I’m an RAF trumpeter – playing The Last Post under pressure is in my blood
I have had the honour and the privilege to sound The Last Post at many different events. I’ve played it at small graveside funerals for veterans where there isn’t any family left, and it is literally just myself, the Padre and the coffin bearers. I feel I am there not only to represent the Royal Air Force at the end of their lives, but also to sound that Last Post as a mark of respect to what they gave their country and to the military. Despite the fact that nobody else is there, it’s still incredibly emotional. And there are the big public events, where there’s a different kind of pressure.
Last week, just how great that pressure can be was clear. We saw a young man struggle with his nerves as he played The Last Post at a football match at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground. I felt for him. It was great to see the way the crowd reacted by supporting him, and also the players rallying around him for a bit of comfort. It’s a shame because it started so well, it sounded great. I think the importance of the occasion just got to him. Hopefully it won’t knock him back. There’s sure to be another opportunity for him to try it again in the future.
For experienced players, the biggest opportunity of all of course is to be part of the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, which is where I’ll be this Sunday. On that occasion I’ll be playing a different call; it’s the Reveille, which the 10 buglers of the Royal Air Force play at the end of the service. That is the one that you really want to be involved in. You want to be at the front there representing the Royal Air Force, being part of that important moment.
All these calls have acquired their emotive associations over time. The Last Post was originally a trumpet call to signify that the last post had been set at night around the camp. So back then it wasn’t associated with the loss of life at all. That came later. It now has a special feeling to do with looking back, it reminds us of the life of the person we have just lost. All the feeling is focused on that moment, and that’s why it’s so incredibly challenging to get right.
The Last Post, as it is written down on paper, is actually not very difficult to play. It is traditionally played on a bugle, which has no keys or holes. So any tune on the bugle has to be made out of the notes you can get out of a single pipe or length of tube. You have to change from one note to the next just by changing the lip and lung pressure. When you transfer to a valved instrument like a trumpet or cornet the principle stays the same, you don’t use any valves – it’s still done with the lips.
The difficult thing is to learn how to play it under the pressure of different circumstances and in the emotive settings that we always encounter when playing the piece. It really is incredibly difficult to cut out everything else that is going on around you, and just focus on getting everything right, whether it’s in front of 40,000 at a football stadium or two people sat in the corner of a graveyard somewhere.
You could say facing these challenges is in my blood, as I come from a very musical family, where playing in bands was just part of life. My father was a trumpeter in a Salvation Army band, and he encouraged me from an early age. I played my first note at the age of two, and we have the video footage to prove it. My sister was a clarinettist, and I think there was a bit of sibling rivalry there. At school I started lessons and joined all the little brass schools, and I joined the junior Salvation Army band as soon as I could, and later the senior band.
I did actually think about joining the Royal Marines after my GCSEs, but stayed on to do A-levels. I heard about the brass band course at the University of Salford, and after I’d done that I was thinking about what to do next. I had a friend who was with a Salvation Army band hosted at RAF Uxbridge, as it was in those days, who said: “Why not come and see what it’s like?” So I went and by lunchtime I was hooked; I knew I wanted to sign up. Within eight months I was doing my basic training.
I’m now a trumpeter in the Central Band of the RAF, which is one of the RAF’s three bands. When we’re at full complement there are eight trumpeters. The whole band is between 40 and 50 musicians, playing wind, brass and percussion, headed up by a Director of Music, who is a commissioned officer. We also have the RAF Salon Orchestra, which is the only one that has string instruments, and the RAF Auxiliary band.
What I love about the job is the variety – it’s never the same from one week to the next. There might be a full rehearsal for the entire band or one for smaller groups, parades for something like officer graduation, or a dinner reception. And there are the big ceremonials. Earlier this week there was the State Opening of Parliament, then of course there’s Remembrance weekend coming up.
Some band musicians like to be on the concert platform but I really love these big ceremonial events. I do actually enjoy marching down, for example the Mall, playing a really good march, and hearing and seeing the crowds react to it. But I also like the small group playing, that close-knit teamwork where you know you can rely on the other players, and they can rely on you being at the same level – that’s a real pleasure.
No matter how good your musical education is, there are lots of new challenges to being a military musician. The most obvious one is doing drill while you’re playing, which is tricky at first. But even when you’re playing on a concert platform, there’s certain intricacies that you need to be aware of. So we tend not to push the younger players into solo roles too early. But there comes a point where you think, “actually, I’m now ready to do a bit more”.
Becoming senior gives you more opportunities – you get to do a bit more solo work, and you get featured on concert programmes. But then the upward curve goes into reverse. It’s partly because you have other duties and so less time to rehearse. But it’s also to do with responsibilities towards junior officers. It’s my job to see what’s in the best interest of the guys and girls in my section, so these days I’m more likely to pass on solo spots to younger players. I had a great time playing those, but it’s now time for me to promote others.
As told to Ivan Hewett
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