Strike up the band!

His first try at the trombone

Learning how to hold the trombone

Joshua has been looking forward to joining the Pizitz school band ever since he realized there was one. I wasn't sure what instrument he planned on playing, but this last week Joshua made his choice.

Joshua scored 8 out of 10 on the flute

I like the way the school assists students in finding a reasonable match. In a room full of instruments and musicians, the students carried a list from station to station trying the trumpet, trombone, tuba, baritone, saxophone, clarinet, flute, drums, bassoon, and oboe. The musician at each station gave each student a quick introduction in how the instrument worked and they had a chance to try it out. The student then received a score from 1-10 on how well they picked up the basics of that particular instrument. Joshua scored strongest on the larger brass instruments, though he did pretty well on all the instruments. In fact Joshua confided to one of the instructors that he really wanted to learn to play all the instruments there that day. He had the hardest time with the flute on which he scored an 8. To my surprise he chose the trombone as his top choice and the tuba as his second. I think it scored so highly in his mind because it is an instrument that also is included in the school's jazz band.

The first trombone he tried at Art's Music Shop

Here is a link to the video I shot earlier of Joshua trying a trombone at Art's
So today was the day Joshua got his trombone from Art's music shop in Birmingham! He chose a used Getzen 747 that he couldn't wait to try out when he got home.