Getting back into playing shape

As we start to stare the end of summer in the face, I begin my annual "will I/won't I" ritual where the trumpet is concerned. Usually I spend a little time tryin to get into playing shape only to discover that I don't have any students to teach at USF which allows me to slide back into brass hibernation. I haven't taught in a year and a half and haven't played with any organized group for more than a song on a Sunday morning since 1999, so I flirt with the instrument and begin to reestablish some conditioning all in vain.

This year is a little different though. There are rumored to be two trumpet majors coming to USF (time will tell) which means I should get to teach and there is a faculty recital at the end of October where I will be performing a piece on recital for the first time since my Master's Recital in 1997. I'm planning on doing Enesco's "Legend" which is short, expressive and fairly technical, so I won't be able to fake my way through it. Amy is accompanying me and is ready to begin practicing together. I am not, though I hope to be able to begin working together by the end of the month. She's also preparing for a September voice recital and has been doing great work, so she's inspiring me to get my butt in gear and get down to business.

I have to admit that the recital is good motivation since my philosophy for lessons has been that I only need to play just a little bit better than my students. With everything else that I have going on I simply can't devote the time to the instrument that I would need in order to be proficient, but I keep working to improve in the time I have. Thankfully, I also can teach without having to demonstrate much. Past experience has shown me that I can pull a lot from a student without having to play much, but I would still like to be able to do duets and sightread together which will be a bigger challenge for me this year as I sold my B-flat trumpet and purchased a C trumpet as my only teaching instrument. This means I will have to sight transpose with students and play things in a key other than what I see on the page. I did this a lot in grad school, but that was two lifetimes ago.

On a side note, I did finally finish paying off the trumpet that I bought in March and now I can begin to focus my energies on saving for either another guitar (since Nich moved my guitar playing is having to take on a new importance) or a new bike. I figure I'll save awhile and see what direction I want to take, but I am thrilled that I've got the trumpet payed for without a penny of interest!