I can’t remember what music they played but I know I wanted to play the instrument. I didn’t really know what it was called and I asked my mum if I could learn the tuba. When one arrived on loan from the Somerset instrument library I was disappointed. It was not what I was expecting but I decided to learn it anyway.
My piano teacher encouraged me to join the King Alfred Concert band, a brass band which rehearses in Highbridge on a Saturday morning. Some are retired professional musicians but mostly they are people like me who learnt an instrument when they were young and play for fun. I am the youngest of about 30 members. At first, as I was new to sight reading, I wasn’t very quick and couldn’t play many notes but both my sight reading and my playing improved really quickly. This then led to other opportunities such as marching in the local Remembrance Day Parade. This is something I really enjoy doing and it means a lot to my community.
I was gifted a Euphonium that was made in 1914 and I realised I could pick up other instruments really quickly. After that I gained two guitars, a bugle, trombone, trumpet but still no sousaphone. recommended by my brass tutor, I attended an Easter course for young musicians and was invited to join Somerset County Youth Band. We play Easter, Christmas and Summer concerts at venues such as Wells Cathedral and the amazing Cedar Hall. More recently we partnered with the County Youth Orchestra to undertake a short tour of the Netherlands, which was great fun and the first time I’ve been abroad without my parents!
All of these opportunities has given me an understanding and appreciation of orchestral and brass music and I use this in my compositions. I’ve produced two albums of classical music as well as electronic dance music – you can hear them on Spotify and YouTube under the artist name Tycoonmoom.
