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My Story...
My name is Jorge Ayala I was born on March 4, 1986 in Panama City, Panama. Music has played an important role throughout my entire life, and that's probably do to the fact that my father is a professional musician and a well known band director. When I was smaller I remember my father taking me to orchestra rehearsal, band practice, marching band rehearsal, and gigs. Although I was constantly surrounded by professional musicians and music all the time I never really cared for it until I became older. I don't think that my father really wanted for any of his children to get into the music business because he always talked about how hard it was and that he didn't want for us to go threw what he had to go threw. I remember I was once at one of his rehearsal's and someone asked him if I was the next him and my dad replied, " if my son ever gets into music he better be twice as good as me".
When I got to the age of around 6 or 7 I was told about a percussion group that was being formed to play at the annual local carnival. So I signed up and started to play bass drum. My dad went and got me the best bass drum he could find. We had practice every Saturday. I never really practiced my bass drum except for at band practice. I was probably at the very end of the line. I wasn't really motivated to practice so just like any other kid my age I was outside playing soccer and running around in the park with all my friends.
About 4 months into me playing the bass drum my mom and I move to New Jersey. I was set back one year for me to catch up with my English. New Jersey at the time was very dangerous so my mom decides to move to Rising Sun, Maryland. In Rising Sun I went threw a lot. I finished my 3rd grade year and was also the only Spanish and colored school in a all white school. I was often faced with stupid questions about my race and culture. I just ignored them and tried my best to do the best I could possibly do in school. Towards the end of my 3rd grade year the school band had their spring concert for the school. At the end of the concert the band director had each section leader play their instrument to show us what each instrument sounded like and when the trumpet came up I remember that the girl playing trumpet played the jeopardy theme. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
By the beginning of 4th grade I had made a lot of friends that summer so when school started I was a pretty popular kid. I had girls sending me candy and what not. I was one of the best math students and was in the honor roll. One day while I was sitting in class over the intercom they announce a meeting for all 4th graders interested in joining band. So I go to the meeting, but mostly just go to get out of class. When I get to the meeting the band director goes threw all the instruments and then when she gets to the trumpet she talks about how she needed trumpeters because people always ended up quitting because it was demanding. I look at the instrument and I say "how hard can it be?" it was just 3 valves so I pick trumpet. So then the director (Mrs. Baker) gives us a piece of paper and tells us to list the 3 instruments that we want to play and to list them in the order of which instrument we wanted to play the most. So on the list I put trumpet, saxophone and flute. Later I go with my mom and rent my self a trumpet. Mrs. Baker was a flute player and her husband was a trumpet player so she always talked about how trumpet players made good kissers. I had told Mrs. Baker that my dad was a professional flute player. Mrs. Baker taught us by making us do mouthpiece buzzing. At home I never practiced my trumpet for 2 reasons. One I couldn't get the mouthpiece to buzz and second I couldn't get the embouchure that she was teaching us so I just sort lost care. After about 1.5 months of me trying to play the trumpet Mrs. Baker had a talk with me about that maybe I should play trombone because my lips were bigger or maybe flute because my dad played it. That made me even more frustrated because now I was one of the worse in band class and my teacher was telling me basically to give up trumpet.
Around the beginning of my 2nd marking period in 4th grade we move to the city of Port Deposit mostly because my mom had found a nice house and a nice job around the area. So then I had to transfer schools. I now went to Bainbridge elementary school. This probably changed the rest of my life. Bainbridge was a mix school with all types of people. Anyway, while I was getting shown around the school the band teacher ( Mr. Wolfe) just happens to be out in the hall ways and the teacher showing me around introduced him to me and told him that I was in the band. Mr. Wolfe asked me what I played and I said trumpet and he said great and handed me a band schedule. Mr. Wolfe is also a trumpet player but at the time I didn't know that. Bainbridge had a very little band compared to the 200+ big band, 20 + trumpet section Rising Sun had. Bainbridge only had 2 trumpet players in the entire school. Me and one other kid in the advanced band. So in band class it was only 2 of us. As usual I was the worse student. Unlike Mrs. Baker, Mr. Wolfe never made me feel like as if I couldn't play trumpet and always encouraged me to keep playing. About 3 weeks after I join the band at Bainbridge the only other trumpeter in school quits. I wasn't ready for advanced band ( playing with the whole band) so now I was the only trumpeter in the trumpet band period. Mr. Wolfe just kept working with me but I still didn't practice.
