Band Fundraiser Day

Yesterday was our band fund raiser day.  My band does one fundraiser.  The director said that we're lucky.  he can from a band where there was a fundraiser every month where they had to sell something.  We had to wake up early.  My feet hurt after walking around in the marching shoes all day.  We had to ring door bells, and if the person was home, give a spiel like this.

Us: "Hello, we're part of the __________ (my school name) marching band.  Today is our annual tag day.  Would you like to make a tax deductible donation?"

Resident: "Yes" or "No"

Us if they said yes: "Here's a card that serves as your receipt and has a schedule with a fund raiser appreciation performance so you can see what you paid for."

Resident if they said yes: "Good luck."

Us: "Thank you, have a good day."

If they weren't home, we'd leave a card and an envelope for them to mail in a donation.

The weather was a little on the warm side, making it uncomfortable to walk around in those hot uniforms.  Our chaperon made us stick it out, wearing the jacket the whole time.  She was nice, buying us slushies before lunch.

Apparently, we wrung about 100 doorbells that day.  According to my band director, we made about $9,500 from Tag Day.  At least it's done.

Parent Preview

Yesterday was parent preview.  The band directors changed the program.  It used to be that premiere night was the last day of band camp, the middle school gave a concert, and the high school performed the show.  Yesterday, the middle school did a mini show, and we did our thing.

We had to be there at five o'clock.  Two hours early.  It was annoying to show up two hours early for pictures and warm ups.  The program drug on because the band directors had to talk, so the program lasted an hour.  One hour for a five and ten minute program.

The middle school went first, playing various songs from rock and roll history while standing still.  We were supposed to be supportive of them, cheering and clapping.  I remember being in middle school, and marching down to meet the high schoolers.  They acted all enthusiastic for us, which felt good.  It seems like it was just yesterday when I was one of them.

The performance went pretty well for the third official run through.  I was closer to making my favorite set.  When we were done, my mom, who doesn't know much about music said she could tell I wasn't playing, since I wasn't moving my fingers.  I told her that I'd make it look like I was playing when she got on the field too.  She also said that it looked like I knew where I was going.

I don't like the uniforms.  The collar feels weird because it covers your entire neck.  The jackets are annoying because they zip in the back, so you need someone to undo it for you.  You can't bend over in the pants because of the elastic sewn on the bottom of the pants.  Dinkles are the worst.  They're tight on your feet, and just get irritating.

I have the music 80% memorized, so I have to memorize a couple little sections, the last part, and know how many rests are in between.  I also have to work on keeping my feet to the beat and using the correct foot at the correct time.  And getting the music with the marching.

Updates

Wow, and this is why I don't keep a journal.  I'm not faithful in writing, unlike how I was during band camp.  I guess that has to do with the fact that less is happening now that band camp is over.

One thing I don't like about marching band is the late nights.  Get done at nine o'clock, take a shower and dry my hair, and it's ten o'clock.  Get up at six the next morning.  I have a hard time trying to fall asleep, so it takes a while.

I have to wear the ugly, thick uniform tonight.  One of the bad parts of marching band.

Marching band is hard for me.  It doesn't come easily.  I have 75% of the music memorized, I just can't get it with my feet.  I have a hard enough time just marching.  Parent preview is tonight, but I'm going to fake, because playing and marching will mess me up.

I have the show down fairly well.  The directors made some changes to the drill towards the end of the ballad, so I'm not exactly sure where I'm supposed to be.  We only have old copies of the drill sheets.  I'm also a little hairy on the end of the third movement.  I still can't make my "fun set."  I'm in the front, and I'm supposed to be splitting.  Instead, I'm one of the yard line, so everyone has to dress to me.  At least I'm not in the middle...

I'll update you on parent preview when I get around to it.

Band Camp is Over... 'Whew! Now to Start the Refining Process

As you can tell from the title, band camp '10 is done.  I'm glad.  Those were long and hot days.  Now we have rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday from six to nine, and yesterday was the first of those rehearsals.  My main band director was gone, so we had another person. 

I have grown to hate the expression "One more time."  The band director uses it too much.  One flautist has an expression.  "One more time means five more times, five more times means ten more times, and ten more times means you'll be doing it all night."  Apparently, the director has been better at not using that expression, so instead, they've been saying "Go back and do it again"

I was absent on Friday, the last day of band camp.  I had to make up six pages of drill.  At least they had us set the sets so I could figure out where I was going.

