Music hath charms

The trombone section at our last concert (we do clean up nice, don't we?)

Music therapy has been shown to help cancer patients, though music therapists always issue two warnings -- first, that music doesn't take the place of traditional therapies, and second, that it should be carried out under the care of a qualified professional. I think they're saying "Don't try this at home." They don't say anything about school gyms, churches, community centers, or any of the other places we've played during our Christmas season.

And it's been wonderful.

Therapeutic, too. Who could ask for anything healthier than to make joyful noises with a bunch of people who don't wince when I accidentally miss an accidental, who make jokes at the right (and sometimes the wrong) moments, and who seem to be having as much fun as I am? Trombonists, or at least the ones I know, don't suffer from the competitiveness of trumpet players, the ego of flutists, or the nerves of double reed players.

Not all music-making is therapeutic, though. A Romanian high school student of mine once warned me that it is a well-known fact, in Romania at least, that all bassoon players eventually go mad. It's something about the way the vibrations hit the nerves in the chest. He told me that trombone players don't have to worry about going mad, because you have to be crazy to take up the trombone in the first place. Nice to have one less thing to worry about.