The Last Official 2010 football Game

Last night was our last football game.  How sad.  We got creamed, the other school beat us by thirty points.  I'm feeling various things right now.  I'm sad, since marching band is completely over now: we don't have anything left.  I'm bummed, since I've gotten to know some of the upperclassmen, and I'll never see them, except in band or the hallways.  I'm also really glad it's over.  Now, I don't have to worry about schedule conflicts.  If we won this game, we would have to travel some where else, and get home really late.  I have districts for flute, and I have to get up at 4:50 to be at the school by six.

As one kid in my grade said,"Don't get too sad, there's always next year."

Too Many Stories To Tell

Yesterday night was recognition night.  We took pictures, looked at this professional photographer's photos of us, and could buy them if we wanted any.  There was food, a display with all of our awards, and posters of the sections and the seniors.

After milling around and socializing for about forty five minutes, the directors and our announcer (my drill section leader's dad) talked about how the season went.  They said that there are stories to tell of each of us, like this one girl who moved in from Kansas, and joined marching band the day before band camp.  They thanked all of the lesser thanked people, like the truck drivers.  Gifts and awards were handed out.  The freshmen didn't get anything tangible for their membership, the sophomores get varsity letters, the juniors receive pins to go in the varsity letter, and the seniors are given a gift bag with a bunch of stuff in it.

The parents did a skit, as part of tradition.  They did a version of family feud.  The band family versus the guard family.  Of course, they didn't do fast money, and were tied.  Our drum major's dad wore the drum major outfit, a hair piece, and earrings.  It was pretty funny.

We also got to watch a slideshow of the seniors, now, and as babies.  They showed us our final run through at championships.

Overall, it was pretty sad.  The seniors are leaving, so the band won't be the same.  I'll miss some of the seniors next year.  We'll never do this show again, which is a bummer, since it was a well written show.  Even an experienced judge said so.  I feel like no other show can top this show.  I can't wait for marching band to start next year!

"Let's Go Big Blue..."

We have a football game on Friday, and I can't go since I have something else.  I'm so mad!  I really wish I could go!  I actually hope that the football team can keep winning, not because I like football, but so that I can stay in touch with the other marching band members.

I'm really sad.  All we have left are football games and recognition night on Tuesday.  I have practice for something else on Tuesday, and I am definitely skipping practice.  I want to go be with my marching band family.  The marching band literally does feel like my family.  The directors tell you to do things like parents do, and the marching band members themselves can grate on your skin the way siblings do.  Through all of that, you get close to some of the people. 

My brother was humming one of the brass member's favorite song, Big Blue.  I think that's what it's called.  It just reminded me of all of the times the other flutes and I danced to the song, and how ridiculous we probably looked.  That's what I love about the band.  No one really cares if you look weird or not, and people do silly things to make band fun.

I really can't wait for next season, although I'm convinced that no season could be as good as this one!

"Sports Do Not Build Character, They Reveal It." -John Wooden

When I last signed up for marching band, I just signed up.  Sort of like diving in head first into unknown water.  I didn't know what I was getting myself into.  Midway through the season, I wasn't sure if I liked marching band or not.  Like I said in many earlier posts, I'd have to see a whole season before deciding whether or not I liked marching band.  I'm definitely glad that I did do marching band, so that I would know for sure if I liked marching band or not.

I told my mom that I'm planning on doing marching band next year, and she said that my dad isn't going to be too happy, since all of the late nights fell on the days he had to get up early.  I feel so bad for my dad, since he would either have to pick me up, or be waken up by my mom when she would get home from picking me up.  The schedule's crazy, you don't have a lot of extra time, it's hard, and you have to go through band camp.  Sometimes, marching band is a pain in the butt, but I'm beginning to see that it's fun.

Oh well, if I don't do marching band, I'll miss everyone, and the closeness of the marching band community.  I like being a part of something so much bigger that I am, and I also love being in my school's band.  I can't imagine being in any other band.  Plus, I'll get chewed out by the other members.

