The Armchair Politician

While Tara Dooley (picture soon, I hope) and I were studying for our Differential Equations class earlier today, I took the opportunity to ask her a question that’s been bugging me since she told me she was a bassoonist. Yes, she would in fact let me try out her year-old, approx. $8,000, Fox 220 Bassoon.

Given, I haven’t picked up a bassoon since my Sophomore year of high school (more than four years ago). I was quite impressed with how much I’d retained. I couldn’t read music for shit, my tone was completely off, and I couldn’t play a scale or arpeggio if my life depended on it, but I remembered nearly every fingering from low B-flat to high F.

The chair of the Kennesaw Music department happened to walk in, and I introduced myself. When he found out I was a former bassoon player, he aggressively attempted to recruit me into the Music program. Hell, at one point, he implied he’d even pay for a new identical bassoon, were I to join. Which, interestingly enough, highlights one of the more salient parts of being a bassoon player–people treat us like royalty thanks to the never-ending shortage of us. He told me he’d give me a call sometime soon, to see if he can convince me to join, so I guess it’s something I’ll have to consider.