From Auction to Brass Class

This is what's called a cornet. It's sort of like a trumpet, only shaped a little "rounder," with a slightly more mellow sound. And this particular cornet has a story.

Back when I was in college, my parents (because of my interest in music) gave me this cornet as a gift one year. Actually as a sort of gag gift. While I was away on my college endeavors, they went to a local school auction where they were getting rid of unneeded items, and bought this cornet. I doubt they paid very much for it, because it not only was bent and had dents and scratches, it also had dents on its dents and scratches on its scratches! It was (and still is) in SAD SHAPE to look at it.

But when I opened this unique gift, I loved it! All my years in school from 5th grade clear through two colleges, I played the flute in band.

I have to admit I've had a love/hate relationship with playing the flute. It wasn't my first pick, but it was the least expensive, which was really in its favor at the time. So flute it was. But I really, really wanted to play a reed instrument, such as a clarinet or saxophone. The flute-playing went well, though, and it was my secondary instrument at college. BUT I REALLY WANTED TO PLAY A REED INSTRUMENT. Ah, I feel better, now the world knows.

But now, here was a cornet that was mine! You have to realize that the embochure (how your mouth is set) in the way you play a brass instrument is about opposite of the way you play a flute. So I tried to play this rusty, crusty cornet. Mom and Dad and I nearly split our sides laughing at the warbling, breathy sounds I coaxed from it. But sometimes I'd push a valve down, and nothing would go through. So after taking the valves out, I realized one or two of them were rotated out of place. (Major problem!) So once I got that problem fixed, we were back in business. I had fun playing it every so often, just for fun. But it was mostly a novelty for me.

Now go ahead in time a bit, and I found myself taking a "brass methods" class as part of my college instrumental requirements. (We had to study everything - brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion. It was all a blast!) In the brass class, our instructor put two or three of us on each of various instruments - trumpet, trombone, French horn, etc. Before the semester started, I had asked the instructor if I could bring my cornet, filling him in on how "rough" it looked, and he said it would be fine, as long as it played. So I had a lot of fun playing it in class, and was pleased that it actually got some "real" use. I still play it now and then, especially since I no longer have a flute. I like playing simple hymns and songs for enjoyment.

So take heart, just because you might look a little "rough," or be bent out of shape, or life has been difficult and scratchy, you can still be useful and bring enjoyment to this world.