Blue Horn Project

About three weeks.

That, for me, was how long to get to the point where I felt like I was playing tunes instead of struggling through exercises. The violin is truly the outlier here. It took six months to be in enough control of the bow and the fretting to think about assaying a tune.

Actually, my measure is a little different and a little more subtle. It is the "arbitrary tune" measure. Strictly speaking, the tunes aren't arbitrary, but it is the point where you take something you remember and try to play it by ear. See, "Twinkle Twinkle" and similar exercise pieces are chosen and/or designed to stay within a limited scope. On the violin, that's two strings, three stops, first position only. The equivalent starter trumpet piece would put you all within the same slot, two slots at the max.

I'm working the Grand March from Aida right now (that is, the melody, by ear) because it is a lovely slotting exercise. Big sections are just dancing back and forth between slots with just the first valve going up and down. I may not be smooth at it but it isn't a "crippled" piece designed for the student.



Okay, three weeks is also my personal measure, and won't hold for everyone. I've messed around with a post horn and blew a few notes once. I've worked with recorder and crumhorn and penny whistle so tonguing a note is already second nature, I have the breath control, and it is just one more set of fingering to memorize. For that matter, two of those instruments are overblow instruments.

Which is not exactly the same as changing partials on the trumpet. You do have to blow harder, but that is due to the real change you are making; pursing your lips tighter. After all, even I already have a two-octave range, with all the accidentals, and there's only three valves. The rest is all by changing partials.





Incidentally, the Bodhran was something like thirty minutes to find the basic stroke, and three hours to start the triplet going. I've put in about ten hours on it at this point. Unlike the trumpet and violin I don't have to take rest breaks to recover.

That's the terrible secret to trumpet, as it is with adult violin. Your lips simply do not last. When I started I could only practice for five minutes at a stretch. I'm up to fifteen now, but I can only do that two or three times a day. So looking at the number of days spent is not a good measure of the hours expended.

Oh, yeah, and I've cleaned it thoroughly twice and I pull and clean out the valves once a week.




However. I haven't made much progress on the Khajiit piece and I'm feeling less and less skilled by the minute. Or, rather, by the YouTube video -- lately I've been watching some crazy cover bands that do 20's jazz version of 80's pop hits. I've been around musicians. I hung out with a bunch back in high school, I worked sound for years. I am nothing but envious. I can sort of knock out something on an instrument or two but I am no musician. Not yet, and from the progress so far, not ever.

(As one more plot point on the graph, I've been playing piano since I was a teen. And, no, I'm still not very good. I've learned how to practice smart, and get as much as I can out of less than ideal practice -- time, and little things like lack of access to a good practice room -- but I really don't seem to have "it.")