Playing with an Orchestra for the first time in 10 years

With my studio shutting down, I have moved my base of operations to three different locations. I will make videos in a proper studio, I will practice in my house (QUIETLY) and I will teach at an Orchestra.

I was asked to help out with their drum band and teach some of the younger kids a few things to help them along in their learning process. I had my first lesson with the kids yesterday and it was so much fun!

After teaching the kids and meeting everyone, I was asked to help out the Orchestra on a more permanent basis. I decided to accept the offer, as well as take my turn at playing Timpani in the orchestra that was rehearsing next. I had seen the orchestra play a few songs and it didn't seem too hard. I was wrong

I got my ass kicked by two pieces on the Timpani, the first was a Lord of the Ring piece. A beautiful flowing, tempo changing piece of music, while the second was a Clint Eastwood inspired Western sounding tune. Reading music, playing with an orchestra and keeping time was all a little bit too much for me. Straight out I was barely able to follow everyone. When it's not your own tempo, it can be very challenging. The Lord of the Rings piece never really got any better.

After a quick break we started the Clint Eastwood piece. This one was much simpler and much more doable for me. I was able to read, follow along and somewhat keep up. It was really a good challenge as I haven't done much like this in a long time. This is a fantastic lesson in reading and being humble, all my students face challenges and so should I!

I will continue to play, learn and grow with this Orchestra. Maybe one day I will perform with them as well, you never know. I will keep you guys posted!

Thanks for reading!

-Joel