One of my music books came in the mail today! That probably doesn't mean much to anyone but me, but I am delighted. With the spring band sessions ending in a couple weeks, I wanted something to help me keep in playing shape, so I ordered a few books online. This that arrived today is no ordinary music book. It is one of the series I used in high school when I learned to play the bassoon. AND, it is the advanced book! The best part is as I looked through it (I haven't yet had time to actually try out its routines), I think I can actually play much of it. A year ago, I wouldn't have been able to say that. The instrument I was using was getting in the way of my progress, but the instrument I now have is allowing me to actually improve. I'll never be a virtuoso, but getting better so I can actually make music pleases me greatly.
There aren't too many places to play a bassoon. Church bands don't generally have a place for the bassoon, and I can't remember the last time I saw a rock or country band advertise for one. Almost any other instrument you can name can cross from one musical genre to another; violins, trumpets, flutes, clarinets, saxophones are found in concert bands and orchestras, in jazz bands, dixieland, big bands, and others. The bassoon? Not so much. Years ago, I had an LP of a jazz bassoonist, but that was like the instrument, a bit of an oddity. I can truly say that I play for my own enjoyment. Except for the bi-annual concert given by the New Horizons Band, my wife is the only one likely to hear me play, which is probably just as well. In another week, a couple more books I ordered should arrive, keeping me in music till band starts again next fall. There are many things for which I am thankful tonight; music is but one of them. Listening to it is nice, but making it is better, even on a bassoon. Tomorrow, after I finish the work projects I have planned, I think I'll do just that.
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