How I came to play the tuba
I didn't start out my career as a brass player playing tuba. I started off playing French horn in 8th grade. I thought it was a cool instrument and I liked the sound. The problem was that my body wasn't suited for it. My lips were too big for the small ice-cream cone mouthpiece. However, no one told me that until I was half-way through my first semester of 10th grade, when I was stuck in instrumental instruction (remedial class for orchestral and band musicians) because I wasn't a good enough French Horn player for the marching band and also because I was playing football at the time and couldn't be in the marching band anyway.
Karl Raschkes, the band director who also taught all the rest of the instrumental classes, came up to me and said, "Richard (I go by my middle name Vincent these days, but my first name is Richard; how I started using Vincent is a subject of another LJ entry), you are coming along on the French horn, and you'll be an OK player, but you'll never be really good. Your mouth is too big. How about you try the trombone?"
So, he and I got out a trombone from the instrument cabinet and put it together. "Get a tone," he instructed. I blew out a nice clear Bb which sounded much better than anything I could manage on the French horn. "Good," he said. "You start playing trombone tomorrow."
I then went off to the rest of my classes, happy to know that I had a better musical future ahead of me. Little did I know.
As I was returning to the Performing Arts building after football practice (all the musicians, both instrumental and vocal, and the drama students had their lockers there), Mr. Raschkes came out to the foyer of the building with a big, wild gleam in his eyes. "Richard!" he exclaimed, "Remember how I said you'd play the trombone? I have an even better idea!"
I knew exactly where this was going. "Oh, no, not the tuba!"
"Yes!" He responded, "The tuba!"
So, we went into the band room again, where we pulled out an upright tuba from the instrument cabinet and put the mouthpiece in.
"Blow," Mr. Raschkes instructed.
I did. I got out an even clearer and louder tone from the tuba than I did from the trombone.
Mr. Raschkes was thrilled. "That's it!" He said, "Tomorrow you start on the tuba."
It was the beginning of the best thing to ever happen to me in music.