I still don't have the music with the marching.  I've found out that marching is not my strength.  The other freshman flautist seems to be getting it down okay.  I don't have all the music memorized either.  The way I memorize is through repetition, so it might take a while.

Drill wise, we're almost done.  We only have to learn about 45 more seconds, and refine what we already know.

So now, all I have to do is memorize all the music,consistently move my feet to the beat, learn to use the correct foot at the right time, and refine and learn the rest of the show.

Band Camp Day 7 & 8

Wow, a lot has happened during these last few days at band camp.  First, I got my braces off on Tuesday, which was the sixth day of band camp (I think).  I wast trying to get used to playing without them on my teeth.  Also, I got a really bad allergy attack.  I've had a cough the whole week, starting on the first morning of band camp.  On Tuesday, I was feeling out of it, and after our breathing exercises, I started to feel light headed.  I went to the doctor yesterday, and she said that it's probably allergies, post nasal drip, and maybe a virus.

Tuesday was not a good day for me at band camp.  It was really hot, which is obviously not enjoyable.  I was feeling out of it.  I feel really bad for the people around me, they had help me figure out where to go when I was totally blanking out.  I felt like I was merely going through the motions.  I'm happy to say that Wednesday went a whole lot better than Tuesday.  I'm not a very good marcher, but I'm getting there.  We learned some new drill, part of the closer.  When we do run troughs, I know basically where I'm going, I need to dress now, and get the music with the marching.

During the evening, we were picking apart and re writing sets.  The directors only got through two or three.  One person that was brought in to talk to us changing the beginning.  Instead of holding for twenty counts in the beginning, we now sit in arcs around the color guard props.  We do a simple, one arm pose until eight, get up until twelve, and use the rest of the counts to turn and get to our first set.  That was one of the best times so far.  The flutes were only needed for half of that time, so we just sat and talked, and I asked questions about high school.  Now, I'm really excited to get to high school.

People in the marching band says that being in the band is the quickest, easiest was to be considered a geek, and that people really don't care about the marching band, except for the people in the marching band.  Not that I really care, I'm taking computer programming and desktop publishing for some of my electives next year.  I've always been considered a geek.  It was weird watching my classmates walk to the high school for their freshman orientation.  At least they have another one before school starts.

I'm kind of worried about a few things.  I can never make set number eighteen in the opener.  It was originally twelve counts, but now it's move six, hold six.  I'm also worried about getting the music with the marching.  One sax said that the music will come in time.  I really haven't had time to practice.  Band camp is from four to nine, and by the time I take a shower and get ready for bed, it's ten o'clock.  I sometimes procrastinate practicing.  Another thing that I'm concerned about is keeping my shoulders to the sidelines, and using the correct foot at the correct times.  In the opener, sometimes it's a left foot step off, sometimes a right foot step off, and it drives me crazy.

One thing I'm not looking forward to is the uniforms.  I don't want to where that thing when the weather is like this, or when it's ten degrees out.  One girl said that sometimes it gets so cold that she puts hand warmers in her bra.  I don't like the uniforms.  They put a piece of elastic on the pants, to be like a stirrup.  The pants fit strangely, and I can't even bend over to put my shoes on and tie them.  I feel really bad for the drum line.  They have to wear the uniform and carry the heavy drum on them.  The drummers have sweat lines on their t-shirts from the drum strap.

The drum line.

My attitude for school and for marching band is "I'll figure it out... eventually..."

Band Camp Day 6

Band Camp 2010

Yesterday, band camp was from four to nine.  That was nice, five hours instead if eight.  Where I live, it's still really warm out at four.  Fortunantly, we didn't really move a lot until the sun started to go down, and it cooled down.

I don't like double time.  It confused me.  The middle part of our show, the ballad, changed from single time to double time and vice versa many times.  I still can't get it right even if I'm not playing.  One sax player said not to play, the music will come in time.  I'm not a very good marcher.  I've thought about playing pit: that's percussion instruments that you don't have to march.  My friend, who's a percussionist, said that percussion is a whole lot harder than it looks.  Bells look easy, until you use the ones that don't have the note names on them, and you're trying to use four mallets.  I'm a whole lot better at music than marching.  The thing is, I don't know the first thing about any percussion instruments.

