In my tagline, I mention music. I'm not a huge fan of music of all genera's like Desert Songbird, but rather, I play the flute. I'm now 30 and I started when I was in fifth grade (that would make me about 10 or 11 when I started). I've played almost continuously in that time span.
I started in beginner band, and I wanted to play the flute. B A D L Y wanted to play the flute. Why? You may ask. Because the daughter (OK this is where it gets tricky, follow me here) of the woman who my father is married to and broke up my parents marriage, played flute. (At the time when I found out she played the flute and I started to want to play, my parents were not divorced.) With the divorce and my mom having to go back to work - she had been a stay at home mom - there wasn't a lot of money. So, after renting a flute for the first year, to make sure that I was going to stick to it, I was granted the use of the flute that belonged to.... I think you get the picture.
So years pass and I go through grade school band and Jr. High band. I even went to all district in eighth grade. I wasn't a great player, but I played well enough. Then I started high school and marching band. That summer I decided that I wanted to be in Symphonic Band. That meant an audition and I had to be good. So I started lessons. All well and dandy. I didn't get into Symphonic Band. There wasn't auditions, and freshmen didn't get into Symphonic Band. But I continued lessons, and I got better for it.
The Feb of my freshman year we went to NAU for the Solo and Ensemble Festival. With my flute teacher we had prepared a solo and one of my girlfriends from school played piano as my accompaniment. I had worked hard for this, and was scared sh*tless. First time I'd ever performed in front of a judge. He had a copy of my music and listened for my tone, my tempo, if I followed the key signature and a whole host of things that you do as a musician.
I got a '3'. (1 being the highest, 4 the lowest) I was devastated. But it was fun to play in the snow and it was my first time at NAU and my first time to be on a 'field trip' with (in essence) no chaperones.
I got my 'baby' the next year, when I turned 16. My open holed flute. I was ecstatic. Granted it was only a solid silver head joint and the rest of the body and keys silver plated, but it was MINE. (Shortly after I got mine, one of the other girls got her flute, and not only was hers solid silver, but her mouthpiece was gold plated! pphhth). About this time I got into the church choir. I found out that I love performing, especially with a microphone in front of me. I wound up playing in church from that point on until I was pregnant with my son, about 10 years. I've also played in church on and off for the last five years, depending on the director and what my schedule is.
College brought two years of marching band at NAU and a two semesters of a non audition band. It was great for me. I went up as a freshman knowing nobody, and after an afternoon, knew not only a whole section, but was planning parties with that section and other sections. I had 100 new friends.
As I moved towards my degree in hotel management, time and credits became an issue and band moved out of my life. However, during the summers, I still played at church.
After I got married and was living in Las Vegas, I started to wonder if there wasn't a group out there of people who played because they liked to. Not professionally, but the band geeks from high school and college who had real jobs in the real world. Yes they did! But I didn't qualify for residency for UNLV and I wasn't about to pay out of state tuition for a band class. Good thing I didn't, because we wound up moving home in May.
Once back at home, I knew where to look. I found that GCC had an evening band class that was a community based band. The first class I took was the first class for the director. We had about 25 people there. I had a blast! That was seven years ago. With the exception of two semesters off because my teaching program met on the same night, I've been there eight years. We're almost at 100 people and each semester finds us tackling bigger and better pieces of music.
When I talk to my mom about the music, she has told me that she never imagined that I would have done what I have done with that flute. She made me promise that when I 'grew out' or 'gave up' on the flute I would sell it. I promised her, but had no intentions of selling that flute. Nor will I. Maybe some day Baby L will decide that she wants to play the flute as well.
I started in beginner band, and I wanted to play the flute. B A D L Y wanted to play the flute. Why? You may ask. Because the daughter (OK this is where it gets tricky, follow me here) of the woman who my father is married to and broke up my parents marriage, played flute. (At the time when I found out she played the flute and I started to want to play, my parents were not divorced.) With the divorce and my mom having to go back to work - she had been a stay at home mom - there wasn't a lot of money. So, after renting a flute for the first year, to make sure that I was going to stick to it, I was granted the use of the flute that belonged to.... I think you get the picture.
So years pass and I go through grade school band and Jr. High band. I even went to all district in eighth grade. I wasn't a great player, but I played well enough. Then I started high school and marching band. That summer I decided that I wanted to be in Symphonic Band. That meant an audition and I had to be good. So I started lessons. All well and dandy. I didn't get into Symphonic Band. There wasn't auditions, and freshmen didn't get into Symphonic Band. But I continued lessons, and I got better for it.
The Feb of my freshman year we went to NAU for the Solo and Ensemble Festival. With my flute teacher we had prepared a solo and one of my girlfriends from school played piano as my accompaniment. I had worked hard for this, and was scared sh*tless. First time I'd ever performed in front of a judge. He had a copy of my music and listened for my tone, my tempo, if I followed the key signature and a whole host of things that you do as a musician.
I got a '3'. (1 being the highest, 4 the lowest) I was devastated. But it was fun to play in the snow and it was my first time at NAU and my first time to be on a 'field trip' with (in essence) no chaperones.
I got my 'baby' the next year, when I turned 16. My open holed flute. I was ecstatic. Granted it was only a solid silver head joint and the rest of the body and keys silver plated, but it was MINE. (Shortly after I got mine, one of the other girls got her flute, and not only was hers solid silver, but her mouthpiece was gold plated! pphhth). About this time I got into the church choir. I found out that I love performing, especially with a microphone in front of me. I wound up playing in church from that point on until I was pregnant with my son, about 10 years. I've also played in church on and off for the last five years, depending on the director and what my schedule is.
College brought two years of marching band at NAU and a two semesters of a non audition band. It was great for me. I went up as a freshman knowing nobody, and after an afternoon, knew not only a whole section, but was planning parties with that section and other sections. I had 100 new friends.
As I moved towards my degree in hotel management, time and credits became an issue and band moved out of my life. However, during the summers, I still played at church.
After I got married and was living in Las Vegas, I started to wonder if there wasn't a group out there of people who played because they liked to. Not professionally, but the band geeks from high school and college who had real jobs in the real world. Yes they did! But I didn't qualify for residency for UNLV and I wasn't about to pay out of state tuition for a band class. Good thing I didn't, because we wound up moving home in May.
Once back at home, I knew where to look. I found that GCC had an evening band class that was a community based band. The first class I took was the first class for the director. We had about 25 people there. I had a blast! That was seven years ago. With the exception of two semesters off because my teaching program met on the same night, I've been there eight years. We're almost at 100 people and each semester finds us tackling bigger and better pieces of music.
When I talk to my mom about the music, she has told me that she never imagined that I would have done what I have done with that flute. She made me promise that when I 'grew out' or 'gave up' on the flute I would sell it. I promised her, but had no intentions of selling that flute. Nor will I. Maybe some day Baby L will decide that she wants to play the flute as well.
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