Trumpet lessons

For quite some time I have been wanting to play an orchestral instrument. I play the piano, and I am at Grade 4 level. At first I thought about the oboe, but then as I prefer brass instruments, I decided I wanted to play the trumpet.

I decided this about a year ago, and I have been waiting since then to start. I wanted to start last year during the fourth term, but my mother said that it was better if I started in the New Year. We knew of two people who taught trumpet, but we chose the one because he lives closer.
We decided that it would be better if we hired a trumpet at first instead of buying one, in case I didn’t enjoy playing it, because then we would have had a new trumpet that we aren’t using. We phoned Lovemore Music Centre to see if they hired out instruments, and they said that they didn’t, but knew a man that did. So my mother called him, and he said he had a trumpet we could use, and we arranged to pick it up at the music shop.

The next week I started lessons with Herrie Venter (Pronounced Harry). I have been taking lessons for six weeks now, and I am enjoying it thoroughly. Because I have been playing piano for about six years, and know a lot about music, I progressed very quickly, and I had done a years’ work in two or three weeks, and I am already playing Grade 4 pieces now, although I struggle with some of the high notes.

Our family is very musical. Both my grandmothers play piano, and one of my grandfathers. My one aunt played trombone when she was young, and my uncle played tuba in the school band. My other aunt plays piano, and used to play flute and clarinet. My mother played piano when she was young, and after she was married, she started viola. My father played cornet (which is very similar to trumpet) when he was in school in the band. My elder sister plays cello, my one brother plays the French horn, and my other brother plays violin and the recorder, which me and my sister both played when we were young (the recorder, not the violin or both).
I am enjoying the trumpet very much, and I am thinking of joining an orchestra when I am good enough. My sister plays in two, the Pretoria Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (PYPO for short), and Simphonia Juventi.