Winds Channeled into Brass

Last Thursday was an exciting day. I send my husband on a road trip to Maiden Rock, Wisconsin to pick up my French horn that I purchased online. I am more of a woodwind instrumentalist, but needing to shake up my life a little bit in the tenth grade, I took up horn as my hobby and did just fine. (Interestingly enough, the round, reflective bell of the horn also enabled me to spy on the boy I admired sitting behind me in band without turning around). I played a little horn in college off and on, but not much, and I haven't played since because I did not have a horn. So when my studio enrollment for summer music lessons boomed, I decided to obtain a good used double French horn for my own enjoyment and to demonstrate brass instruments during my preschool music class.

I hadn't ever had the priveledge of playing on a double horn before, and I love it! All the previous instruments I played were dusty, moldy beat up things, but my new acquisition had a chemical bath at the repair shop I bought it from, and it plays beautifully. It is so much easier to play the double horn because the extensions of the range are much, much easier to reach and the low and high notes both sound more solid and full. After my children are sleeping I pull out the horn and play away (mostly hymns right now because it's easy to tell if my notes are accurate since I have to relearn several fingerings for the double horn that were different on the single . . . but I am planning on tackling Mozart soon.) My husband just shakes his head, but even he has to agree that the French horn is a beautiful sounding mellow instrument.

While my husband was driving across Wisconsin to get the horn, I happened to attend my backyard neighbor's garage sale, and lo and behold, along with four wheel pink roller skates and some clothes for Sarah I came across an excellent trumpet in a moldy case for a very reasonable price. I couldn't resist and I got that too. It hasn't been practiced as much as the French horn, and I sound pretty terrible at it, but what fun!!!!! I need to get a different case, and I think the trumpet needs a bath, but it was a very exciting garage sale find.

Some people collect knick knacks. I have a passion for musical instruments.