They Gave Him A Triangle
First week of classes, and somebody has built a balloon marching band member in the lobby of the Haslam Music Center. Orange and white shako, tinsel plume, rhinestone on the front, little squiggles down the uniform.
They gave him a triangle.
Beater in one hand, triangle dangling from the other. Out of every instrument in that building — and there are a lot of them — the balloon guy got the punchline.
I’ll defend it a little. Not because the triangle is secretly the hardest thing in the orchestra, because it isn’t. But it is exposed in a way almost nothing else is. One note, no attack to hide behind, nowhere to blend. If you’re early, everybody knows exactly who was early. There’s no section to disappear into and no chord to be a third of.
Which is a real skill, and also, yes, it’s a triangle.
He’s holding it about right, though. Grip’s a little tense. We’ll work on it.
Welcome back.
