What the heck is a Euphonium?

Last spring, Jim, Finn and I went to school to sign Finn up for an instrument. He REALLY wanted to play trumpet (one of the instruments I played) but they'd brought instruments to school and tested each of the kiddos and they recommended he play the trombone. He REALLY didn't want to play the trombone. When we arrived, he still didn't know which instrument he was going to pick. As we waited in the very long line, we tried talking through it with him, but as you may know...he can be difficult.

Finally, we gathered that he liked the valves of the trumpet and didn't like the slide of the trombone. So Finn and I stepped out of line and went to talk to the band director. We explained how he was feeling and she looked at his "score" card and said that based on his testing, the trombone mouth piece was a much better fit for him, but it was up to him. So we kept chatting and eventually I mentioned that the baritone (which Jim played) had valves like a trumpet but the mouthpiece like a trombone! Boom. The band director said that if he wanted to play the Euphonium (this band uses Euphoniums NOT baritones, but they are VERY similar), that would be a perfect solution.

So why a Euphonium and not a Baritone? Our band uses Euphoniums. According to the good ol' internet, the Baritone is a member of the Saxhorn family, whereas the Euphonium is a member of the Tuba family. The Euphonium has a wider bore and a more conical flare over more of the instrument's length, compared to the smaller, shorter Baritone flare. Because of the difference in bore and bell size, the Euphonium tends to have a more mellow sound, although the instruments do blend very effectively in the middle of the Band. We think Jim played a Baritone and not a Euphonium (also because Jim said it felt "backwards" to him).

Fast forward to today. Today was Finn's the first day of Band Camp! I was so excited for him but didn't mention it until this morning in case he acted like...well...himself and freaked out. He didn't though. He was super excited. Jim brought him so I don't have a lot of details, but when I saw Finn, he was super excited and went to practice as soon as we got home! I hope THAT keeps up.

I think today's lesson was really just learning fingering but he still enjoyed practicing what he'd learned. Here's to a new, if not slightly louder, era in the Thomas household! Can we add a sound proof room?!?! Kidding, not kidding ;)

Here's a little video of him practicing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gNBvCGKTkDExj6XL8