I am one of those lucky people who is extremely fortunate to be living the dream and working in a job, which I enjoy immensely, hopefully bring pleasure to many, giving opportunities to travel the world (Hamburg, Germany this week with the Regimental Band of The Royal Welsh!), meet lots of interesting people and see some wonderful sights and ultimately get paid for the privilege.

Those are the perks. The downside features are the long, unsociable hours, particularly working evenings and weekends, the endless hours travelling to and from jobs and the volatility of work “feast or famine”. One minute not knowing what day it is and where you are meant to be next, followed by “Diary drought”, not knowing where the next job is going to come from. Despite all that, I know that there are many other trades and professions who share these issues and have much greater hardships to endure, so I’ll stop moaning. I wouldn’t change a thing, as I know I am extremely blessed to be doing what I do.

You would think though, that having now played the Trumpet and Cornet for just over 40 years (gulp!), that the need to practice was long gone and one could just get on with it, until finally deciding to “hang up one’s mouthpiece”. Alas, no!

“He’s not practicing again?” is the usual comment when someone pops round or rings the house, as the obligatory scales, lip-flexibility and technical exercises are rolled out, with religious necessity. Why? Well, put simply, being a brass player is just like being an athlete. Ok so we haven’t got the physique of Usain Bolt or George North (I wish!), but one must not only maintain and strive to improve standards, but ensure that lips muscles are kept strong and flexible to ensure good stamina and accuracy.

Co-ordination skills (fingers and tongue) and lung capacity when not breathing/blowing so intensely also go out of the window after any significant time off.

“So what is a significant period?” I hear you ask.

For me, I work on the old saying “Miss a day and you know about it. Miss 2 days and your friends know about it. Miss 3 days and every bugger knows about it!”. Sad but true I’m afraid. everything goes out of the window if I go more than a few days without putting the “hooter on my chops” for at least 20-30 minutes each day. I do have friends and colleagues however, who I know can go weeks without blowing a note and get away with it, with no apparent lack of quality or consistency. I hate them all for their good fortune!!!

Apart from athletes, how many other professions require that level of application I wonder? Do carpenters go down the shed every day to do a dovetail joint, or a chef pop in to the kitchen to work on a Beef Wellington ?

In the meantime, I will continue to count my lucky stars that I’m in a profession that I’m passionate about and hope that my “necessary” daily practise, allows me to stay in that role for many, many years to come.

For more information about Music for You, please visit my Web-site

Needs must! Martini practise session – “Any time, any place, anywhere”

I’ve just been trying to catch up on my 122 hours of recorded programmes on my TV Digi-box and watched Paloma Faith performing at the Royal Albert Hall, from the Late Night Prom – yes that’s how far behind I am with my TV viewing!

Paloma was accompanied by the brilliant Guy Barker Orchestra (approximately 40 musicians) and a sizeable Choir and vocal backing group and I was immediately struck, not only with the quality and musicianship of the performers, but with the sheer visual spectacle on display. As the Arts get financially squeezed more and more, it was refreshing to see that we had “real” “live” musicians on stage to deliver the performance and lots of them at that – well let’s face it, if the Proms can’t manage to provide live entertainment, then we’re really in the mire! My point is that the paying public is all too often being short-changed at the box-office, with reduced bands/orchestras and worst of all, the dreaded backing track, replacing live musicians. This is certainly not a new phenomenon, but is becoming the norm nowadays and audiences are becoming acclimatised to seeing less musicians on stage or in the orchestra pit. I went to see the much-acclaimed show “Riverdance” in Cardiff some 5 years ago and was really looking forward to not only seeing the dancers in action, but to hear and watch the wide and eclectic range of musical instruments used by the Band for the performance. To say I was underwhelmed is a monumental understatement, as my expectations were shattered when I saw that the total number in the Band was …… 4!!!! The bizarre and ridiculous sight of the Flamenco Dancer, performing her solo to a backing track will haunt me for many a year to come. Back to the present day and I was performing at a Corporate Event, where a very famous male vocal group had been hired to perform a set during the evening. They were accompanied by a substantial orchestra and the noise, sorry sound was deafening, however, there was not an instrumentalist in sight. I would also question, whether there was an “actual” note sung in anger too. Post match analysis: Backing Track 2 – Live Music 0. So, not only are venues giving us less than value for money – substantial money at that – but, performers (ahem!) are just as culpable for peddling fake “musak”, all in the name of entertainment. Next time you attend a performance, check that you are paying for “live” music and if not, WHY NOT??? Hopefully sights such as the Phil Dando Big Band (pictured above) performing live, will not be a thing of the past. In the words of the Musicians’ Union slogan, please help “Keep Music Live“. For more details about Music for You, providing LIVE Musicians for your event, contact Andrew on 07973 869621 or visit my Website

Welcome to the Music for You blog and to paraphrase Auldous Huxley’s book title, I’m being “Brave” by venturing in to this very “New World” of technology and social media, not having the foggiest idea what I’m really doing! Having said that, I have had my hand held by various experts, including Mr. Content – Chris Bown, who has been “instrumental” in getting this Blog up and running – many thanks Chris. The good bits will be because of Chris and the rest is down to me I’m afraid.

I hope, through this Blog, to share some thoughts and experiences – some funny, some sad – of life as a freelance musician and hope that you enjoy reading these posts. I’ll be teaming up with a wide range of people over the coming weeks and months, giving you the chance to experience not music-related articles, but much, much more.

Each month, I’ll be featuring a colleague who I have worked with, in order to promote and develop my business, including a photographer, a social media expert, a cartoonist and a wedding planner, just to name a few.

Please feel free to share my blog address with all who have a love of music and any comments you post will be much appreciated and I will endeavour to reply to each one individually.