My sister, my female cousins, and I all played French Horn. The 'logic' behind this decision was that it is not a common or popular instrument and so it will always be needed in a band or orchestra. Truth be told, it is an obnoxious and difficult instrument to play. Jasper Rees knew this, he titled his book A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument. (Personally, I'd put the oboe high on the list of difficult to play, too). Rees had played the horn in his youth and took it up again as an adult. His year long ... challenge .... sounded very familiar to me!

Did you also play an instrument when you were younger? Did you start one as a child, then set it aside for school, family, work? Just like Jasper Rees, the author of The Late Starters Orchestra did. In the case of Ari L. Goldman, it was the cello, and this is the story of how he took it up again as he faced his 60th birthday.

Barry Tuckwell was once the first horn player in the London Symphony Orchestra. He wrote a book for the Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides simply titled Horn. All you've ever wanted to know (and you are curious, right?) is here: the ancestors to the present day horn (by the way, it's not French*); the composers who wrote for the horn; some of the masters of the instrument, as well as advice for a beginning player.

One of my favorite reference books is A Dictionary of Musical Themes, compiled by Harold Barlow and Sam Morgenstern. It's one of those books that you don't know you need until you do! If you hear a bit of, say, Beethoven but don't remember the name of the piece, you can look it up. If a melody is running through your mind, there's a section in the back with just the notes so if you can hum it, or pick it out on a keyboard you can find the composer. The older I get, the more I use this book!

For those of you who had piano lessons as a kid and are considering starting up again, I Used to Play Piano, by E.L. Lancaster and Victoria McArthur is the book for you. It goes on the premise that you can read music, key signatures, etc., know where your hands go on the keyboard and so on. It's a great way to get back into playing without having to start at the very beginning again.

*also: the English horn is not English. Nor is it a horn!

Luncheon invitations sent by a musician to some friends included this cryptic note: "Tuesday. G Major." His guests understood and all arrived for lunch at one sharp. (from a very old Reader's Digest).

Reading Hermit With Dog