My favorite part of marching band so far is the social aspect.  I like meeting new people.  All of the marching band and color guard are really friendly.  Many people have asked me if I like marching band, and I say that I need to experience the whole season, and not just band camp, to make my decision.

Band Camp Day 5

Band & Color Guard cooling down.

My feet really hurt.  Today at band camp wasn't as physically demanding, but we did a lot of standing.  We did our first run through of the season, everything we knew, which is the beginning and middle sections.

The weather this morning was beautiful.  It was very cool out.  In the afternoon,  the clouds went away, and it started to get hot.  It was very sunny today, and practically every one's legs got burned, but I was lucky, I didn't.

One thing I like about marching band is that the band boosters try to keep us cool.  They brought in a fire truck to spray us down, which felt good.  They also bought Rita's for us.  Every day they have a cool, sweet treat for us.

Now, I can read a drill sheet, but I make mistakes while reading it.  For all the new sets, my section leaders had to help me find the correct position.  When I'm a senior, and if I'm a section leader, I predict I'll be the music section leader, and not the drill section leader.  I'm not very good at marching.

For me, dressing can be a pain.  I have to make it to my spot, and be in line with everyone else at the same time.  So if the whole line is way off, I'll have to follow them and be way off, but that's not usually the case, I'm sometimes a step away from everyone else.

During the morning session, I was physically there, but only half mentally.  I think that all the tempo changes were throwing me off.  My drill section leader offered to prompt me when the tempo was about to change right before a hold.  She said that  I NEED to make that set, because of the hold. I couldn't play while marching if I tried.  I still need to count the beats in my head and concentrate on that, but when I do, I'm usually in the general area of where I'm supposed to be.

Fortunately, I was more focused during the afternoon session while we were working on the second part, the ballad.  It doesn't have many tempo changes, and is slower.  I make all my sets, mainly in line with everyone else.  The instructors were continually telling us to watch our intervals, so that way we stay even.  It didn't help me that the two clarinets diagonal from me were missing.  Another instructor on the field told me that I'm rolling my feet well, which is good for style, but I need to keep me upper body still so my tone doesn't sound weird.  The instructors just HAD to make changes, and I'm still confused about them a little bit.  I just know which sax player I stand next to.  I commented to my music section leader that by the end of the season, parade marching will seem like walking.  

In the ballad, there's this part that we hold for sixteen counts in groups of five, and are supposed to pose.  My group couldn't come up with anything for two days, so we got the color guard to help us.  They have two girls that have a lot of time just to sit because they're features.  We told them we'd give them something to do.  There's a tall girl in the middle, so she puts her hands over her head and claps them.  Me and another girl on the sides put the arm closer to the center put our arms straight, almost touching the girl in the middle.  We hold our instruments in the arm that's straight, because we have a flute and a clarinet.  The two people in the front and the back wave their arms like the ocean, only side to side.  We hold this position for eight counts, and the girl in the middle brings her arms back to her sax, and me and the girl on the side get our instruments ready to play. 

There are a couple parts of the show I'm concerned about.  There's this one set that used to be twelve counts, but it was changed to move six, hold six, and I almost never make it, the set for me is about eight steps.  That throws all the people behind me off.  I'm also concerned about the beginning of the show, because I just learned it today, and don't know it as well.  I can fix it with the next set, which is twenty one counts, but is only about five steps, so I can move to the spot I'm supposed to be in after the set that's hard for me.  My drill section leader told me that if I make a mistake, to not fix it because a judge at a competition is more likely to notice, but probably won't if I don't move.

I feel like I have the marching part of the show that we've been taught pretty well.  My mom got the time wrong and thought that she was supposed to come pick me up at three, but she needed to pick me up at five.  On her account, my handwriting on the family calender looked like a three.  She just commented that she said that it looked like I had my part down pretty well.  My mom doesn't know anything about music of marching. But her comment inspired me.  Who do you think is at football games?  People who don't know anything about marching, and plus, they don't know where we're supposed to be.  That's good.  

So, I'm glad for band camp's length.  At least I can get the show down by the end of camp.

