was often strained, but Sousa progressed very rapidly and was also found to have perfect pitch. He wrote his first composition, "An Album Leaf", during this period, but Esputa dismissed it as "bread and cheese", and the composition was subsequently lost. His father was a trombonist in the Marine Band, and he enlisted Sousa in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice at age 13 to keep him from joining a circus band. In the same year he began studying music under George Felix Benkert. Sousa was enlisted under a minority enlistment, meaning that he would not be discharged until his 21st birthday. Career Sousa completed his apprenticeship in 1875 and began performing on the violin. He then joined a theatrical pit orchestra where he learned to conduct. He returned to the Marine Band as its head in 1880 and remained as its conductor until 1892. He led "The President's Own" band under five presidents from Rutherford B. Hayes to Benjamin Harrison. His band played at the inaugural balls of James A. Garfield in 1881 and Benjamin Harrison in 1889. The marching brass bass or sousaphone is a modified helicon created in 1893 by Philadelphia instrument maker J. W. Pepper at Sousa's request, using several of his suggestions in its design. He wanted a tuba that could sound upward and over the band whether its player was seated or marching. C.G. Conn recreated the instrument in 1898, and this was the model that Sousa preferred to use. Sousa organized The Sousa Band the year that he left the Marine Band, and it toured from 1892 to 1931 and performed at 15,623 concerts, both in America and around the world, including at the World Exposition in Paris and at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In Paris, the Sousa Band marched through the streets to the Arc de Triomphe, one of only eight parades that the band marched in during its 40 years. Military service In 1868, Sousa enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 13 as an apprentice musician (his rank listed as "boy"). He left the Marine Corps in 1875. His second period of service began in 1880 and continued until 1892. During this period, Sousa led the Marine Band through its development into the country's premier military band. The Columbia Phonograph Company produced 60 recordings of the Marine Band conducted by Sousa, which led to his national