Guestpost by John Barber – Courtesy of Brass Band World Magazine Within most band rooms up and down the land there is an understanding, an acknowledgement and a general reluctant acceptance that the most important member of the team who meets each week is in fact not the principal cornet player. Certainly ably dexterous with […]
10 quick fire quiz questions to test your brass band knowledge (Answers at the foot of the page) Herbert Howells, composer of ‘Pagentry’ the 2017 Area set piece for the Championship section of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain was born in which English County – Herfordshire, Worcestershire or Gloucestershire? Which Italian musical term […]
Guestpost from John Barber – Courtesy of Brass Band World Magazine There was a time when the domain at the back of a band room occupied little space. To sit there didn’t require a significant audition process and to be a section leader demanded no more than the basic knowledge of pulse and the ownership […]
Steve Stewart Recorded at the Cory bandroom July 2016 Nigel Seaman talks to Cory’s ace soprano Steve Stewart about a brass banding career that nearly didn’t begin with an almost disasterous first ‘audition’ in school. Thankfully he started on cornet at the age of six and has played soprano for most of his career with some […]
Buying a top rated electronic drum set can be expensive. However we look at 5 of the best affordable electronic drum kits ideal for beginners that won’t break the bank and are packed with quality. Drum sets are loud and require quite a bit of space. Parents of children and teens who want to learn how to play […]
Brass band instruments have been made in various metals for over 200 years and quite recently plastic instruments have started to appear on the market. There are now plastic cornets, plastic trumpets, plastic trombones, plastic euphoniums and now even plastic basses. Plastic novelty or are they a contender for their long established metal cousins? The […]
Jeffrey Curnow – Brass Musician and Cartoonist of Exceptional Talent I was delighted to find Jeffrey Curnow on Facebook as he is a fellow brass player, cartoonist and a wiz’ with graphics software. It was the cartooning that grabbed my attention as I haven’t seen many musicians who also publish cartoons. It was a no […]
Guestpost from John Barber – Courtesy of Brass Band World Magazine Whilst the musical rewards can undoubtedly be plentiful, playing in a brass band also takes time, effort, costs money, allows you the opportunity to dress in outsized uniforms, be occasionally disappointed by contest results and, if you’re unfortunate enough, get stuck regularly in an […]
The purpose of a metronome is to provide a musical timer for beats and to keep you exactly in time and there are two basic types. The traditional and larger pyramid shaped mechanical metronome and more recently the electronic multifunction device which is highly portable and the usual choice of conductors. Who invented the metronome? The […]
After qualifying for the first section finals this year with Ebbw Valley Brass at the Welsh Area I was delighted to find out that ‘Ballet for Band’ by Joseph Horovitz had been chosen as the set piece for the UK first section finals. I first heard the piece when I travelled over to Cory bands […]