The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-08-12
TEACHING A BRASS BAND.
Work That Requires a Great Deal Of
Patience.

Yes, know a little about forming
bands, " said the bandmaster after the re-
porter had chatted with him few minutes
while the professor drew out couple of
long-stemmed pipes. 81 have been Ia the
business now for many years, and have seen
hundreds dissolved. II Is almost as hard to
keep band together as it is TO make a dol.
lar roll uphill, unless it has been organic
ed for years, and has q reputation, and ID
making money. Then it is hard to keep
people out Of it. tell you there Is no other
class of instruments so calculated to make q
man neglect his business and follow 1t as
the horn. There is something fascinating
about this instrument which makes one
cling to it. have know many man to
ruin himself for life by joining a brass
band when be was young. One instance l
will cite "A young fellow, jeweller in
small city, became infatuated with the
trombone. He would sit for hours in the
back part of his store and play that horn,
while customers were allowed TO go neglect
ed. The band of which he was 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 bust
ness, after losing 81, 900 cash, and is now
working by the day, but he still remains
with that trombone and is an excellent
player. asked him one day why he did
not quit it and attend TO his business, bat
tlaI a,,d rad axtyJ,x In
quit it."
Is it difficult to form band ?"
With raw material ii is very difficult.
You can't teach one man at a time, because
il would be too slow work and cost too
much money. They have TO all learn to-
gether, and unless a man knows q little
about music in advance he has very hard
time of it. The great trouble in this case
also is to find the right persons for the diff
forent instruments. They have to spend
months learning, only to find that they are
not fitted for the instrument assigned them,
and to have to change and learn in this way
does not generally make o success in music.
They engage poor bandmaster generally,
and do not keep him any longer than tc
learn them the simple rudiments. Their
they attempt to go it alone. Why, l have
seen bands which had been playing togeth
er for years aud never thought of tuning
their instruments. Tie result was discords
without number and no ono could tell why
the discords were made. You see, the
average person thinks horn is tuned in
the manufactory and cannot change in tone.
This ia great error. Another great error
bands fall into is blowing loud. 1 have seen
band of eleven pieces make noise enough
for twenty-five. They go on the principle
that loud music browns the errors. This
may be true in one respect, but it also pre-.
vents true harmony. A band to make sweet
music must play rs carefully as if it were an
orchestra"
"What about the cost of brass instru-
ments?"
"Well, good band of twenty-five or
twenty-three persons can be furnished for
less than 81 900. and the instruments will
be of good quality. The oest kind is the
plain brass. as it Injuries the tone to plate
them with either silver or nickel. - Chicago
N6aos.