Percy Aldridge Grainger was a composer in the ninteen hundreds who was known for being a bit of an odd fellow. He was also known for his deep seeded dislike for the more commonplace Italian music terms. If ever you find a crescendo or a forte written on Grainger's music, it had been put in by an editor. Slow, slower, slowest, singingly, and one of the best, hammeringly, are the original terms that Percy Grainger would have used.
I figure by now it is safe to say that I have consistently been titling my posts in accordance with musical terms that correspond with my day. Today my musical term is hammeringly.
Let me tell you why.
First and foremost was my desire to hit all the notes of the fanfare of William Tell Overture as "hammeringly" as possible.
Background info:
It's been a busy week. And when I say busy, I mean it. As a family we've been up, down, and all around, bustling for the the past seven days. Yesterday was the first day we only had a few commitments. And today we don't have any. Me and my sister we're super excited to sleep in for the last time before work starts (and then I have to get up five!) But my sister is not so much a morning person.
And I am.
Do you see where this is going?
Eleven forty five rolls around and my sister is still burried beneath the covers, dreaming away, enjoying the bliss of nothingness. But I wanted to go for a bike ride with her, and let's face it, eleven forty five is late enough.
I pull out Benjamin, my trumpet, and take him downstairs with the first page of William Tell. I set the music down, blow a bit of warm air through Benjamin and "hammeringly" declare that it's time to get up.
My sister threw a pillow at me, and wrapped herself in her duvet. And then got up and told me it was impossible to stay mad at me because of the huge grin on my face.
I honestly couldn't stop smiling. I've wanted to do that since I got Benjamin, and I didn't know if I'd ever get the chance. But I did! I didn't hit the high F because I usually have to play through the fanfare once before I get it. That one I always seem to drop because I pop up from C and for some reason I have issues with that in this particular section. Regardless, it was fun.
But that was not the only reason that today was a "hammeringly" kind of day.
The beforementioned bike ride did occur, but there was a bit of an incident. There's a hill where we were riding, and I decided to pick up some speed so that I would be able to crest it. Naturally, right? Well some kid was coming down the hill on my side of the trail, and we smashed into each other. Hammeringly.
I must have taken the brunt of the crash, because he flopped over into the bushes, and I flew over my handlebars, and tumbled onto the concrete. My foot, both knees, and a bit of my elbow are scratched up, and I have a bruise-to-be forming on my thigh but I'm otherwise no more worse for the wear. I'm just glad he's okay. He was a fair bit smaller than me.
He made sure I was okay, and then biked away with his stunned friend. My sister was a bit rattled herself. But I cleaned up the cuts, and was rearing to go again.
Except for the fact that my front tire was popped. I guess when you "hammer" into someone, you don't get off scott free. Oh well.
So I guess sometimes life hits you "hammeringly" and what you've got to do is hit it back. You'll be okay, if not a little scraped up.
Best of luck!
-Trumpet Player
