Cornet Players Are Free To Be Free

   I admit that I am a little biased towards brass instrument, especially cornets. I am a cornet player after all.  I’m always looking for ways to promote the queen of the brass and her uniqueness. I look for every opportunity I can to expose people to her. When  I tell people that I play the cornet they follow up with  “ What is a cornet”  Usually the  first response I get when I show someone a cornet  for the first time in their life there is a look of confusion on their face. One day a 13 year old told me that my getzen 3850 looks like an old fashioned trumpet.  Here in the states most people are familiar with trumpets but few know what a shepherds crook cornet looks like. As far as they are concerned any brass instrument that is 20 inches long must be a trumpet.  When I play my cornet for them the first thing they comment about is how nice and different it sounds.  This is when I take the opportunity to ask them which instrument has the nicest sound, the cornet, trumpet or sax. Their answer is the cornet.

   I’ve always wondered who or what determined the saxophone to be the ultimate wind instrument. You can walk up to any Jane or Joe Blow on the street and ask them what is their favorite instrument and 9 times out of 10 they will say the sax.  How did the masses get hooked?  Who or what convinced them. Sure the serpent shaped instrument does have its appeal and is very effective in capable hands but what is it that draws Jane and Joe to it, even when it is in the hands of less gifted individuals. How much longer must we endure saxophones playing another cliché line imbedded in a smooth jazz chart and then forced to say how nice it sounds. When are the 20 minute sax solos at jam sessions going to end? How many times must we be trapped in an elevator and forced to hear squawking.   Unfortunately I don’t think we will ever know.

   I think us cornet players can make a dent in the sax-is-the-ultimate-instrument myth. We have so many tools at our disposal.  The fact that we are not that well known means we are free to roam and be individuals. We can craft our own image and not bow to the image the masses and their manipulators deemed is real. We are not forced to follow a canned blueprint when is comes to making music.  No one is expecting us to screech like trumpets or slide up and down the stage on our knees with our horns trust out. Our sound is not associated with cheesy " B " movie soundtracks or pay per view horizontal mamba videos.  We are free to be cornet players. Let’s use our cornet players  freedom to our advantage.