Hi Paul, Your message about the "olden days" was fun. How familiar it all sounded. My 7th grade band had eight "horns" in the section. One was an old double Conn Schmidt model with a piston change valve. Mine was a Conn 4D, one was a Pan American single F, and the others were a mixture of rain catchers and mellophones. We also had a 65 piece orchestra.
The director took away from any of the horn players, the Eb crooks, so we would learn to transpose the Eb parts, which were in the majority in those days Within a month or so we were all transposing the Eb parts with no problems. By high school time doubles were dominating and we were all on the way to be virtuosos(i). It was a great time and the spring solo contests were great adventures. About 1937 (I think) the nation was divided into regions and the solo contests were in three stages. There was the district, the winners of whom went to the state. The state winners were eligble for the national-regionals. There were other competitions around the country including the Tri-State Festival in Enid, OK, which began in 1935 and continues even today. Well Paul, we grew up with it and it has been a great ride! Pete Exline _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
