Steve L. | Trumpet | March 28, 2017
I had no idea what I was getting into when I was invited by a Junior High School music teacher to come by the band room one Saturday morning. The school year had not even begun, but many of my peers signed up for summer school and we were getting better acquainted with our new school. I found the band room and there were four prospective students completely confused, yet eager to meet the band director.
He was from Germany and had a name I could not pronounce. He asked us what instrument we wanted to play. He told me I had the embouchure of a trumpet player before I could even answer. One of the girl students was honking on a saxophone and another girl’s face was beet red while trying to play a French Horn. Me and my new classmate were now the focus of our first music lesson. We buzzed on trumpet mouthpieces until we almost passed out. We learned diaphragmatic breathing by awkwardly lying down on a couple of chairs. We were given mouthpieces to practice and would meet the following Saturday to actually make louder noises with the trumpet.
For three years, grades 7-9, my classmate, Paul Rosales, and I sat next to each other in the trumpet section working our way to first trumpet. I was made into a trumpet player by a very dedicated band teacher who built his band and orchestra one player at a time on his own time. His infectious intellectual and musical curiosity, and encouragement made it a lot of fun. During High School I played in the orchestra because playing in the marching band conflicted with playing quarterback on the football team. Sports and music often conflicted, but I found a way to enjoy playing trumpet in orchestras and churches while in college.
Dental school allowed the most dust to settle on my trumpet case. Entering private dental practice gave me some time to learn about playing opportunities such as North Coast Symphony, where under Mira Costa College director Jeff Sell, I enjoyed three years as principle trumpeter. My family grew and kept me busy raising three children. My trumpet playing was limited to muted Christmas tunes to prevent awaking any of my kids. The rebirth of my trumpet playing began by playing on Sundays in church with my loving wife, Juli, who sang with the choir. I think it was God’s way of keeping parishioners awake. Regardless, I had a purpose and a joy of playing once again. One of my patients was a trumpet player and he needed a new “grill”, but his embouchure was at risk. He brought in his pocket trumpet and we tested his newly restored front teeth to reestablish his embouchure with the new pressure points. I was honored to care for Rick E., professional trumpet player. Rick has been my mentor ever since and has welcomed me to CCB and his other group, Trumpets R Us (TRU). Playing under CCB director, Fred Lee, along with the CCB musicians has given me a joyful musical avenue towards even greater musicianship.
My trumpet journey has always been an expression of another part of my brain and helps me manage life’s many challenges while empowering me with great joy. If you desire to revisit your long-lost joy of playing music, you already have the prerequisite to join our great band.