[Trombone-l] Mouthpiece buzzing and children

[David Johansen]

I've been practicing at night and during nap time ever since my 26 month 
old boy came home from the hospital.  It's never wakened him or kept him 
from dropping off.  Have you tried practicing after he hits the sack?  
He might not even notice.

Dave Johansen

Dan Seager wrote:
> Funny that this subject has come up.  For the past 6 months or so, my now 21
> month old son has made practicing when I get home from work very difficult
> to do.  When I get home, he'll immediately go to my trombone case, try
> opening it, while at the same time saying "toot toot".  When I try playing
> some long tones, he reaches up attempting to grab the slide and wants to
> play.  When I let him play, he more often than not will just "sing" through
> the mouthpiece, then will quickly run to the bell section to see if he can
> hear it (he sometimes will talk into the bell as well, which is quite
> humorous).  He has managed to play a low Bb and an F a few times, so I think
> that his buzzing is really coming along quite nicely.  His latest thing his
> placing the bell section on his head (like a hat) while holding the slide
> out in front of him (don't worry - I'm careful about how he's holding the
> slide).
>
> As fun as all of that is, it is hard to find the right time to practice.
> When he goes to sleep at night, I can practice about an hour with a practice
> mute, but that's not my favorite way.  Last week, I bought a slide whistle
> at Toys R Us thinking that might appease him.  He was playing on that all
> the way home, much to my chagrin, but also to my joy at the thought of
> actually being to practice!!  When I got home, I took him into the music
> room with his slide whistle still in his hands.  As soon as I got out the
> trombone, he threw down the whistle, pointed up to the trombone and yelled
> "toot toot".  Oh well...If my choice is between practicing or being a dad,
> I'll choose dad.
>
> Dan Seager
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