Lesson 6/04/03

Not a bad lesson, considering I didn’t feel up to practicing all last week. In fact, I wasn’t able to pick up my horn until yesterday.

I was surprised that I was able to get the rhythm of Country Garden down on my own. I figured I was doing something wrong with the dotted eighth-notes, but when Fred played the tune for me, it sounded much like it did in my practice sessions! Yay! I’m getting better at this.

Working on high D, E, and F, Fred said that I had the embouchure down and the air and that I was getting a pretty good sound. I find the fingering to be horribly awkward, but at least when I get that right, the notes sound good. Fred seems continually amazed that I’m able to get a decent sound out of my old horn (1930s) — they play notoriously out of tune, but I’m apparently able to compensate well enough. That’s not to say that I’m completely in tune, but I at least sound in tune with myself.