So, a few things have happened.
*I can play and march a bit. I play and march the easier sets where I have the music memorized. I think I can march and play about 50% of all of the show we've learned.
*My band director singled me out to play a G flat in a higher octave. Not our music section leader or the freshman piccolo player. He wants it because it kind of adds an "eww" factor, and it's during the battle movement. I can get it out and play it for the duration, and I'm a loud player, so it will be heard. I just hope it's an easy set so I can play it.
*Freshman have been telling me what to do. I'm in the front of a line, and everyone else behind me have been trying to help me. They've told me to move to the left to be splitting, to be consistent to be easier for them, and other things like that. It's kind of annoying. I know they're just trying to help, but it's kind of annoying being told what to do by a freshman. By the end of the season, the freshmen will probably be better marchers than me. I need to get help from my marching band mentor so I can become better at taking bigger steps backwards.
*We learned most of the ballad. I know it, but I just need to get better at dressing and stuff.
*One frustrating thing about marching band is balancing it with work. We don't have band on Monday, but we were supposed to. So I'm working 9-1. If my director adds any competitions, I'm stuck. I can't get out of work. My school has block scheduling, and I have three core classes during marching band season. I'll manage. Somehow.
*One of the biggest things about marching band is you have to make it fun. Lately, it seemed as if the days had drug. Today, I felt as if I had a lot of energy and I had the glass is half full attitude. It made the day go a little faster.
Ironic Things:
*When people's appendages are suddenly cut off, they sometimes have phantom pains. I read this article about one person who felt their phone vibrating, but it wasn't. I could have sworn I heard the metronome going not during rehearsal.
*Our drum majors call us to attention for anything. Yesterday, they called us to attention while we were in the pool to tell us that the pizza was there.
I hope that's it. My mom's trying to kick me off the computer.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
"Striving For Success Without Hard Work is Like Trying to Harvest Where You Haven't Planted."
~Quote by David Bly
I'm absolutely exhausted. Yesterday, band was from 12-9. Today, it was from 8-5. I went to bed at 9:45 and woke up at 6:50. Nine hours.
We've gotten a couple of compliments as a band lately. One really tough guard instructor complimented us, saying that we sounded and looked good. Our main band director also complimented us, saying that the drill we've learned has been good, especially since we know more of the music than past shows at this point. I've also received a personal compliment from my band director. He stopped in an empty spot in our company front, probably wondering if there was a hole. I stepped over because there wasn't. He said that he hadn't heard my name in a while, meaning that I wasn't sticking out. I told him it was because none of the directors were looking at me.
One person merely quit abruptly. In some ways, I'm regretting my decision to sign up for marching band again, but I'm committed. If I quite, it will be at the end of the season.
I'm still not great at marching. More than once, upperclassman have yelled at me because I wasn't making my sets. That, or I would take step sizes too big. I've gotten a bit better at tracking the opener, probably just because I've worked with the music more.
I like the community feeling of marching band. On the way back from lunch, one person offered us chips that he had run to the local gas station for. I told him he should order a pizza the last ten minutes before lunch and then pick it up. Then my friend told him that he should sing his order. Also, the flute section is amazing. When we have sectional time, and we're supposed to be memorizing music, we bond. One person came by with a camera, so we tried holding our instruments to our lips and talking. It was hilarious.
The hours have been long, but the first week is done.
I'm absolutely exhausted. Yesterday, band was from 12-9. Today, it was from 8-5. I went to bed at 9:45 and woke up at 6:50. Nine hours.
We've gotten a couple of compliments as a band lately. One really tough guard instructor complimented us, saying that we sounded and looked good. Our main band director also complimented us, saying that the drill we've learned has been good, especially since we know more of the music than past shows at this point. I've also received a personal compliment from my band director. He stopped in an empty spot in our company front, probably wondering if there was a hole. I stepped over because there wasn't. He said that he hadn't heard my name in a while, meaning that I wasn't sticking out. I told him it was because none of the directors were looking at me.
One person merely quit abruptly. In some ways, I'm regretting my decision to sign up for marching band again, but I'm committed. If I quite, it will be at the end of the season.
I'm still not great at marching. More than once, upperclassman have yelled at me because I wasn't making my sets. That, or I would take step sizes too big. I've gotten a bit better at tracking the opener, probably just because I've worked with the music more.
I like the community feeling of marching band. On the way back from lunch, one person offered us chips that he had run to the local gas station for. I told him he should order a pizza the last ten minutes before lunch and then pick it up. Then my friend told him that he should sing his order. Also, the flute section is amazing. When we have sectional time, and we're supposed to be memorizing music, we bond. One person came by with a camera, so we tried holding our instruments to our lips and talking. It was hilarious.
The hours have been long, but the first week is done.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Band Camp Day II
Yay! Another day of band camp has gone by sucessfully.
One thing I don't like about band camp, besides the weather, is the schedule. In some ways, I'd rather have more four hour days than less eight hour days. That way I could do more on band camp days. Also, I find it hard to have energy and focus for an entire nine hours. Also, the first three days are 12 noon to 9:00. Friday and Saturday are 8-5. Thursday night, I'll go to bed around 10:15, and Friday morning, I'll get up around 6:50. Even my band director said that Friday morning comes fast. I'm exhausted, and I slept in until 8:00!
Yesterday was exhausting. At the end, I mentally checked out. I didn't want to check out, yet I still did. We learned this "follow the leader" set, and I didn't get it, so my section leader had to explain everything to me. Also, the sets we were learning were with the music that is a two measure phrase that repeats 14x.
I was just too overwhelmed to play. