"But we were on a break!"

Today I'm supposed to give a trombone demo in my Physics of Musical Sound class. The only thing is that I haven't played trombone since November and haven't actually PRACTICED trombone since maaaybe about August (don't remember if I played much after tour, I was pretty burnt out).

So last night I decided to lug the axe over to a practice room and give it a go. Luckily the thing kind of still functions (the trigger is kind of borked...), but man was I bad. I thought I'd maybe still have a little bit of the edge I used to have when I played it, but response was killing me, and the range (which was already bad) was not there. And it started to hurt to play after about 30 minutes.

Dammit, I miss having the time to practice a lot so that actually playing trombone would be FUN. Junior year I practiced a lot and thus played really well and had a lot of fun.

Senior year I practiced about half of what I did junior year and didn't have as much fun because I'd really really be hurting after rehearsals.

Last November when I was preparing for drum corps auditions I practiced trombone a lot and thought I was nearly as good as I used to be, and luckily it was good enough for me to keep going with drum corps. The summer rolls along and while it still hurt to play, I think I just learned to forget about it (sort of like what you do with the physical pain of doing the show: forget about it and just enjoy yourself).

Then this fall I don't practice at all and I end up hurting a lot in Kiltie Band... and not really having a lot of fun playing. Of course I don't play in anything this semester because Kiltie Band is NOT something worth getting good for, because no one else will, but I'm sure I've already expressed my feelings about it to many, but basically if you're not trying to get better, why are you trying? Sometimes I wish I could be like some people who just have fun playing the horn without caring how it sounds, but then I realize they really really suck at playing their horn and would rather not play than be satisfied with shit.

Not so sure when I'll pick up the horn again... definitely will have to next Fall for Crown auditions (not sure where I'll stand, so I'm pretty much looking at myself as a rookie trying to grab a spot). Then I practice baritone a lot for camps, then the summer tour, and then I'm not sure.