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