Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-07-23
TEACHING BRASS BANDS.
A Work that Requires Great Deal OF
Patience.

A Work that Requires Great Deal of
Patience.
The old band-master. with decided
German looks and manners, a coat of
not exactly perfect-fitting qualities,
and beard shorn rather short and
very pointed, sat in his Office with
detected look on his face when the
Chicago Daily Ne0s reporter opened
the door and announced himself A
queer character was this man, the
bandmaster. He had been an army
officer of high rank in his native coun-
try and had been well educated. In
fact, it has often been rumored that be
was real count. but he only smiled
and shrugged his shoulders when
spoken to on the subject and did not
dcign to reply, leaving the questioner
quite in the dark as to whether he was
bored by an old joke or whether he was
count but did not desire to talk on
the subject. After coming to this
country he was for long time profess
sor OF German in an Ohio college, but
his taste for music conquered his love
for the languages. and the baton took
the place of the ruler. Gradually he
grew poorer and poorer, as he got in
tercsted in the formation of bands and
neglected his other musical branches,
until his at-one-timc dress coat gave
way to the shabby one be now wears;
yet he never thought of changing his
WAYS.
Yes. ] know little about forming
bands, he said, after the reporter had
oil, faI NTH h. So. =
the professor drew out couple of
long-stemmed pipes II have been in
the business now for many years and
have seen hundreds of bands organized
and hundreds dissolved. 1t is almost
as hard to keep band together as it is
to make dollar roll uphill, unless it
has been organized for years, and has a
reputation, and is making money.
Then it is hard to keep people out of it.
tell you there is no other class of in
struments SO calculated to make a man
neglect his business and follow it as
the horn. There is something fascinat-
ing about this instrument, which makes
one cling to it. | have known many a
man ruin himself for life by joining a
brass band when he was young. One
instance will cite: A young fellow, a
jeweler, in small city, became in-
fatuated with the trombone. He would
sit for hours in the back part of his
store and play that horn, while custom
ers were allowed to go neglected. The
band of which he was a member was
always in trouble and succeeded in dis
banding every few months. 1t made no
difference; his practice went on just the
same. Finally he had to sell out his
business. after losing $1,000 cash, and
is now working by the day, but he still
remains with the trombone, and is an
excellant player. asked him one day
why he die not quit it and attend to
his business, but he only looked up and
smiled as he asked me why | didn't
quit it. "
lis it difficult to form band?"
with raw material it is very diff
cult. You can't teach one man at a
time, because it would be too slow
work and cost too much money. They
have to all learn together. and unless a
man knows a little about music in adj
vance he has a very hard time of it.
The great trouble in this case also, is
to find the right persons for the differ
ent instruments. They have to spend
months learning, only to find that they
are not lifted for the instrument as
signed them, and have 10 change and
learn all over again. Bands which
learn in this way do not generally
make success i'll music. They engage
a poor bandmaster generally, AID do
do not keep him any longer than to
learn them the simple rudiments. Then
they attempt to 20 it alone. Why, /
have seen bands which had been play
ing together for years and never
thought of tuning their instruments
The result WAS discords without num-
bers, and no one could tell why the dis
cords were made. You see, the average
person thinks horn is tuned in the
mandatory and cannot change in
tone. This is Il great error. Another
great error bands fall into is blowing
loud. | have seen band of eleven
pieces make noise enough for twenty
two. They 90 on the principle that
loud music browns the errors. This
may be true in one respect, but it also
prevents true harmony. A band to
make sweet music must play as care
fully as if it was an orchestra.
What about the cost of brass instru-
well, good band of twenty-five
Or twenty-thrce persons can be fur
lishcd for less than 1000 and the in
struments will be of good quality. The
best kind is the plain brass, as it in
lures the tone to plate them with
either silver or nickel"