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.