Early Birthday Present

Ahhhhhh! Kevin very sneakily found a refurbished Bach Stradivarius lightweight trumpet for me! A little note here about Kevin- he can't wait for surprises. He absolutely loves them- but if I tell him about one, I have to give it to him right away or he gets super pissed. This works in both directions. He can't wait to give them either. The fact that he was able to order it, wait for it, and then wait again all day for me to get home from work when it arrived and not give away even the slightest hint to me is an absolute test of wills for him! Good job, babe. :) Here is a picture of me: what a dork!

And another picture of the horn, even though you can't really see the label (and it the up close picture didn't come out- sorry):

Trying it out, I could tell an immediate difference. The trumpet I've been playing on since I was 16 (yes, sweet 16th birthday present- thanks Mom!), is a very large, heavy horn and takes about twice the amount of air to get a nice sound out. This one is light and has a nice open airy sound, and I can get really brassy very easily if I push. And because I don't have to push quite as much air through the horn, my chops don't give out after 5 minutes of hard playing. I can play higher, and for longer, and I've been practicing quite a bit lately. :) It's like having a new car- making up excuses to go for a drive. Thanks Kev and parents- I love my new trumpet!