Brandon Ridenour was a seven-season member of the Canadian Brass (starting at age 20) and now at 30 has recently made his solo Carnegie Hall debut. Last week he was a guest artist alongside his father at Rockford High School.
In their masterclass, before he sang and played “Basin Street Blues”, Brandon revealed that through high school he was a member of both band and choir. Moreover, he said, “I think the singing really helped me with my playing.”
The voice is the first instrument, and learning to negotiate it effectively and expressively is going to dramatically improve your musicality. He said, “the entire goal is to sound like yourself on your instrument,” and singing was the perfect vehicle for that.
I’m so pleased that in my RAMChoir pickup TTBB choir, there are eight members of our top RHS Concert Band. It’s really tough in today’s academic environment to make room in your class schedule for two music electives; these young men clearly wanted more opportunities to sing than they have during the school day.
If you’re a player, learn to sing. It will make all the difference.
(If you’re a singer, learn the piano…)