my progress

john · Post by **john** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:08 pm

Dissapointed myself over the past weekend.

Just completed an open air contest in Scotland.... Until the last 3 days I was spot on with most of the work involved... guess I put too much practice into it prior to the contest as I knew my lips were shot a day before... Although I made no major mistakes high notes were missed and runs were not as smooth as I knew I was able to do them. Maybe it was nerves or maybe simply that my shirt coller was too tight as I appeared to be struggling for air at times..... Our overall performance won us the section title but its so annoying on a personal level that I never achieved my own goals on the day.

then had a few to drink and attempted to play Hootananny with the mass bands which was fun !

so the day wasn't wasted after all.
Wonder what older generations from my banding history would make of it, mind you they were all toughened miners from the crookhall and morrison busty pits so I guess they would also have had a tiple or two back in the days.
The bandsmen from those pits played chrystal palace in the 30's for the "Thousand Guineas" trophy.... A time when the mass bands was probably a much more honerable event both in deportment and content I guess.
I will probably try to stay more sober next year.

Chrystal Palace mass bands

john · Post by **john** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:09 pm

Whoops!

I wont do that again

Took a big gamble at the local Slow Melody competition. It diddnt work.

I played the solo I had be arranging myself with guitar accompaniment. The middle section was suposed to be nothing more than a counter melody.... but , the pace picked up, I Froze with fear and started pumping out garbage....however as the gutarist was using jazz chords people thought it was suposed to be that way, however painful to the ears.

Think I'll do something like Misty next year.

Many thanks to the guitarist for giving it his best though.. Quite nerve racking to go against the established grain in this way.

However, out of a field of 12 I was placed 9th ..... You never know, one more year might make all the difference.

anyway....... 1st and 2nd place went to players from my own band !!!! Hooray

3rd place to Whitburn's Solo Horn.
4th our band again.

john · Post by **john** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:23 pm

NOTE:

If anyone picked up my practice folder (its yellow) at the Solo Competition please let me know, its took qite a while to piece together all those photocopies. It also contained the solo I played., you can't mis it. its big, yellow with lots of music inside that you have never seen.

cheers.