I started in August of 2020, a few months after a COVID redundancy and years of wanting to pick up a brass instrument. 🎵🎺

Inspiration came from Michael Giacchino’s work on the soundtracks for Incredibles and Incredibles 2, and John Williams’s brass-forward cinematic work. Credit also goes to Frank Lehman’s Star Wars thematic catalogue and the YouTube channel Sidways for sparking my interest in leitmotivic storytelling. Trumpet was to be an entry point to classical music, a challenging and seemingly inaccessible genre for any layperson.

I am, nine months in, still not great at it. My range is limited. I only recently busted out a high C and can’t sustain the note for more than a few bars at 60bpm. I can only just transition to it from other notes within the technical pieces I’ve been assigned.

I’d like to be able to transcribe jazz standards one day and I think it helps that I have relative pitch but it’s useless when I’m only starting to relearn notation, struggling with the most basic of rhythm exercises. I play guitar and piano casually—the magic of four chords!—and I’ve gotten this far in my life blaming an allergy to sight reading.

Boy, is it all catching up to me now.

But you know what? As frustrating as it is to hit every conceivable brick wall technically, I’ve never had this much fun learning an instrument. I’ve been disciplined enough to practice between 15-30 minutes every day since picking it up, 45 if my chops hold up. A monumental achievement given practice feels Sisyphean most days.

That’s more intentional practice I’ve thrown at an instrument in all of my life. I think that’s why I felt like bursting into tears one day in March when I suddenly popped off a high C. I was stunned.

How did I reward myself? With more practice, of course.

The myth you learn is that a single practice day missed requires two or three days to catch up. I for one am not willing to gamble on its veracity.

These are the reasons I provide when I’m asked why I chose trumpet:

• saxophone was a much bigger upfront investment, and maintenance seemed infinitely more complicated when compared to the trumpet’s three valves
• I’ve always wanted to learn jazz standards and big band/lead playing
• there’s no excuse not to pick up a new hobby, especially now

What I don’t tell people is that I play to learn how to breathe. I liken it to my affinity for swimming: tension throughout practice is inevitable but it’s the ability to recognize it, adjust and overcome that brings great emotional reward. Passable playing requires a keen awareness of one’s body, a constant reminder to breathe often and deeply. Controlling how you exhale is key. And it’s a lot harder than it seems given you have to maintain proper embouchure, arch your tongue a certain way and finger the valves in ways which don’t strain your wrist.

It’s not as cumbersome an instrument compared to a tenor sax or, god forbid, a double bass but it is heavy enough for me. Managing that weight, understanding when to push and pull back to prevent discomfort or injury—that’s proprioception at its most demanding.

I have a newfound appreciation for everything from Arban-esque etudes (Carnival of Venice, anyone?) to the simple-sounding yet mindblowing execution of Hovorkan’s Maria solo. Technical- or melodic-foward, all trumpet playing is now impressive to me and provide many benchmarks to strive for.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go play a rousing rendition of Hot Cross Buns.