Still not feeling very well today.  Had a bit of practice and sounded very poor.  Not very many right notes and lots of ghosts! Throat is still very sore but the fever seems to be gone.  In addition with ibuprofen on board my throat feels much better so I hope to make the double for … Continue reading Still sick

So........being sick sucks in the UK too.  Sarah has told me to stay in bed all day and she did all the walking (6 miles) to get kids to and from school. Headache, sore throat, feaver, no practicing and lots of sleep. Skipping Lindley rehearsal tonight (4-tet and full band) as I don't want to … Continue reading Sick in the UK

Just wanted to give you a brief update on contest prep here with The Lindley Band. Here is the 2 week schedule: Mon:     Sectionals: 7-8:30 low brass, 8:30-10 horns and cornets.  Neil Jowett the MD does all the conducting for these. Wed:     Rehearsal w/ guest conductor Jim Davis Fri:       Rehearsal … Continue reading More contest ideas from Lindley

Posted 2 more videos of our Yorkshire Dales trip. Cheers, B-

I was able to have a cornet lesson with Phillip McCann yesterday of at The University of Huddersfield.  To set the context of his remarks you need to know a few things about him as well as some of the things I have heard and observed in the 2 weeks I have known him.  The … Continue reading Notes on a lesson with Phillip McCann

This sabbatical continues to be beyond all of my expectations. I can't write much, but sometimes in life, there are moments you will remember forever.  This concert was one of those.  The family spent the day in York (see photos in photo section), the band did 3 short rehearsals starting @ 4:30 (with only a … Continue reading B&R, The King’s Singers, and David Childs (wow!)

Had the final rehearsal with Mr. McCann and B&R last night as we get ready for tomorrow's show in York with David Childs and the King's Singers. After spending hours on my own learning the music over the last 10 days and doing quite a bit of extra cornet practice to try and figure out … Continue reading Starting to keep up

1-Play with a great balanced band sound. Warm, never harsh. 2-ALWAYS play together on all entrances and rhythms. (i.e. time) 3-Dynamic and articulation contrast (long vs short; loud vs soft; accents, staccato etc...) 4-Don't miss notes 5-Don't miss notes 6-Don't miss notes 7-have fun and make the music come alive There it is in a nutshell.  Notice … Continue reading The Secret!!!!: Contest notes from the Lindley rehearsal

Had another B&R rehearsal last night with the very focused and unrelenting standards of Mr. McCann. I still feel like I'm adjusting to just how fast and accurate this all has to be. There is no time to learn notes in rehearsal. We go! Many of these guys never went to music school, just took … Continue reading Trying to get up to the standard of B&R

We spent the weekend up in the Yorkshire Dales. Drive up was unreal. Sarah took some great video and photos. We'll have to edit the video but I have updated some photos. We stayed at Grinton Lodge, a Youth Hostel. On the way up we visited the Aysgarth Falls (you can see them in the … Continue reading Photos updated