Band Camp Day 3 & 4

So, band camp day three was from twelve to nine.  Band camp day four was from 8-5.  In other words, we all went to bed late and got up early.  Not fun.  I didn't want to get up any earlier than I had to, so here's the report on day three and four of band camp.

The weather for yesterday and today was hot, but today was cooler.  Today, there was a nice breeze going almost constantly, which felt good.  It was a pain at the end when we were supposed to be rehearsing music.  A flautist told us to turn our heads away from the wind.  I asked what we are supposed to do at a competition, and she said to blow harder.  At one point, the clouds were so thick that it looked like it would pour down rain, and it started to drizzle.  That felt amazing, all though it isn't good for the instruments. 

Marching band is a heck of a lot of work.  Apparently, for every second of the show, two and a half hours of work go into it.  That's a lot of time.  At least the marching band performs more than just once or twice, unlike concert band...

We were fitted for uniforms yesterday.  They look cool when you are with the whole marching band, but when I talked to the drum major, she said the uniforms get old really quickly, and you feel self-conscious at football games in front of your friends and peers.  She said she always wants to put her head down and run.  Every part of your body as a flutist is covered except for your face your finger tips and maybe parts of your neck.  Flautists and clarinetists have to cut the tips of the gloves to play easier.  That will be annoying for the Memorial Day Parade when it's really hot.  I talked to another marching band member and they said that your boiling hot in the summer and fall, and freezing cold in the winter.  I guess that's why the give them to you big so you can layer long johns and sweatshirts underneath.  The uniform itself is a thick, heavy jacket that zips and snaps in the back, black pants that are like snow pants that are suspenders, black Dinkles (shoes), black gloves, a hat, and these things that I can't remember what they're called.  The whole uniform is blue, white, and black, since my school's colors are blue and white.  I guess they make the pants, shoes, and gloves black to look professional.  It's also good because if they were white, they would get dirty really easily.  The downside is that black gets hotter than white.

Yesterday, progress wise, felt to me like we were regressing in progress.  I couldn't remember where my next set was, and so a sax had to shoe me to the right place.  I still didn't have much music memorized, and the upper class men told me to focus on the moving part of the show and not the music.  Many people told me not to worry about getting the show down, because we go through it so many times, and I can see that already.

Fortunately, today got better progress wise.  I think I'm getting better with using the correct foot at the correct time, but I'm still not always on track.  I think I got the parts of the show down that we've learned.  There's a few things that I can't quite make, because it's a long distance in six steps.  It seems like whenever I need a lot of steps to get somewhere, we have six, and whenever I have a short distance, I get twenty one.  I conveyed these feelings to the band director, and he just smiled and said that that's the challenge of marching band.  I just need to figure out how to make those long distances in six steps, memorize the music, and get the music with the show, all by premiere night with the middle school, and if that doesn't happen, as long as it's not a competition, I can wiggle my fingers, and no one will know the difference.  Now, I feel like the kid doing a puzzle without the box lid that has a bunch of sections of puzzle pieces put together, I can see parts of the finished product.

Most of the time, I can make it to the general area of my set.  Just sometimes not in line with everyone else.  More than one person told me to stay put and not move, and the judge probably won't notice, but they will if you try to fix it.  We have this one move that I can never make, it's a twelve count move.  Move for six, flute down on four.  Get to the spot by six, hold of six.  On nine, turn my head towards the end zone and put my flute up.  On ten, bring the flute and my face to the front.  I was old not to do the turn head thing if I'm late, because the judge will notice.

Working with the color guard has its ups and downs.  They look really neat, especially in the ballad part of our show.  One flute told us to not get mesmerized by them, especially at a competition.  They do this one move were one second they have one flag, and the next second they have two, and a bunch of other cool moves like that.  I said that we should watch the color guard now to get it out of our systems.

One of the many amazing moves of the color guard.

What I like about marching band is that you are part of something much bigger than just yourself.

Things I Need to Remember for Marching Band:

1) Shoulders angled towards sidelines

2) If I make a mistake, don't try to fix it

3) If I get way behind the line, take bigger steps

4) Follow the form

5) Flute parallel to the ground

6) Toes pointed up

Band Camp Day 2

Again, band camp didn't end until 9:00, so I think I'll have to blog about the day's events the next day.