I'm really sad and glad that marching band is done.  I'll miss most everyone.  At the same time I'm glad, since rehearsal drug on and on.

So, now all we have left are football games and recognition night.

The quote that I used for the title was a quote that I found in our football/cheer leading/marching band program.  So true.  When the going gets tough in marching band, some just practically quit.  My version of the quote is,"Marching Band Does Not Build Character.  It Reveals It."

"We Get What We Deserve, and Deserve What We Get."

 Bus Ride Up

Today us championships.  I'm beyond excited.  I can't believe it's the last day of the season.

So, according to my music section leader, I'm her little ducky, since I used to march like a duck.  I'm taking that as a compliment, since I can say now that I don't march like a duck.  I told people they should make me an award for the most improved.  I told my band director this, and he agreed.  If anyone in the marching band has to say something good about me, they tell me how hard I work.

I think we'll do well if we stay humble, and work hard.  We're ranked second in our division.  We were told a single tempo tear can make a big difference.  One band member predicted top five.  I agree with her.

Rehearsal was tough.  Three hours.  The directors were hard on us, asking us what place we wanted to be in.

After the Show

Well, everyone thinks the show went well.  I tried my hardest; I couldn't have focused more, pushed harder, or have done more for the the show tonight.

I guess I'm a perfectionist.  I got the "I did this, this, this, this, and this wrong" feeling.  After talking to a couple upperclassmen, my thoughts were about how I couldn't have tried harder.  In rehearsal, maybe, but not tonight.  I didn't make the last set of the opener, or the pods in the ballad.


My band director, once we had regrouped, didn't have much to say.  He said,"Okay, I can't hold it in any longer."  Then, he screamed, and we did too.  Everyone felt that we had collectively beaten the show.  That's good, since our show is now put to bed.

Award Ceremony

I'm so nervous.  They're announcing the bands in our division.  I'm shaking, half from the cold, half from nervousness and anticipation.  I'm actually holding hands with the flute next to me from cold, anticipation and nervousness.  Twelve, not us.  Eleventh, not us.  Tenth, not us  Ninth, not us.  Eighth, not us.  Seventh, not us.  Sixth not us.  Okay, top five!  Fifth, not us.  And in fourth place, with a score of 94.1 and the special award for high auxiliary, _________________!

On the Bus 

I'm so disappointed.  We got fourth, with a score of 94.1.  The third place band got 94.2.  come on.  Our show was the best we could have done it, as a group.  A tenth of a point isn't that much.  If only I could have made the last set of the opener, and the pods.  Our show has been put to bed tonight.  No chance to make it better or perform it better.  UGH!!!

I feel like we still have five competitions ahead of us, and that we have rehearsal and we'll watch the video from tonight on Tuesday.

I just talked to some of my fellow band mates.  Some are feeling the same way I am.  I said that I know what I would do better if we were to keep going with the show.  Someone just said to leave it on the field.  Another person said that it's in the past, so you can't do anything about it.   After a perspective change, I said that the other bands had to be really good, and deserved first, second, and third place if they beat us at our best. 

The music section leader for the clarinets told me that I work really hard.  She said that sometimes, they have to practically force people to come early for extra help, but I was willing, and actually asked for extra help.

My band director said not to be disappointed, since this is the first time in a while that we've been above fifth in championships.  Apparently, one judge had us ranked first, three had us at second, and the other half were all over the place.

I'm feeling kind of sad right now.  Our show is done, so we'll never play the show again.  Next year, the band won't be the same.  I'll miss most of the seniors, and some of the others, not so much.  I think that marching band has gotten into my blood.  I want to do it next year.

This 'N That

It’s always interesting to hear people’s first impression of you. So anyway, yesterday, before rehearsal started, this clarinet came over to talk to me. She’s the music section leader for her section. I was told something along the lines of how proud she is of me, and how I work hard. Apparently, the first day of band camp, she thought, “Oh no, here comes a freshman who doesn’t know what the heck she’s doing, and I’m going to help her, so hopefully by the end of the season, she’ll be up to par.” Well, the part of being the ignorant freshman was true; I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I have learned a lot since band camp, and next year, I’ll merely be reviewing my skills. Hopefully, it will be a little easier.

