Text 299, 92 rader
Skriven 2006-03-25 16:20:06 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 283 av James Bradley (1:134/77.0)
Ärende: Music...  1.
====================
Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  And then there's the clarinet player with the dictionary
AH>  in her purse

JB>  I would first suspect a viola, or violinist, but I guess
JB>  in a pinch... <L>


          Yes, I see what you mean!  Perhaps it's time to post a message I was
holding in reserve because you seemed to need a break from all the stuff about
temperament.  In the Hoffnung cartoon I referred to there, the clarinet player
is male & is carrying a dictionary in his pocket.  In another of my favourites
the English horn is laying an egg as the player blows into the other end.  :-)



JB>  Never the oboe. I've heard their craniums shake with
JB>  the lower registers.


          I took oboe lessons for a year, so I think I'm qualified to poke fun
at oboe players too!  Many oboe players seem to be quite unconventional... and
the common wisdom has it that the back pressure affects the brain.  While they
do tend to "march to a different drummer", however, I can relate... [chuckle].



JB>  While everyone was blaming their hang-nails, and new
JB>  cream-rinse...


          Old saying... the poor workman blames his tools.  :-)



JB>  While practicing trap, (That's the hip name for drum
JB>  set work.)


          I remember that, now that you mention it....  8-)



JB>  I was asked to 'perform' for company.


          Blechh.  I wouldn't do it.  I don't audition either....  :-)



JB>  "Don't you know how to play Marry Had A Little Lamb?"
                                 |"Mary", i.e. unless s/he was into some
                                  perversion I don't know about....  ;-)

JB>  I'm still at a loss for a drum set score for the nursery
JB>  rhyme. Years later, I worked up a solo introduction based
JB>  on Warner Brothers cartoon theme music, performed on traps.


          Oh, very clever!  And why not??  These cartoons have popular appeal,
which is exactly what's needed in such a situation... [chuckle].

          I'm reminded of the occasion when a primary teacher asked me to play
THE MARCH OF THE THREE KINGS as background music for her class contribution to
the school Christmas pageant.  (No sweat.  I could hide in the wings, which is
where I like to be whenever I can't hide in the orchestra pit.  If you haven't
already guessed... I'm an introvert.  I can read anything, and I find it quite
funny how classical musicians panic at the sight of a piece of music they have
never heard before.  But as to memorizing or improvising... that's where other
folks get a chance to laugh at me!)  The teacher then asked if I'd pay a visit
to her class & show the students the clarinet.  (Sure, I'd be glad to.)  After
I'd arrived, however, she asked if I could play something else for the kids...
and there I was with no score.  (Oops!!)  I did manage to play TWINKLE TWINKLE
LITTLE STAR by ear, with all the right notes.  That's about my limit....  :-))



JB>  Of all things, I imagine not holding a melody line an
JB>  asset. <ROTF>


          Yes, I can see why!  I do know the second clarinet part for the Bray
arrangement of GOD SAVE THE QUEEN by memory.  But it's boring, especially when
the other parts aren't there.  I can play only one note at a time.  You, OTOH,
probably have all the makings of a one-man band except for the harmonica.  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)