Music has been important to me since before I first picked up a second-hand trumpet at the age of 13. I used to listen to my parent’s classical music collection. Whilst my peers were getting excited by the Beatles, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, etc. I was listening to all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies. I think times have moved on. Different genres are now considered cool and there is a lot of overlap between different styles.
I worked my way through the ABRSM grades achieving grade 6 by the time I left school. If I had achieved grade 8 maybe my career would have gone in a different direction. When I left school, I didn’t take any more grades, but I continued to play. Eventually I found a brass band in my 50s and could not resist playing more regularly and being a more disciplined player. I really enjoyed playing with the band.
I played in the brass band for about nine years up to the end of 2017, when other priorities meant that I couldn’t continue the commitment of weekly rehearsals. During the summer we played on outdoor bandstands in local parks, entertaining people out enjoying a picnic or just the music. We played a mix of marches, classical, and music from film and theatre. Later in the year, we played at Remembrance Day services and then we were into our Christmas season with concerts and carol services and playing carols at retail locations.
One of the most rewarding performances was at the bandstand in Bournemouth Lower Gardens one Sunday evening. It was an evening performance rather than afternoon and the bandstand was rather grand. It was fully enclosed but the whole of the front would fold back, opening the bandstand to the gardens below. We accessed the bandstand through a back door. As the band was settling to play to only a few people in the gardens, I went to close the door. A rather scruffy man came up to me, clearly homeless. “Please, don’t close the doors! The other bands do that, and we can’t hear the music.” he requested. “We want to listen.” He turned and pointed to a row of homeless men seated on the bench behind the bandstand. I think they were embarrassed to go into the gardens in front of the bandstand but were happy to sit behind where they were less conspicuous. I left the door open and took my place, humbled by the request. At the end of each piece there was enthusiastic applause from behind us.
A brass band consists of cornets, flugelhorn, tenor horns, baritones, euphoniums, trombones, and basses. I started playing cornet and eventually advanced to the front row. Then we lost our bass player and I switched to play the Eb bass. Instead of playing the melody line I now played the bass line. The switch wasn’t too difficult. The fingering for both is the same, although the Bass has a 4th valve to help keep the notes in tune in the lower register. I loved the switch. At first, I played quite quietly. I wasn’t used to producing the volume of air required for these larger instruments. Gradually I got louder and more confident. What a great instrument! The band gained a couple more bass players, so I could have switched back to my cornet, but I was having too much fun.
A couple of highlights from 2016 was when the band was invited to make a summer tour of Vendee in France. We played two or three concerts and added a French flavour by including Marche Lorraine in the repertoire. Then later in the year we entered a brass band contest and won some silverware. We were the new kids on the contesting scene, and I think the judges gave us an award for being plucky enough to turn up.
At the end of 2017, other commitments meant I had to curtail my brass playing. The band went on to even greater achievements after I left. But then covid hit and lockdown made things very difficult for a lot of bands. An interesting development was zoom and virtual band performances. Technology enabled band players to record their parts remotely using a metronome and headphones to keep in time. These recordings would then be collated and mixed to create a full band recording on YouTube.
Gradually over this past couple of years, I’ve been working on getting back into shape. My old band have lent me one of their Eb basses and I already had my old cornet. I have also purchased a cheap, 2nd hand tenor horn. With just those three instruments I have been able to create my own virtual brass band making use of digital technology to record four-part harmony. So far, I have mostly kept it simple, recording hymn tunes lasting between 30 seconds to 1 minute.
However, the most ambitious recording I attempted was the march, Slaidburn. It is a standard march written by William Rimmer. It’s a well-known piece in the brass band world. Virtually every brass band in the country will have this march in its repertoire. Rimmer’s recommended tempo was 112-116 beats per minute. So, I set my electronic metronome to 112 and had that beat playing in my ear as I attempted each part. I restricted myself to just 3 instruments: cornet, tenor horn, and Eb bass. The result was quite a stripped back version and not entirely error free, but recognisable. I would have loved to include the euphonium and trombone parts, but I don’t have those instruments available to me and I can’t play the trombone – I can make a sound, but I’ve never learnt where to position the slide.
Recently I’ve had some advice on how to improve my playing in just one week! I’m usually sceptical if anyone offers me shortcuts to achieve progress, but I thought I would suspend my scepticism and give it a go.
Three things were suggested: first, play long notes. This is sound advice and I remember being told this from my playing days. Two or three ten-minute sessions of playing long, quiet notes every day for a week will see improvement it is promised. Second, breath intake and control. Breath is where the energy comes from to produce the sound. The aim should be to produce a long column of air. This is done by expanding the stomach, not the chest, when breathing in and filling the lungs from the bottom up, without hunching the shoulders. This is how energy and power are produced and is clearly linked to the first point of playing long notes. Finally, practise needs to be practise. This means techniques like long notes and scales. This needs to take precedence over simply repeat playing of tunes that are familiar.
I have given this a go over the past week. I have found these three steps to be helpful. The tone I produce has improved as has the confidence that I can hit the note I am aiming for first time.
My local church has recently asked me and others to play carols with a group pulled together just for this one performance. They plan on switching on the lights for their Christmas decorations. I have done this for the last two years. Its quite straight forward, but none of the band has time for any rehearsal other than possibly an hour before the performance. I have made one or two attempts at convening a rehearsal, but everyone has busy lives. So, each player must prepare on their own and we’ll see how it goes on the night. It’s not as though we don’t know the tunes.
So, music will continue to be a passion for me and a way of connecting with others. I am grateful that I can still play and that I am still improving.
Stephen's Wildlife 