Just when things are going nicely, someone has to upset the applecart. Quintet was thrown into abject turmoil this evening by Phil who's now defected from horn to euphonium. In mitigation, he brought Mike along who played very well; it was a pleasure to meet him and have his tones in the blend. Two cornets had sent their apologies and a third was very late which left Joe on his own for the first three pieces. Now that's tough and he did well especially as everything was either new or nearly new tonight; nothing from repertoire. Well done Joe - sterling effort. 
Paul was a man on a mission tonight. We hate it when he's got his enthusiastic hat on - there's no peace. In keeping with his relentless pursuit of achievement, he suggested the Sortie (originally in E flat), by Lefébure-Wely be tackled. All was going well, except for the cornets who had too many notes to play, until Paul's new ordering system for pages led to a catastrophic discrepancy. His new 1-3-2 approach clashed with the traditional 1-2-3 preferred by the rest of the ensemble. The other players beat him into submission and unity was resumed.
In his dual role of euph player and assistant to Sue, Robin assumed the mantle of the latter to lend assistance to Sue. (Desist with this pompous drivel - Ed). Horn parts transposed and made playable on the euph, thus was Sue assisted (Oi! I told you to desist - Ed).
Fair play to the organisation of the rehearsal, totally focussed on Quintet's first public performance on 08-Jun. A shame that a few key players couldn't come tonight - they'll have lots of catching up to do.

Lord of all patience Phil was directing Rhyl Training Band this evening. A man with a plan, he knows exactly what the Rhyl Training Band  will be playing at the Abergele Fete later this year.  A new set of music can be daunting for inexperienced players. There's a lot of work to be done as a band, and a lot of work to be done as individuals at home. If everyone pulls together, the Abergele Fete will be a great success for Rhyl Training Band.
One of the great things about Rhyl Training Band is that help is never far away. When players are doing some private practice at home, there's always someone from Rhyl Senior Band or Rhyl Quintet who can help with music reading, with fingering, with technique. Sometimes you just need to ask someone "how does that bit go?" If you'e a learner with Rhyl Training Band, there's always someone to ask.
Next rehearsal will be two weeks from now. We look forward to seeing what progress has been made.

Senior Band was rehearsing this evening, with guest stick waver Jamie. Started with a bit of extended hymn work while the learned "librologists" were casting spells and performing incantations to charm the nether world of the Band's music library into offering up something to play. We all know that Sue can still turn on the old magic when she needs to - and it works on music libraries too! Sheet music was brought forth and work started. Once the American situation had been dealt with, it transpired that, in an April Evening, Jamie likes to go up and down vigorously and players should watch him with intent! Exhausted after the climax, some players went home while the die hards headed upstairs for traditional refreshment.
Good progress was made this evening; clear improvement. Jamie got off to a cracking start and we look forward to him sticking us in April.

Fewer! In this context it's fewer. Fewer players means not so many turned up. Less players is a concept not to be considered!
Quintet saw the welcome return of Phil this evening. Half the time he goes to work instead of playing music. He’s been known to mutter something about a wolf called Bill, at his door, who needs to be paid - baffling. Not quite as baffling though, as a new fusion piece called New Raindrops in York. Just as well they threw the towel in; it was dreadful. However, once everyone had agreed to play Raindrops and leave New York till later it was much better. Very much better in fact. There was some lovely ensemble work this evening; togetherness, playing as one. It was a pleasure to hear and the players enjoyed playing too. Neil Diamond and William Boyce were both given good treatment. El Cumbanchero, everyone thought would be El Impossiblero is turning out to be El Marvelero (is this nonsense necessary?) Quintet enjoy playing Good Ol’ Blues and that piece is coming together well too. Ah, then the Bach… Orchestral suite in G for the cognoscenti, Air on a G string for most of us and “that cigar advert” for the plebs! Paul embarrassed himself by getting all gushy, we know what he’s like. Did he use the words “ineffably sublime” then start handing the score round asking people to “admire the counterpoint”? Ideas above his station that bloke. He’s only a lorry driver - need to keep him in check. That said, the Bach was starting to sound rather gorgeous so Quintet, this evening, ended on that metaphorical high note.
​Swti (band mascot) led the charge upstairs to the bar where tinctures were served. Mel was taking down people’s particulars and Sue was trying to squeeze Paul into her dress. There’s always something new at Rhyl.

Ten players at training band this evening. Nicola's nearly ready to start playing tenor horn in the band so, for this evening, just sat in for a listen. A few weaknesses were discovered, in the repertoire, but nothing that can't be ironed out with some cornet practice at home. 
The Can-Can was abandoned before it started, not enough copies for the players. On reflection, perhaps this was for the best. If played with gusto, some might have been moved to dance which, given the company, could have led to terrible discrepancies!

Nine people showed up tonight. This quintet's getting popular. Special welcome to Sue and Dave who played with Rhyl Quintet for the first time this evening. We look forward to seeing them again soon.  We warmed up with For Your Eyes Only, played some Boyce, some Bach, explored some very whacky rhythms and ended up with some Good Ol' Blues. We made tangible progress tonight and had a laugh too. Naturally, refreshment was required after the last note. Rhyl bandroom has it's own licensed bar. What more can a bandsman want - good music, good people, a laugh and a pint. Happy days.

Training band first met Bill after our open day in 2018. Bill had always wanted to play the trombone.  Bill's got an instrument to play now. He's been coming to his one to one lessons and practising at home. Last Tuesday, Bill came to his first Training Band rehearsal. He did really well and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Well done Bill, pleasure having you in the band. Keep up the good work.