One night my mom got real upset because I never practiced the trumpet and she said I was wasting her money and then she started comparing me to my dad and she started to tell me about how much he practiced and that's the only way to get better and stuff like that. I don't really remember what she told me. But I do remember that she screamed at me because I didn't practice. Then she left me a lone in my room and I had time to think about what she said. I was in my room for about 1 hour or maybe 2 I don't remember. But I do remember that she lit up something inside of me. It was like a fire and I wanted to prove to her and everybody that I could be a great musician. I was tired at people looking down on me because I couldn't do something. But when my own mother told me what she told me that really got to me. That next day I picked up my trumpet and start blowing notes until my lips got tired. That week in band class I played threw my very first song. I was really happy and excited so I went home and practiced some more. Mr. Wolfe had given me a sheet of a C maj. scale in the form of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes and some other variations. I practiced that for a very long time until I could play it threw with out any errors. The more I practiced the better I became and the better I became the more I wanted to learn. By the 4th marking period I was good enough to be in advanced band and to play in the spring concert. At the end of the my 4th grade year my mom had to give back my rented trumpet. I had grown very attached to that Bach trumpet so when it was taken away from me I was very sad for a long time. That summer (5th grade summer) I had no trumpet to play all summer. So I wrote my dad a letter asking him for a trumpet and he said he would send me one but it took him a very long time to send.
It was the beginning of my 5th grade year and the trumpet my dad promised me still hadn't arrived so when band started I told one of the girls to tell Mr. Wolfe that I wasn't doing band. Mr. Wolfe told some girls to go get me and this girl persuaded me to go down and see him. I went down and told him that I had no instrument so he said that's not a problem. He gave me a cornet. As soon as I got home I opened it up to try it. But when I blew I noticed that my chops were gone. I was a little disappointed that what I had worked so hard for was gone. Then one day in full band practice I messed up in the middle of a song and we had to start over again and this flute player screams at me and says, " why don't you just stop playing, you're messing us up ". She really hurt my feelings . So then to prove her wrong I went home and practice for about 1 hour. I practiced every day. As my chops got better I would practice more. I would go into the garage and play for hours. On Saturdays instead of playing video games or kids games like normal kids I would practice my trumpet for hours up to 3-4 hours (of course with breaks). Everyone that lived around me knew who I was and that I played trumpet. One advantage that I've had my whole music career is that I've had nice neighbors that put up with hours of my noise and that I've lived in the country where I barely have any neighbors. As I got better word around the school spread that I was a "trumpet god". This is the start of what I like to call "the legend". At the time I wasn't aware of any of this. I just wanted to get better and play whenever I got the chance. I would play for teachers, in classrooms, ext.. where ever I got asked to play I would play. Around the middle of the year Mr. Wolfe switched me from cornet to trumpet. By the end of 5th grade I was "the school's pride", I graduated with honors and the trumpet my dad promised me had finally come in. So I played my very last elementary school concert with my very own trumpet. It was a Getzen student model horn with a weird rim mouthpiece and a crushed bell.
My 6th grade summer now that I had my very own trumpet I practice like nuts. Trying to get ready for middle school. One advantage that I had was that Mr. Wolfe was also the band director in the middle school. When 6th grade started I played with the 6th grade band about twice and then I was moved up to the advance band. In middle school I met my friend Justin. He was in 8th grade and I was in 6th. Justin had the same passion for trumpet that I had. Naturally we became friends very fast. We did a duet at the talent show and started a brass choir. That year Justin and I were suppose to a duet at solo and ensemble but he couldn't make it because he was involved in the Crossmen drum and bugle corps. I had no idea what that was until years later. Here are some of the highlights of my 6th grade year:
Note about me making all county band. I was one of the only 2 six graders in the entire county to be in all county band. The story that goes with that point is that I got sick the week before the audition. I was sick for about 1.5 weeks. I had missed my all county audition so my teacher re-scheduled it for me. When I got back to school I hadn't played for about 2 weeks because when I got sick my mom had to come pick me up and had forgotten to get my trumpet. So then after not playing for 2 weeks I get about 1 hour to get my chops back and do my audition. If you think I got my chops back in 1 hour you must be stupid. I had no idea what type of warm up to do or anything. So that audition I really messed up. But I think I did the best I could of done given the circumstances.
In 7th grade Justin was gone so I was now section leader of a 15+ trumpet section. As far as trumpet playing goes I didn't really learn much in middle school but "the legend" did increase. As I became older Mr. Wolfe would do more trumpet playing around me and me trying to imitate his sound and get to his level was what kept me excited about playing trumpet playing. Here are the highlights of my 7th grade year.
