9th Grade Band Reflection

Theo Carr -
Beginning of year goals - This year, I really hope to take my playing ability to the next level. I know I am O.K. right now, but I know I can be a lot better. I just have to put in the time and effort. By June, there are several specific things I want to work on. I would like to be able to tongue faster and more efficiently. I am good at tonguing moderate tempo pieces, but I struggle tonguing faster. In Semper Fidelis there were some sections I couldn't play as well as I wanted to simply because I couldn't tongue fast enough, and when I did, I couldn't get the rhythm right or line it up with my fingers. I also want to learn to double tongue. That will make it easier to play the faster rhythms. Another thing I want to improve is my tone quality. It has been really nice at some points, but this year it hasn't been that great. I don't think I am supporting it well enough. I was inspired by the tone of the first trumpets in wind ensemble at the fall concert, and I want to improve my tone quality so I can get to that point hopefully within the next two years. Another goal that I have is to memorize all of the fingerings from high G to low C. I think this is a very simple goal, but it will benefit me greatly if I am able to achieve it. One final goal I have for this year is to be more in tune with the other trumpets. I would estimate we are out of tune eighty-five percent of the time, so during the time we have to warm up it would be a good use of our time to get ourselves in tune with the people sitting in our vicinity. So these are my goals, and I hope to achieve them by June!

Reflection - This has probably been the best year in band in my career. I feel like I did improve a lot. I am now able to play pieces that have faster tempos, which I attribute to the increased difficulty of the pieces we have played recently. Although I haven't learned to double tongue, I feel like I will be able to if I put my mind to it My tone quality has gotten better, but what has increased more has been my emphasis on accents and paying attention to dynamics. I haven't quite mastered all of the fingerings from high G to low C, but I am pretty sure I can recall a fingering without looking at the trumpet book if I have time to think. I think the trumpet section was in tune more and more of the time as the year went on. On a personal level, I figured out how to make the sound more sharp or flat using my ambature. This helped me to adjust my pitch. I still need to work on figuring out if I am sharp or flat (or whether I am in tune or not) without the tuner, however. To reiterate, this has been a great year, but there is always room for improvement. Hopefully I don't forget everything over the summer.