I will admit – the lazy pace of the holidays kept me from practicing as
religiously as I normally do. Shame on me! While I picked up my horn on Friday,
Saturday & Sunday – the time spent with it was not as focused as it should
have been.  I spent most of my time working on long tones and lip slurs.

I did however, make a fantastic discovery for others who have trouble sight
reading and need to learn a part quickly. There is a free music notation program
called Finale Notepad 2003. This fantastic piece of software allows you to write
music. You write your music as easily as you type in Microsoft Word or
Wordperfect. While that feature alone is worth the effort of downloading – you
can play your music back using a built in midi player. Can’t quite get the
timing of that tricky passage? Having a hard time figuring how fast cut time for
a particularly piece should be? Plug it in and push the play button! I entered
several difficult passages from Handel’s Water Suite and it really helped me
feel the flow of the music.

To download go to http://www.codamusic.com.
It’s FREE! Use it when you’re in a bind to learn a part quickly or if you just
can’t figure it out on your own. If you have the time however, I suggest you
grind it out. The only way to improve your sight reading is to do more of it.

The only other piece of news is there will be a new trumpet in the household
very soon. You can best believe I will provide feedback and pictures as soon as
it arrives. Needless to say, I’m very excited about it. 

PLAY ON!!