All That Jazz!
Eli started 5th grade which means he gets to start band! Jared and I were band nerds and so this is near and dear to our hearts. 😛 What makes it even sweeter is that Eli chose to play the saxophone which is what Jared played all through school!
I think Jared is feeling quite proud that Eli is following in his footsteps! 🙂 It’s fun to watch him tutor Eli. Jared was actually REALLY good!! He tells the story about when he was in Jr. High and the Mesa Community College came to perform for and with his band. They were playing a jazz song and there was a portion of the song they were allowed to ‘riff’ and as they story goes when they were finished the instructor asked who played that riff?? He thought it was one of the college students but in fact it was Jared. 🙂
I think that planted a seed for him and by the time he was a Senior in High School he was taking 4 hours of band!! lol!
So now his boy has chosen “his” instrument and he couldn’t be more proud. With playing an instrument there is always the question….do we buy one or rent one? We rented Walker’s trumpet and we feel that was the best route especially since he switched to drums/percussion a year later!
We did some research and boy oh boy are saxophones expensive! They are expensive to rent and to buy! But we were able to find a great deal on one and so we went ahead and bought it.
Unfortunately the picture from the music store we bought it from wasn’t as detailed as we thought and after further close-up pictures (above) found this used sax was in very poor shape. You can imagine my heart break and disappointment when the manager sent these over AFTER I had already purchased it!!! 🙁
Thankfully they were are really great company and when I told them that it wasn’t what I was hoping for or expecting they refunded our purchase in full! Whew!!! That was a close one!
The music store manager said he just got another one in that he thought we’d like much better and he sent over pics (close-ups…lol). It too needed some work but they always send their instruments out to be repaired/refurbished before they sell them and he assured me this one would be great! Better even still it would be the same price!
These are the “after” pics he sent when he got it back from the shop. Isn’t she a beauty??? 😀 We were SO happy! The cork needed to be replaced as well as some of the pads but the condition of it is really great!!
Since we had to have it shipped from Texas it arrived a day later than we hoped and Eli missed his first day of band. But never fear…Dad is a pro and gave him a personal lesson at home!
I love this picture..Jared just has to “fix” his mouth when he’s showing him how to play. LOL! ;P
Getting it all strapped up.
Practicing his first scale.
We can’t wait to hear some jazzy tunes soon! Eli has a natural talent for music. He just has the ability to read music and understand rhythms/timing. We know he’s going to be great!! 🙂
