Tanner's First Band Concert

Tanner is on the bottom right. Two seats to the left of the gong.

Impressive, that is the word that comes to mind. First of all, I am impressed with Tanner. Tanner is definitely talented musically. He has a wonderful voice and has always liked to sing. So I knew Tanner would sing at some point, but instruments (except the piano) never crossed my mind. Chad and I both played the piano for a season, but that was the extent of our instrumental careers. I was a bit surprised and worried when Tanner came home saying he wanted to play the saxophone last year. Surprised by the instrument and then worried because I didn't know anything about how to play the instrument. I was even more worried when Tanner decided that instead of saxophone, he would play the baritone. I was impressed with Tanner's desire to play and I felt comforted by the fact that most of the kids in the band would also be new to their instruments.

Tanner has been doing great all year. He comes home and practices his baritone and seems to enjoy the instrument. As the year has progressed I have listened to Tanner play. He has definitely been improving, but since I only hear the baritone part of the songs he is playing I have no idea if it is being played correctly. I can tell when he is off tune or the tempo isn't right, but I couldn't be sure if what he was playing was correct. Tanner is a hard worker though, so I wasn't worried.

Tanner's first band concert was scheduled before Christmas, but because of weather it was postponed to a later date. In the meantime, I was able to take Tanner to his first Solo judging event. Each participant is judged and awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal. Tanner was a little nervous and was hoping to at least get a bronze. We arrived at Tanner's scheduled time only to find out they were running almost an hour late. Not good for the nervous, but Tanner held it together well. There were several minutes of alarm though. Right before Tanner's turn with the judges Tanner tried to practice his baritone and it wouldn't work. He couldn't get a sound to come out of it. Tanner and I both began to panic. I didn't know anything about the baritone and Tanner had tried everything he knew how to do. Tanner's teacher had just been by to check on Tanner, but we couldn't find her. I noticed a girl who also played baritone and I asked her if she could help. She tried her best, but was unable to fix the problem. She kindly said she could find her teacher and he could look at the baritone. Luckily, the girl's teacher came in and fixed the problem - just in the nick of time!

Despite the scare, Tanner did a great job in front of the judges. He started to laugh a little at the beginning, but the judge stopped him and told him to relax and start again. He was really nice. After the judging we learned that Tanner earned a gold! Tanner was so excited and surprised! It was fun for me to see his reaction. I was so proud of him! Once again, I was impressed.

Finally, a little while ago, Tanner had his rescheduled concert. We were all excited to hear the whole band play together. I was expecting a band of beginners. In reality, they were beginners, but the sound they produced was far better than I expected it to be. Certainly, not the novice sound I was planning on hearing. The band worked really hard and it showed. I was excited for Tanner. He and his band did an excellent job! I was very impressed!

Way to go Tanner, you did a great job! I'm glad you are having fun developing a new talent!