those years


Kilted of course.

[tomcherv]

There are actually quite a few similarities between the instruments.

If someone learns how to play bugle calls on one, they'll be able to do it on another pretty easily. I think it's probably easier to go from Trumpet/Bugle to Trombone rather than the other way around, though. It has to do with the necessary embouchure for the two instruments - trumpet/bugle is a little more compressed.

Even though trumpet is my primary instrument, I can pick up a trombone and make a recognizable melody emerge from the bell. But, I understand the methodology behind the brass instruments and can apply it to the brass family.

(I surprised many people in my home town when I didn't become a music major in college.)