The weather was miserable.  It was really hot, in the high 80's, low 90's.  To make it worse, our instructor didn't give us a lot of water breaks.  Towards the end of the first half, one flautist said,"Okay, let's all fall over right now."  We all wanted to, but decided not to.  Another person commented that the felt like they were swimming in their own sweat.  Fortunately, there was a breeze some of the time, and there were some clouds.  One clarinetist said that she hopes that it would rain for today, since it's better than the heat.  That's why I'm glad I have two flutes, one good one, one for marching band.

I was feeling really frustrated yesterday.  I know it's only the second day of band camp, but I have so much to learn.  What frustrated me the most was that I couldn't figure out where I was going next when we were stringing a few sets together.  Even though we marked our places, I couldn't figure out where to go because they all look the same.  Also, there were so many markings on the black top, I couldn't see mine, or figure out which one was my next one.  I am probably bothering all of the upper class men because we have these pods, and I'm on the end.  We have to march backwards to get to it, and I never quite make it.  I must need to take bigger steps because I don't make this one set when I go backwards either.  I noticed that for me, most of the time, I can make it when we only move from point A to point B, but when we string a bunch together, the changing directions really quickly throws me off.  At least I have two weeks to master the show.  Some upper class men told me that you run the show and play the music so much that you have everything down by the end of band camp.

I realized something.  If marching band didn't get better than this, there wouldn't be very many people in marching band.  Everyone would quit.  Honestly, who wants to spend two weeks of their summer with hot nine hour days, standing and marching for that long?  Not me.  People have told me that the best parts of marching band are the bus rides to competitions and the adrenaline you feel before you take the field.  I've heard the worst parts are band camp and the uniforms.  The drum major told me that during football games, she wanted to put her head down and run because she felt weird in her uniform in front of her friends.  For me, the worst parts of band camp are that it's hot, my feet hurt, and I sweat so much everywhere, especially below my lip, so I need to keep drying it.

Another realization I've made is in marching band, the key is if you don't know what you're doing, to make it look like you do.  I'm really going to need to remember that key point these next two weeks.

I noticed that I'm almost never next to other flutes.  It seems like I'm always next to saxophones or clarinets.  Not that that's a bad thing, but if I have a flute question, I can't exactly ask the saxes.

Another thing I've been told is that the way we get to our sets if just as important as the picture itself.

One thing I like about marching band is that it's exercise.  According to the Internet, you burn 1,387 calories marching for eight hours.  Between that and sleeping, (600 calories/8 hours) I can pretty much eat whatever I want!

Well, today's going to be another hot, long day at band camp.  I'll keep you guys posted.

Band Camp Day 1

Well, yesterday was the first day of band camp, nine hours.  We were done at 9:00, bed at 10:30, so I couldn't blog about it then.  When we got there, my band director announced that we had a parade for the national night out, five hours into band camp.  We were all wearing different clothes, and were feeling sweaty and disgusting.  The parade went well, I really need to work on correct footing.

Right now, I feel like I'm a little kid doing a puzzle without the box lid.  I see little sections of the show, like a few puzzle pieces put together, but not the whole picture.  I can't believe that the whole show has to come together in two weeks, so I better get memorizing!

The one emotion that is prevalent in my mind is confusion.  When the say to start at page eight, you have to find the spot which you marked "page 8."  Sometimes, you can't figure out which one of the markings is number eight.  Another thing that has really confused me is how the music lines up with all the choreography.  They say to play from page eight to ten, except I have no idea where that is in music.  I'll get everything figures out....eventually.

One thing that I want to remember is how far I've come.  There's so much to remember!  At the end of the season, one thing I want to look back upon is not being able to read a drill sheet.  When they first handed them to us, I had to ask upper class men to help me figure out where I was supposed to be.  By the end of the night, I was a little better at reading them. Another memory I want to have running new sets while playing the  music.  I just concentrated on my feet, since I didn't have any of the music memorized and I'm not that coordinated yet.  I need to focus on one thing at a time, and right now, that's the footing.  One hard thing that I need to condition myself for is to have my shoulders facing the home side line, not the direction I'm marching.  I really need to work on using the correct foot and the correct time.  During the parade, the flute section leader said to wiggle our fingers and watch the drum major's feet to get the correct footing.  I feel a little overwhelmed with everything I'm supposed to be learning.

Today's another exciting day of band camp, so I'll keep you updated as the weeks progress.