MFfan

My dad was a pro reed player and had a combo (day job also) Started on clarinet in 7th grade, quickly found not my personality , nor had finger dexterity for it or playing good piano. Switched to cornet (dad bought a committee model)sadly gone! Played in MSU bands, VFW Band, etc. Switched to Selmer Kmodified in 60, etc. Play in fine Kalamazoo Concert Band (36yrs), Cabtown Checkers swing band, church, etc. Also am a choir singer of long duration.
Bach strad,84, Besson 8-10 cornet and trumpet, vintage Gretsch trumpet

Piccolodixie

At the age of 9 my father asked me whether I would apreciate to get a trumpet from St. Nicolaus. The night before the event, I heard my father playing an instrument and it was clear to me what my present would be.
It appeared to be a cornet, somewhat dissapointing , trumpet apeared much cooler to me .

Later that year we visited a concert of the local Fanfare in our Park and I decided to join the band and take lessens.

Because the main instrument for the Dutch Fanfare is the Flugelhorn, the most vacancies are for this instrument, so I started on Flugelhorn.

At the age of 16 I was asked to help out a dixieland youth band, because their trumpet player was ill. Since this was total new for me I had to play all music strait from sheet . A traumatic experience.

At 47 years old, I still play the cornet and flugelhorn in dixieland jazz music.

MFfan

I grew up in a musical household. My dad was a professional reed player, including Vaudeville and big bands. After getting a steady day job at Oldsmobile and WWII service in the Stars and Gripes entertainment show, he played in, or had his own combo until near his death in 84.
I started youth choir at church at 6 in 48, piano about the same time. Elementary school only had introduction to violin in those days.
In 7th grade I started on Clarinet, as my dad played one. After a year or so, I found out I didn't have the dexterity or personality for the instrument. A good friend, Jim Kot , forums member played trumpet very well even then. I don't recall the details now, but my dad got me a Martin Committee cornet and I went thru high school and college in concert, marching, pep, dixieland, etc. groups. I was
fortunate to be able to play in good concert bands ever since, both in Lansing and Kalamazoo and play in the MSU Alumni Bands for many years, suitable to my eternally limited abilities.

Inspirational credit also goes to Maynard, Don Ellis, Bill Chase, Doc,
Louis and many others.

__________________
Dave Rafferty
07 Barrington Trumpet
55 Besson 8-10 trumpet
52-55? Roth by Reynolds Cornet
73 Olds Ambassador Cornet
? Czech small bore Trumpet
Getzen 80 cornet
66 Olds Ambassador Trumpet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

barrypartake

I started off with piano lessons in the third grade and began trumpet in the 7th grade, which is the earliest that the school system introduced music to us. The trumpet just sounded cooler than the other instrument's, though truth be told, I really wanted to play percussion but was told that I didn't have the required coordination.

Barry

BlackWhite

At the age of 8,I was quietly sitting in my Primary 2 classrom in aallneighbourhood school.
Suddenly,a couple of boys knocked on the door and asked my teache permission to ask something.
They asked,"who lwould like to join the school band."
Having no idea at all what a band was,I blindly followed my friend and raised up my hand.
My wonderful and exciting journey began.

gglassmeyer

My main influence was my older brother who decided to join the high School marching band. He played sax, but 3 years later when I decided I'd like to follow in his footsteps, I chose trumpet.
Based mainly on the fact that I knew some of his friends in the trumpet section, didn't want to be in his shadow in sax land, really enjoyed Doc's playing on the Tonight Show, Louis Armstrong, and Herb Alpert also influeced my decision.

1st 3 years of high school struggled with braces smearing beeswax over them before playing. Just prior to senior year braces came off, and trumpet playing was actually fun. My band director actually stopped a rehearsal in the middle of a song to complement me on my improvement.

Combined with the braces coming off, our school had switched to a different trumpet teacher. Dick Brown was just what I needed. He is the stereotypical cool jazz cat with the deep gravely voiced "yeah man, I can dig that" lingo. He mad lessons fun and challenging. He'd do things like pull up the chart for some broadway show he'd been hired to play and say something like. "I got this show coming up and I need you to show me how to play this stuff". Then in the middle of a song, he'd say "that one's too easy" and find something harder to "torture" me with. He'd also laugh in the middle of something you'd play and he'd say "man you laid that down like Joey "elbows" Mahoney (only he'd use real Jazz musicians name I'd never heard of).

I'd also get assignement for the next week where I'd be given the name of a popular tune and the key I needed to know it in for the next week.

I didn't play anywhere other than my own home for about 10 years, until a friend called saying they needed trumpet players in their community band. Been playing there since 1993 and continue to challenge myself to find time to improve.

__________________
Greg Glassmeyer

Mark Bradley

Al Hirt!

__________________
http://jazztrpt.freeservers.com