Practice- May 9 2009

Warmed up with Rhosymedre and then moved onto Chillers and Thrillers. I focused a lot on the starting Darth Vader theme because getting the right notes at this part is hard. I practiced a little bit of Jaws and then 173 until the end. I then played Carmina Burana the Pesante and Vivace parts of it. I practiced for an hour today.

Youtube Blogger Assignment- Fred Wesley

I chose to do this assigment on the trombonist Fred Wesley. He was born July 4, 1943 in Georgial. As a child he played the piano and the trumpet, until his father gave him a trombone. He has played the trombone since he was 12 years old and is best known for his work with James Brown in the 60's and 70's. He had a very successful 35 year career in teaching and playing.

In this performance on youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z9nBQ_sn8Y&feature=related , Wesley plays an extremely difficult solo at rather high notes. I know it is not easy to play that fast and that high. His change of pitch and tone is incredible, he can go from really high to really low extremely fast and with good sound. He finds his slide positions very fast and effectively. His eyes are closed throughout the entire solo because he is focusing so hard. His head often moves in jerky motions but clearly dosent affect his performance negatively. He has good hand position and I think it is amazing he can play that fast and accurate at thea high of a pitch. He is a fantastic trombone player and this video is great proof of it.