kadleck

Just curious - was there a specific artist/concert/recording that got you into music? Anything from an inspirational band director to hearing "Kind of Blue".

What gave me the bug was: my first trumpet teacher back in Binghamton, NY (Bernard Shifrin), and when I first heard "MF Horn 2" in 1978 (hey, we all start somewhere!).

Ideas?

Bloomin Untidy Musician

I am the proverbial "stray" sheep from a family of mechanics, and engineers. At the age of 12 i was asked by my music teacher if i wanted to play an instrument. I was not sure, so i went home to consider it for the weekend. During the Sat/Sun afternoon i watched an old black and white movie which had Louis Armstrong in it. After i saw how he played i thought, yea, i wanna play the trumpet. So i went back on the Monday and sorted it out with the music teacher. My first trumpet was a rusty, bent, stinking old Boosey + Hawkes trumpet which come in a shabby cardboard like case. Oddly i taken a like to that instrument. I cleaned it, had it shining and taken a great deal of pride in it.
Another defining moment in my life, was probably the first time that i ever listened to a piece of classical music (by listening i mean concentrated, not wallpaper music). Being a boy from the country, i was completely ignorant of this music. My parents listened to Country and Western which i bloomin hated. Anyhow, the first pieces i heard was the Sorcerers Apprentice, Vltava, and Copland's Rodeo. My hairs stood on end when i heard this music, although i didn't perhaps realise it at the time something had clicked. I developed an obsession for classical music, and staunchly refused to listen to anything else during my teenage years. Of my own accord i read about the great composers and treasured tape recordings my music teachers gave me. One of these tapes had Debussy L Apres midi .......(you know the one) on it. I heard this piece for the first time around 14/15 and was completely blown away by it; i had never experienced a sound world like it.


The shame is, after studying a wide range of music i will possibly never hear music with fresh ears again.

Now there is a question, can knowledge spoil your enjoyment of music?


Thanks for a question not related to equipment Tony. I am bored of all these old trumpet threads (without wishing to offend anyone).

Cheers


B.U.M

cl7307

i was nine years old, lived in phila.,and a boy in the next block who was about 3 years older than i played trumpet.i looked up to him as younger kid to a older kid will.his father was the asst. cubmaster in the pack i belonged to.my mother asked about a teacher.the teacher came to the house and brought a lafayette trumpet with him.i must say it was not great but good enough for a nine year old to learn on.that was in 1944.lesson were $3.00.my first lesson was to try to blow the horn!!ha,ha.the first song i learned to play was the hymn "abide with me ". in 1948 my dad took and bought me a new conn coprion.two tone horn.rose gold from the valves to the bell.in 1950 we moved to bensalem twp.just across phila city line.the school board there paid my tuition to mastbaum vo--tech high school.they had a very good elementry music course.at that time i switched teachers and studied with harold rerich who played third chair with the phila.,orchestra.in mastbaum i had the honor of playing between tony marchione and teddy curson.in the same class was henry grimes,sam reed,benny campbell and ray deely.they went on to greater things. i became a weekend warrior.long story,huh!! but i had my day in the sun !!!

Fluffy615

I remember as a little kid watching Herb Alpert on TV with my parents and I said I want to play that. I had some good music teachers in school that helped to motivate me. My high school band director was great. He was a Broadway vet among other things. He was a trombone player and great arranger named Bill Caiazza. I got a chance to play a lot in hs and it just made me want to play more.
When I told my dad that I liked jazz he went out and bought me a Glenn Miller album. He immediately told me about Harry James. I was an early Doc Severinsen fan. But once I heard Maynard play MacArthur Park I was hooked!!
Bob

__________________
Live Long and Prosper

The black is the notes, the white is the page.....play the black!!

cl7307

i remember seeing maynard in 1950-51? at the click nightclub in philly at a rehersal when he was with stan kenton.my teacher took me there for me to hear. his mf horn albums are great.i just picked up one "the upper stratsphere " just typical maynard!

kadleck

That's a good question. I think that it can if we approach things from a technical aspect too often. I'm always amazed when people put on music "just for background noise". I could NEVER do that. I'm always analyzing chords and melodies. Maybe someday I'll just learn to have it on in the background without picking it apart.

ecarroll

Tony,

(true story) it was a door-to-door salesman (think "Music Man") from Lyon & Healy in Chicago selling music lessons. I said "clarinet" and he thought I said "cornet". At 6 who was I to argue?

Ren Schilke, my first teacher, helped as well.

Best,
EC

kadleck

Wow...that's pretty good company! Not too shabby.

kadleck

Hmm...that name sounds familiar...

That is a great story Ed!

hornblatt

I was a failed pianist....

I started piano lessons when I was 5 and I was pretty good. I think I learned to read music before I learned math. When I was 7 I got so frustrated because, as good as I had been with one hand melodies and such, the whole two hands doing two different things at once thing really threw me. So one day when my grandmother(who I recently learned had been a music teacher and clarinetist) was there, I started practicing piano. She could obviously tell I was getting mad so she went downstairs, dug up my father's old trumpet, came back up and said "try this, it only takes one hand." she taught me three scales that day (c, d, and e) and I played that horn (Bach 72/43*, 1 1/2C mpc) untill two years ago. No one could ever fully understand how I made a noise on that thing when I was 7...

The first trumpet player I ever listened to a recording of was Maurice Andre. I've never wondered where I got my concept of sound.

__________________
Annie Lemieux
2006 ITG youth competition WINNER