In my opinion, freshman have to work harder than upperclassmen, since they have to learn correct marching technique, the show, and be up to par with everyone else.

I talked to my marching section leader, and I told her that the only freshman worse than me is the freshman that either gives up, or doesn’t care, and only does band because their parents force them to. She told me that she’d take me over them any day, even if they had great natural abilities.

We watched our run from the competition on Saturday. We were told that the thing that drove up our score was our technique, and overall. We fell behind in communication and on personal levels. They gave us a pep talk about how we could go in autopilot, and do okay at championships, or we could work really, really hard, and get the score we want. The show has to go well, we’ve had good runs and shows, but not any fantastic ones. We only get four more runs. One tempo tear can make a big difference, so I’ve been told.


I can't wait for championships on Saturday!

"Let's Get A Little Bit Rowdy..."

"...Since (my school's mascot) are hip, hip rowdy!"- Thanks cheerleaders.

We actually did better than I thought we did.  In my opinion, this run went okay, and better than the run this afternoon, which went TERRIBLY.  This afternoon, we had to stop twice.  Tonight, people said that we had a tempo tear in the tag.  I made a few minor mistakes, like not quite making the last set of the opener.  This run didn't stand our in my mind in any way, shape, or form.

We ended up getting first out of fourth.  We beat our old score high score by 5.95 points, and our first score by 12.85.  Wow.  That's a lot.  We also got High Color Guard and high overall effect, again.  Our directors must be really good.  We've either improved a lot, the judges didn't see our mistakes, or they were very lenient on us.

This has been a very good season so far.  Our football team is 9 and 1.  We're so mad that we lost the last game.  Our team got cocky, and that caused them to make mistakes.  We were supposed to win.  This year's show is also good.  I've heard it's a well-written easy show compared to shows in the past.  It's also a lot more visually full show.

People in the band, for the most part actually care, and we try to do things with excellence.  This just means that we're going to get pushed harder for championships on Saturday.

Second to Last Competition

About five o'clock, Saturday, 11/6/10

Life is pretty good right now, marching band wise.  Everyone survived our five hour rehearsal before the competition.  

I'm feeling relatively confident about the show.  Rehearsal went as well as a marching band rehearsal before a competition could go.  Our runs went okay.  We fixed a lot of sets, and I'm feeling pretty confident about my part of the show.  There's some visuals that I almost always forget, so my goals are to remember them, and marching technique.

We're almost done with the show.  Next Saturday, and we're done.  I can't believe it.  I'm kind of sad.  This has been a good season, since our football team is nine and one, I met a lot of nice people, and this year, we have a good show.

Section leaders always give us candy bags and personal notes before a competition.  My section leader usually writes that I work really hard.  Today, she wrote how I'm an inspiration with all of my hard work.  

Today, during band warm ups, my band director pointed me out for having good technique when marching backwards.  I guess I'm just lucky to have good calves.  Just remember to get up on your toes, legs straight, drag your toes on the ground lightly, and imagine a sting being pulled from the top of your head, like a puppet.  It's a lot easier on pavement than grass.  A lot of my sets where I have to march backwards, I have to slide backwards. (moving left or right with feet pointed towards the end zones.)  I like marching backwards on pavement.

I told my drill section leader something.  Marching band is like balls of clay.  Her brain takes them, smooshes it all together, and makes the whole ball of clay as perfect of a square as possible.  My brain takes them, puts them in order from largest to smallest (importance), makes each a perfect square, and move down the line.  She says she likes the way I think, probably since it's opposite the way she thinks.  

Hopefully, we'll win this competition.

