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.