Brass

Lately, I have noticed that Nate has quite a collection of brass instruments. He started playing the trumpet around age 11, and has continued on virtually on his own, without lessons since we can't seem to find anyone who knows much more than the beginning level. He has had the privilege of joining the public schools in their bands for several years, and now will start  his third year of the Bangor Symphony Youth Orchestra. Auditions are this Sunday! Over time, his interest in brass instruments has grown. He loads brass intrumentals onto his ipod for pleasure listening, too.
He has a trombone that he actually found at the dump in perfect condition, just missing a mouth piece. He brought it home, shined it up, found a mouth piece, and began learning it. Turns out, this particular instrument is much different than trumpet, so he hasn't gotten very far with this one.
 Next, a sweet man in our church, realizing Nate's growing love for the instrument, dug around in his attic until he found his old trumpet, and gave it to Nate. Turns out, this instrument is a better instrument than the one he had, so once cleaned and shined up, he started to use this one most of the time.
Our trip to Michigan this summer found Nate intensely interested in the bugle that the men in a reenactment at an old fort were playing. So, Grandpapa, who insists that he doesn't get to spoil these particular grandkids very much, bought him one from the gift store. We thought that it was just a replica or a toy, but turns out, it's a very nice instrument. Nate made his Grandparents so proud when he played "Reveille" first thing in the morning. haha.
Nate's most recent acquirement is a fluglehorn, gifted to him by a dear friend of our family. He immediately took to playing it, and now plays it more often then his regular trumpet. The sound is a bit different, and he finds that it requires more breath control, too, but overall, he is doing well with it. You can be the judge. Enjoy the video of Nate playing before a recent service at our church.