Lesson 5/14/03

Wiped the Little Brown Jug off of my list — the original tune isn’t hard, but the variation in the book is a bit of a challenge. I’m still not so good with my tonguing and fingers that I can play sixteenth notes as fast as they should be played — thereby slowing down the entire song.

Fred and I ended up talking most of the time about tuning. I was trying to play the G/B/D/high G/high B arpeggio, when my high B started sounding horribly out of tune. I messed around a bit, and then Fred had a try with my horn. Finally he took out his tuner (he hates tuners, but they do serve a purpose now and then), and had me move my mouthpiece in and out until we got the right sound. At least I now know that at least some of the notes can be played in tune.

I’m going to continue working on the Dance from the Nutcracker Suite. Also he introduced the high D, E, and F. Those are played with the ball of the hand, which seems quite awkward right now. Fred says it’s not as awkward as it seems, but that’s easy for someone to say who’s been playing for as long as he has.