u/ScarcityPale6276

TLDR: i’m a low brass player who wants to do saxophone but i’m a rising senior so it seems like it’s too late. 

ive been doing high school band since my sophomore year, so for a bit under two years. in band, i picked up low brass and can play all of the instruments in the family. i learned pretty quickly so i’m kind of competitive even beyond my school. i’ve been told that I have the ability to even do it in college (though i don’t plan to be a music major) and i’ll be on a very good level.

however, i just don’t feel particularly drawn to low brass instruments. for example, while i often listen to john coltrane, sonny stitt, charlie parker and others, i don’t listen to j j johnson or curtis fuller. the idea of being good at trombone/tuba/euph just doesn’t feel as appealing as being good on saxophone.

however, as i’m a rising senior, picking up the saxophone right now means that i likely won’t be able to play in college as it’ll take me a couple years to become somewhat fluent (and the competition is going to be insane anyway). i’m also nearly 18, so it’s a late start and rewriting my brain will be harder (i don’t quite believe in « it’s never too late to learn »). moreover, my band director probably won’t understand or approve so i’d have to rent on my own to try out how it feels and still pursue low brass until the end of high school, at least.

does anyone have similar experiences? is it worth pursuing the passion or continuing the instrument i already have a foundation in? 

p.s. my goal is to be able to play at bar gigs or similar places. i don’t have any aspirations to become popular or inhumanely skilled. and id focus on jazz.

title. i’ve been playing electric bass for a while. i know my fretboard, scales etc. and can do fundamental walking. i do jazz band at school and study on my own but i feel like I need outside help to go forward.

my goal is to get the basics of soloing, improve my walking bass lines, and broaden my fretboard knowledge and sight reading skills.

what course is the best? you can suggest books but i strongly prefer courses.

ive been trying to add vibrato in my playing. i tried lip vibrato, jaw vibrato and diaphragm vibrato.

lip vibrato doesn’t really work for me, and i slip into next partials on accident so it kinda sounds like a lip trill.

jaw vibrato works, but the pitch only changes down and to the original note and the timbre of the note changes. it sounds like a “wah-wah” guitar pedal, in a way. not quite like vibrato where only the pitch changes.

and finally, the diaphragm “vibrato“ — sounds the best for me right now. yes i’m aware that it’s more of a volume change, and heavily frowned upon, but it doesn’t change the “value” of the note and sounds more pure.

is it really that bad to use it? theoretically, it messed with your airstream, but then why would flute players use it?

also, i’m on a euph right now if it makes any difference. but i’ll need it for classical trombone too.

thanks in advance everyone

Ive been getting calls labeled « prison/jail » from a person in a correctional facility. It’s a real number of a jail in Tampa and a real inmate communication number.

The bot gave me the name of that person and i don’t know anyone with that name. Nor do i live near Tampa FL. Nor do i know anyone in a prison.

Why? If its spam, why are the calls repeated? And whats the probability of someone randomly dialing exactly my number?

Please help.

would doubling on a single reed (likely saxophone) damage my chops? i really want to start playing saxophone but i still need consistent progress on trombone.

does anyone have any experience with doubling on single reeds?

p.s. i do know that i have to add more practice time and not split it. it seems to be doable since single reeds don’t exhaust your chops (i suppose?). just curious about y’all’s experiences, anything i might need to know. thanks!

For more than a year, i’ve been going to the same school as my ex and it’s just really hard.

Our relationship was overly sexual and she said that she told some people and i feel very wrong about it. It also ended rather awkwardly, with me not being harmful but just not understanding her hints that she needs distance. i was an immature person and i’m ashamed of it. eventually i got the hint we’ve been no contact for more than a year.

And im just worried that she might spread rumors about me. since the breakup, i started going by a slightly different name, joined my high school band and got rather successful at it. i started taking my academics seriously and i’m a better student. i also became more social and just feel better overall. i know it redeems nothing but sometimes i like to think that i have the power to become better and strive towards that.

But i feel like some people from the band know her and, even though they might’ve been nice to me and appreciated me they kind of started ignoring me. it’s not everyone, but i feel like she told multiple people that i’m weird or a bad person.

it’s really hard to go to school everyday mentally preparing myself for seeing other people dismiss all my new efforts and my “new self” because of my past. it hasn’t happen on a large scale, just some people becoming distant.

is that 9th grade-ish relationship going to define me?

how much do i need to do to feel confident? i basically dedicated my whole self to music, and in that time i became proficient enough to be able to major in it in college.

but was that not enough?

how do i go to school knowing that every day might socially be my last one?

i was participating in a game type thing where i was in a group of four and we had to ask things about each other.

we we talking about why we chose our sports and hobbies and when it was my turn i said it’s because of “my past”. everyone kind of moved ahead but i feel utterly embarrassed and just can’t stop spinning this in my head.

i really was a bad person in the past and that sport helped me become better and i’ve been getting better for years. but OCD always makes me spin around the want to confess to people i’ve met since then.

it just never actually went further than my thoughts. 

does anyone has similar experiences? am i like losing the mere fraction of control over OCD and its slipping away from me?

thanks in advance everyone.

I have to fly with a trombone. What’s the safest way to do that? It’s school owned, and my band director suggested that I either try to take it as a carry on or check it in as a fragile object.

Obviously, the best option would be to buy a seat for it, but i have unique financial circumstances. Taking it as a carry on might be not possible and they’ll make me check it in.

If so, how do i secure it? My biggest fear is that the lock is going to snap and the case will open. Can i tape or tie it, or there’s a possibility that it’ll need to be opened to check it?

Thanks in advance.