When I was a mere tyke I knew that I would become a brass band director. In our home we had a hard bound catalog of jewelry, silverware and musical instruments. My dad and I, seated in his lap, would go through the book marveling at the 'bling' printed on slick paper with richly colored red and blue backgrounds. It was captivating. My dad would point out the various brass instruments and tell me stories of his days in the Brown School Band. His uncle Willy Butler was the director of the Brown School Band. When one went to a particular school back in the early 1900's one played in that band all the rest of his days.
I majored in BAND in high school: nothing else meant very much to me. Perhaps some of my classmates thought otherwise since the phrase "Don't wake me unless it's a woman" was entered by my senior picture in the Smith County Annual in 1958.
We held a Spring Festival every year that culminated the fund raising drive for the music program budget. The school board did not provide significant funding for band programs. My Junior year I performed "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" at the Spring Festival. My knees were shaking so badly that my mother thought that a breeze was blowing my pant legs. It was the time of the "White Sport Coat and Pink Carnations." My coat was white linen and my pants were black: my mom would have nothing for me if not the best.
My college experiences were not remarkable for the most part. I was playing a Baritone, also known as a Tenor Tuba or Euphonium. It serves the lower end of the horn voice: just below the French Horn and just above the Tuba. It is assigned the counter point to the higher brass and the woodwinds. The Baritone was occasionally given a significant part such as in the works of Gustav Holst. (Suite in E flat for Military Band for example)
In my freshman year I was just beginning to come around to the facts that one needed to exert a modicum of effort to succeed in college. We were trying to master a difficult band piece by Jenkins: sorry I can't remember the title but I do remember the difficult baritone part. Our band director was holding "section practice" to see who could play their parts. I had practiced and 'aced' the session. My compatriot, a senior, did not do very well.
All things changed at TPI the following year and we struggled through the next eighteen months. Then my senior year began.
We were involved in student teaching in the elementary and high schools around Cookeville, TN. I loved every level and every experience with the young students. We were also involved in 'teaching' on the college level. I sub'd for the Music Appreciation Professor and for the Putnam County High School Band Director. We were also required to make arrangements for and to conduct the TPI Band as well as the chorus in concert. My penchant for self destruction emerged I guess, since I chose the most obscure and difficult pieces I could find.
The highlight of my senior year was the performance by the TPI chorus of a piece by Strauss that had to do with the lyrics; "Swirl out the canvas favoring winds." It was a soaring piece that could be done with piano or without: I chose a Capella! My instructor, Dr Walter Wade and my peers were surprised because it was a big risk.
We were performing in the Derryberry Auditorium that had just been renovated: we had been practicing in a band room. The acoustics in the auditorium were much superior. and the 'live' auditorium enhanced our sound. The chorus 'got to feeling it!' They exceeded everyone's expectations, and I was thrilled with their performance. The audience gave us a wonderful round of applause, and I was pleased as were the chorus members.
I cannot relate the euphoria of that brief moment. I could have done a back flip off the podium. It was the highlight of my college experience. It's still a great memory even after fifty (yes - fifty) years!
I majored in BAND in high school: nothing else meant very much to me. Perhaps some of my classmates thought otherwise since the phrase "Don't wake me unless it's a woman" was entered by my senior picture in the Smith County Annual in 1958.
We held a Spring Festival every year that culminated the fund raising drive for the music program budget. The school board did not provide significant funding for band programs. My Junior year I performed "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" at the Spring Festival. My knees were shaking so badly that my mother thought that a breeze was blowing my pant legs. It was the time of the "White Sport Coat and Pink Carnations." My coat was white linen and my pants were black: my mom would have nothing for me if not the best.
My college experiences were not remarkable for the most part. I was playing a Baritone, also known as a Tenor Tuba or Euphonium. It serves the lower end of the horn voice: just below the French Horn and just above the Tuba. It is assigned the counter point to the higher brass and the woodwinds. The Baritone was occasionally given a significant part such as in the works of Gustav Holst. (Suite in E flat for Military Band for example)
In my freshman year I was just beginning to come around to the facts that one needed to exert a modicum of effort to succeed in college. We were trying to master a difficult band piece by Jenkins: sorry I can't remember the title but I do remember the difficult baritone part. Our band director was holding "section practice" to see who could play their parts. I had practiced and 'aced' the session. My compatriot, a senior, did not do very well.
All things changed at TPI the following year and we struggled through the next eighteen months. Then my senior year began.
We were involved in student teaching in the elementary and high schools around Cookeville, TN. I loved every level and every experience with the young students. We were also involved in 'teaching' on the college level. I sub'd for the Music Appreciation Professor and for the Putnam County High School Band Director. We were also required to make arrangements for and to conduct the TPI Band as well as the chorus in concert. My penchant for self destruction emerged I guess, since I chose the most obscure and difficult pieces I could find.
The highlight of my senior year was the performance by the TPI chorus of a piece by Strauss that had to do with the lyrics; "Swirl out the canvas favoring winds." It was a soaring piece that could be done with piano or without: I chose a Capella! My instructor, Dr Walter Wade and my peers were surprised because it was a big risk.
We were performing in the Derryberry Auditorium that had just been renovated: we had been practicing in a band room. The acoustics in the auditorium were much superior. and the 'live' auditorium enhanced our sound. The chorus 'got to feeling it!' They exceeded everyone's expectations, and I was thrilled with their performance. The audience gave us a wonderful round of applause, and I was pleased as were the chorus members.
I cannot relate the euphoria of that brief moment. I could have done a back flip off the podium. It was the highlight of my college experience. It's still a great memory even after fifty (yes - fifty) years!
