I just noticed that Dan Mitchell’s wife, an oboe player, has a blog. Dan sent her the link to yesterday’s post about the guy hiking the Appalachian Trail with his French Horn. Her conclusion: while oboe players are neurotic, horn players are just plain nuts. In this spirit of good feeling from various symphonic factions, I offer a few excellent viola jokes:
What’s the difference between a violin and a viola?
- The viola burns longer.
- The viola holds more beer.
- You can tune the violin.
What’s the difference between a viola and a coffin? The coffin has the dead person on the inside. What’s the difference between a viola and a trampoline? You take your shoes off to jump on a trampoline. Why shouldn’t violists take up hiking? Because if they get lost, it takes ages before anyone notices that
they’re missing.
More jokes on this page.
OK, now you’ve gotten me started. A trombone joke…
One night at the symphony the conductor was suddenly taken ill right before the performance. The audience was filling the hall and there was no assistant conductor waiting to fill in.
The orchestra management was frantic. They asked if anyone could fill in and at first no one was willing to step up and take the risk of conducting with no preparation. Finally, the second trombone player spoke up and said, “OK. I’ll do it.”
With considerable misgivings, the orchestra management let him take the baton – there was really no other option. He began to conduct. Much to everyone’s surprise, he was more than competent – he was actually quite an outstanding conductor! The orchestra and the audience were very enthusiastic, and at the end of the concert he earned a two-minute standing ovation. The review the next day were highly favorable.
Then next time the regular conductor was back. The trombonist came in and took his usual seat in the back of the orchestra. The first trombonist looked over and said, “Hey, where were you last night?”