Just for Kids Just for Presenters: Outreach Programs How jeff Got His Groove Back FAQs © 2008 Imani Winds		I have a lot of questions to ask Imani Winds. Where can I learn more? You have come to the right place. These are the top 10 most commonly asked questions/comments people ask Imani Winds about themselves or about their instruments. Please read on to learn more about the wonder of the woodwind quintet. 10. I want to play an instrument. How do I get one? Even if there isn't a music program in your school, your parents or your teachers at school should know where to find music programs. Look online using keywords such as "music" "schools" "your hometown" or "your nearest bigger town" and we guarantee that you will find something. Good luck! (By the way, you are never too old to start learning an instrument!) 9. Where are you all from? Valerie is from Louisville, Kentucky, Toyin is from Washington, DC, Mariam is from Monterey, California, Jeff is from Queens, New York and Monica is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 8. What inspired you to play your instruments and to go into music? All of the members of Imani Winds went to public schools, and there we met some fantastic music teachers. They encouraged us to work hard and to fall in love with our instruments. We are all eternally grateful to them because they believed in us, and helped us to believe in ourselves. 7. How do you play so well together? We have spent many, many hours working hard at playing together. Sometimes we will rehearse only 20 seconds of music for more than an hour. The secret for us is we make ourselves look up from our music and look at each other, we move our bodies so that everyone can understand what we are trying to say with our instruments, and we love and respect one another. 6. How many hours do you practice? We all practice whenever we can, as long as we can. Sometimes that may only be 30 minutes, sometimes it could be many hours. The important thing is to get as much out of the time spent practicing as possible. It is possible to do a lot in 30 minutes, and unfortunately, it is possible to get nothing done when practicing for 4 hours. Focus is the key to good practicing. 5. Is the bassoon hard to play? What age can I start playing bassoon? The bassoon is relatively hard to start on, if you are just beginning an instrument, because of its size. It is just about 5 feet tall after all. I would say that starting the bassoon at about age 10 or older is just fine. What's even better is if you have played other wind instruments first, that way you quickly get used to how much air it takes to make a good sound on the bassoon. But just like any instrument, practicing very hard will truly get lots of great results. If you wanna play bassoon, GO FOR IT! 4. How long have you been playing your instruments? We all started our instruments at different times. Valerie started flute in 3rd grade, Toyin started oboe in 9th grade, Mariam on clarinet in 3rd grade, Jeff on horn in 6th grade, Monica in 8th grade. But we didn't all necessarily start on the instruments we ended up playing as a career. Our advice to everyone is to explore all types of instruments and all types of music right now, whether you are young or young at heart. 3. What does "Imani" mean? How did you come up with the name "Imani Winds?" "Imani" means Faith in language of Swahili. Our founder and flutist, Valerie, already had the name before she even found the members of the group. It just came to her, as the right name for the group. We think it's a pretty cool name, because you have to a whole lot of faith in order to succeed at the things you love to do. 2. Why does the french horn player stick his hand in the bell? The french horn player must put his hand in the bell of the instrument for basically two reasons. First, the hand can control the pitch or the intonation of the instrument. Depending upon how far inside or out of the bell the hand is, the instrument will sound lower in pitch or higher in pitch. Second there is a technique often used by french hornists called "Stopped Horn". This is a style of playing that makes the instrument sound almost like a trumpet. The hornist pushes his hand as far in the bell as possible (as you would a sock) and tries to blow regularly. The result is a buzzing sound similar to the trumpet. And the number one question/comment that Imani Winds gets is: 1. My mommy plays that! top of page