A quick story about point number 2. Right after I get done playing taps this lady asked me if I knew any other patriotic songs and I said I can probably figure out the National Anthem and she said great because the kids really enjoyed your playing. So I go to a room and in 30 minutes with no music I figure out the national anthem and performed it in front of a whole school. This was really the performance that gave me the confidence and feeling that I could do anything with hard work and till this day I still think like that
Story: During my 7th grade year Christmas concert we played a tune called "Hark the Herald Trumpet Swing" this was obviously featuring the great trumpet section that we had that year. So we had to go to the front of the stage and play it as a section. To me my solo in this song was a very big deal. I was very excited because it was my very first solo. As we are getting ready to perform the trumpet section is freaking out and was nervous. I was also nervous but I tried to play it cool and make jokes to ease everyone else up. So then we go threw the song and I play my solo and the reaction from the school was huge everyone loved it. After the concert was over I went into the hallways and I ended up making a huge hallway jam because everyone wanted to talk to me so I was told to go into the band room. And there I was for about 20 minutes until everything calmed down. I really felt like a super star. Then I went to lunch and I again the same thing. Tons of people just came coming up to me to congratulate me. Now this all sounds great because my legend kept growing and I was a pretty popular kid but then there were people in the band jealous at all the attention that I was getting and this kept going on for a couple of years.
That performance of taps was probably the greatest rendition of taps that I have ever played. I remember playing it and seeing the veterans in the front row crying. I had chills all over my body and so did the rest of the audience. During that performance I learned about the power of music and how it can touch and affect people and move people's feelings and emotions.
Now we move on to 8th grade I would point out about how I did a bunch of stuff in 8th grade but I'll just summarize it. Basically the legend was still growing. I was once again the school's pride and those jealous people trying to make my life harder were still around. Quick points:
What can I say? It was marching band. I was living the high school life and stories about me fooling around with older girls went all over the middle school witch made the legend grow even more. That year I learned about the high notes and the trumpet attitude from all the older trumpeters. But with all of that I don't think that any of that stuff really stuck with me. I just love the trumpet and love playing. That year in marching the band received it's highest score ever. We played the show "Jesus Christ Superstar". By the end of the season my chops were steal.
Me discovering the internet and Arbans made me look at things a whole new way. I probably learned more in 8th grade then what I learned my whole life. Mr. Wolfe really opened up to me and showed what the trumpet is. He played me a Double G, played La Virgen de la Macarena for me, and most impressing he played Carnival of Venice for me. All those things kept me excited about trumpet playing and how great the instrument is. I fell in love. I learned how to double and triple tongue and he taught me how to use the Arbans.
My freshman year of high school was real tough for me. My friend Justin had just gotten back from touring with the crossmen and he never did get use to high school band so he eventually quit. I was also forced to lead a senior trumpet section. I learned a lot about leadership. Some highlight include:
A quick story about jazz band. One day we were practicing in my school and while the classes were changing we were playing the song "Oye como Va" and my trumpet solo came up. I was all mic'd up so everyone could hear me. So I start playing and while I'm playing people in the hallway stop by to hear me and the jazz band play. Eventually too many people stop and create a huge jam in the hallway. We were told to stop playing until everyone went back to class. It was one of those cool moments. During lunch that day everyone was telling me about how cool jazz was and how much they liked the way I improvised. This gave me a lot of confidence with my improv. skills.
My tenth grade year we played a Chuck Mangione Show and I had a lot of fun. Here are some highlights:
This was a great thing it made all those people that were jealous of me realize that I am human and it brought them closer to me. For the first time I became close to the other band members.
This was probably the highlight of my life. Never in a trillion of years I thought I would be doing that. Here is what I wrote about this on my diary:
" The day before the concert we had a All Day Rehearsal were the guest conductor worked the trumpet section out because she claimed that I was showing off during warm up. The next day (concert day) I wake up and I have a swollen lip due to the fact that I hadn't played that long and that much in one day so my lips had really taken a beating. My band director gives me some ice to help the swelling go down. It didn't help at all. About 4 hours until the concert and my lips were still swollen up and on top of the that my band teacher informs me that I'm suppose to play the "Star Spangled Banner" for the concert opener in front of 900 people by my self. I was freaking out. I had a swollen lip, my confidence was way down and I didn't even know if I could play or not. So during revisit period I go into the auditorium and do some long tones and stuff and then I stare at all the chairs set up and I get all freaked out so I go back in to my classroom. I then go home and get ready and end up showing up a little late. I had like 10 minute to warm up. I was sweating and freaking out in the practice room because I was thinking about "oh what if I crack a note ext" but thankfully I had the support of my friends. So then I go out to play the anthem and I stare into the audience then back to the flag and I take a deep breath and close my eyes and just start playing out of my heart. After I'm done I get a standing ovation. I was just happy that I made it threw the piece. Then I thought about how 5 years ago I would of never in my craziest dreams would of thought that I would be playing the national anthem as a soloist for the County Band concert in front of 700+ people. It was truly one the highlights of my career so far. "
No matter how good I get I'm always going to be looking for self improvement whether it's in my music or trumpet playing. Constant improvement is what I look for. I love trumpet and I love music.