When the Instrument Selects You
Heading back into school is a great time to go over a few reminders to welcome our newest Band members. Trying out instruments is kind of like putting on the Harry Potter sorting hat or heading to Olivanders to get the perfect wand; it’s best when the instrument selects you! Students will know it’s “the one”, when the instrument feels easy to play, and it just feels “right”. Plus, you will love the sound of “your” instrument. It’s important to remember that each instrument is unique and fun, and there are lots of things to consider as we explore and figure things out. Your musical interest and ability, your personality, and even physical characteristics like your jaw line, lip shape and hand size all help us to find the best instrument for each student. Family choice will always be considered but playing what you already own may not always be the best option for success. It is important that everyone keeps an open mind as we figure things out, as students explore playing at least three instruments. Just like sports teams have different positions, Bands need proportional numbers of different instruments to balance the overall sound of the Band. Each instrument and Band member will need to fit into the grand scheme of things, as we build our Band’s instrumentation together.
It is also important that parents wait to get an instrument until after you have met with the director. Avoid buying used instruments from random sources such as Amazon, pawn shops/eBay, until you learn what time tested, quality brand names and models you should shop for. Consider this purchase as important to your child’s success in Band as the purchase of a vehicle is to your family’s safety; you do a lot of research before purchasing a car. Sometimes what appears to be a great deal on a brand-new instrument is really just a fake–it’s really just a shiny toy that is being sold as a real instrument! You can be sure that if the instrument you are considering comes in a “fun color” or is sold “with a pair white gloves to wear while playing”, it is likely NOT a REAL instrument–and you are getting ready to waste your money on a scam.
Flute
- tones are produced by being able to focus an extremely small airstream to an exact location on the tone hole
- flute points out to the right side of the player, so you can’t “look” at your fingers while playing the flute–this can be a little frustrating at first
Clarinet
- to play a clarinet, you have to be able to make your chin flat, and cover the holes in the keys
- clarinet sound comes from blowing into a mouthpiece with a wooden reed on it
Saxophone
- the saxophone is held up by a neck strap; students need to sit up straight with the weight of the sax around their neck (not resting it on the chair)
- saxophone sound comes from blowing into a mouthpiece with a wooden reed on it
Trumpet/Cornet
- the sound on a trumpet is produced by vibrating (buzzing) the lips inside a small mouthpiece
- Finger positions are repeated in low, middle and upper ranges, with adjustments to your lips and breathing, to change the pitch
Horn
- the horn’s sound is produced by vibrating the lips inside similar to a trumpet, but it’s a little more challenging because the partials (between the notes) are closer together
- Horn players need to be GREAT at matching pitches by humming or singing; studying piano or choral lessons helps develop the ear that horn players need to be successful
Trombone
- like the french horn, trombone players need good “musical ears” to play the correct notes
- trombone is played like the other brass instruments (buzzing the lips), but uses a slide instead of valves
Baritone/Euphonium
- euphonium (you-PHONE-knee-yum) or baritone looks like a small version of a tuba; the sound is similar to that of a trombone, but it uses valves like a trumpet (instead of a slide)
- JFH and BHS will provide euphoniums for students to use in Band
Tuba
- tuba provides the musical foundation for the Band’s sound–tuba is the base of the sound pyramid
- JFHMS and BHS Bands provide tubas for students in our Bands, including a choice of ¾ sized tubas
Percussion
- percussion includes anything you hit with your hand or a stick or mallet, including mallet instruments (bells, xylophone and marimba), along with snare, bass, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, woodblock, maracas, claves, cabasa and timpani, and many other percussion instruments
- Students will not be playing the drum set until the spring of their first year in Band
