Who was your teacher?

[AggieDan]

This post has been interesting... it makes me wonder how much of an outlier my experience is for an active adult player.
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The long story short... is I never actually had any formal musical training...
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Any other self learners on here????????

I can't say to this day that I've ever "taken lessons". Definitely not from anyone outside of classroom instruction. I'm sure it's led to some deeply ingrained bad habits, combined with minimal understanding of "music theory" but it gives me a n excuse to leave the house and interact with people and I enjoy it, especially being able to play along side my spouse (the arguments sometimes scare the clarinets, but the trombones enjoy it).

Reading both of your experiences does kind of mirror my own. I did post about my home town band directors. But, I was mostly just treated as a good self learner.

It was enough to make all-region band and later first chair in the Associate of Texas Small School Bands All State Band its first year in existence. The idea being that kids in small schools generally don't just do one thing. They become a jack of all trades. Which was true for me. I kinda did One Act Play one year. I did football and cross country through 9th, basketball through 10th, and track through 11th. I did Ready Writing, Number Sense, Calculator Applications, General Mathematics, and Science competitions. And Student Council. And lastly, band. Senior year, I even became drum major. So, I was kind of the typical do everything kid with varying degrees of success. But, never a specialist. You practiced. You got better. Or you didn't. That was pretty much it.

I went to Texas A&M University and was 1st chair in the University Symphonic Band. Granted, there were no music majors or minors at the school. So, it was little more than folks holding on to the habit of playing in band. Good players. Good music. But, nothing to compare to a dedicated music school. After I failed out of school, I didn't touch a horn for more than a decade.

Then (and I kid you not) I was talking to a friend in the middle of a bachelor party at a strip club and we got to talking about his plans for the weekend. And he said he had drum corps practice. I knew he was WELL above the age for DCI and he told me about the wonderfully obscure world of all age drum and bugle corps. The next day I was there. Their contra line was full, but would I be willing to play baritone? Sure!

It was a G bugle. The music was in treble clef. I saw a B, converted that to G, mentally played an F, and heard a D. One guy dropped from the contra line (that became his habit) and they offered me the spot. I spent 3 years marching with them and then my wife at the time was pregnant with my daughter.

Fast forward to the divorce back in 2018 and I bought the Allora so I could get back into playing. 2 years ago, I finally started playing with the local Frisco Community Band and am now going to start playing with a group called "Joyful Noise" out of McKinney. We'll see.

But, yeah. No real formal education. Just show up, practice, and people are just generally glad to have a semi-competent tuba player show up that knows how to play in tune most of the time. My kids have to learn some basic music theory. Yeah, no freaking clue.

I'm not a tubist. I'm a BBb tuba player. If you stuck a different pitched horn in my hands and gave me the music, I'll show up the next day with everything transposed using Musescore so I can just play it like a BBb tuba. Yes, even trumpet music.

But, you learn something from everyone you play with or under. I've done a ton of church choirs, hung out with Shriners sometimes filling in for them at the Texas State Fair Parade, played in some churches for holidays. I did musical theatre for a few years and was a karaoke patron then later karaoke DJ. Intonation, blending, color, projection, breathing, and just generally "sounding good" happens in all music. And so I've picked up tid-bits over the years from the hundreds of folks I've performed with.

And the only time folks (other than the ex-wife) are disappointed I show up are bass trombonists that don't get to cover the tuba part.

[Jim Williams]

I'd like to jump in here next to Tony's mention of Gary Tirey, my first tuba teacher!


I miss Gary a lot! I always enjoyed my visits to Otterbein & Cap. Got to spend some time with your father, too!
Jim