I was talking to a band director friend last night and we got on the subject of stage fright. I said that I thought most folks would use their performance nerves/fear as a way to focus on the music while on stage, therefore putting forth a more accurate, musical result. He suggested that many players […]
Archives for November 2017
The People You Meet – Thanksgiving 2017 Version
You never know who you’re going to meet at a party, or what their hidden talents might be. It’s always interesting to hear some people’s stories after they learn I’m a musician. Most will tell me they used to play an instrument in high school or college. Others will say they have no musical abilities, […]
The Great Stalactite Organ of Luray Caverns
Virginia’s Luray Caverns (http://luraycaverns.com/discover/caverns), discovered in 1878, is home to many unusual sights, but for visitors interested in music, the Great Stalacpipe Organ is a major highlight. It has been featured on “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” and is an excellent way to hear the resonance of the caverns. The area’s greatest draw is the […]
Performing ‘Taps’ for Veterans Day Amid Distraction
Veterans Day (https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/) was last week, but I continue to think about what it means to play trumpet for a crowd of veterans and vet-supporting families. Military personnel are all over Washington, D.C., and those who have served or are currently serving our country have no more presence to American civilians than here in the […]
Common Musical Slang
We musicians can sometimes be a strange bunch. Take the lingo: We throw around words like “gig,” “axe,” “riff,” and lots of other slang terms for musical events and items. If you are not used to it, this specialized vocabulary can be as confusing as a webmaster talking about search engine optimization, or a writer […]