Exhaustion

I’m going to be exhausted this weekend, and on Monday. We had rehearsal last night, bed at ten. Football game tonight, bed at eleven. Competition tomorrow, bed at 11:45, but 10:45 because of daylight savings time. I have to get up on Sunday at seven o’clock. Beautiful. No time to recover, or to catch up on sleep. I live in the band hallway.

My school’s football team is undefeated so far. One more game, and then we keep going. Joy. At least the show will be done. I can’t believe it! It feels like we’ve been working on the show forever! I’ve really improved a lot. I’ve learned the choreography of the show, the visuals, how to march in time, dress, what minus one and step outs are, how to mark time, and a lot more. I’ll be really sad. I won’t see people as much, this year was supposedly a “good show.”

Band camp, where I couldn't read a drill sheet seems like a long time ago. I have since then learned a lot, so if I do marching band again, which I think I will, hopefully it will be easier.

There’s only four bands in our division at the competition. So, it isn’t that big. The school that beat us before at two competitions isn’t there, so I’m happy. At our first competition, we beat all of the other bands. Out of eleven, they got eleventh, tenth, and seventh. We got fourth. This should be a relatively easy competition. Unless they improved A LOT, and we have a really bad run, we should get firsts. We beat the seventh place band by 3.05 points, the tenth place band by 13.1 points, and the eleventh place band by 16.2. Looking back at the scores, the first place band beat the last place band by about twenty points. WOW.

Our championships, there are twenty two bands we’re competing against. That will be a fun award ceremony. Waiting for a long time to find out what place you got. We probably won’t get first, but I think we’ll get in the top seven. After championships, our show gets hung up. I still can’t believe it. Recognition night is on the twenty third. That’s so sad.

"It's That Time of The Season"

Well, as the title says, it's that time of the season.  Rehearsals are more intense, the directors are on us to figure out what to do to improve, and it feels like we're getting frustrated with each other.  Wonderful.

Since we have Championships coming up on the 20th, the directors are presuring us to "beat the show" every single run through; making the run through we're about to do better than the one before it.  We're also told to make each run through a performance, and not to just lay it off.  It's a lot of work.

The directors won't/wouldn't tell us anything about how we did after a run.  We're supposed to think about how we did, and how to improve.

I feel/felt that all the upperclassmen were getting frustrated with me.  I still need A LOT of help with everything.  Sometimes, section leaders can seem mean.  One girl said to me,"I know you don't like me, but you're going to have to suck it up, and deal with it."  That was when she was trying to get me to even my intervals, and come closer to her.  It's very frustrating sometimes.

The woodwind section leaders are very hard.  Their personality for the most part are "This is what you need to work on."  There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, they're all criticism, and no praise.  The brass seem to be more of  a mix of personalities.  Some encouragers, some who are half and half, and some more like the woodwind leaders.

My drill section leader told me not to worry.  I told her that it seems like all the other freshmen have the marching.  She said,"Have you seen some of the freshmen brass?  Some of them can't march.  At least you try."  She also told me that I work really hard, and that marching comes at different times for people.  Her freshman year, she had a set that was really hard to make.  The directors would come over loud speaker, and tell her that she needed to make that set.  How embarrassing!

When I told her that I was told that this is an "easy" show, she said that in comparison to the old shows, yes, but compared with other bands, this is a very visually intense show.

When I conveyed these feelings to my other section leader, she asked me if I needed a hug, and I said yes.  She said that this is the first year she hasn't cried when someone yelled at her.  I told her that it's because she's a section leader, and now she does the yelling.  So true.

Some of the clarinet upperclassmen were helping me with the new visuals.  I told them that I still can't play and march in time on the field.  One said,"You're a flute, so they probably won't hear you."  So true, and definitely to my advantage.  I can play and march in time when there aren't any direction or speed changes, but that doesn't happen very often on the field.

It seems like my only two emotions in marching band are frustrations and excitement when they're about to announce awards.  It'll be sad after the show at championships.  We've all worked extremely hard this year on the show.  The seniors will graduate, and I'll miss some more than others.  Next year, we'll have a completely different band.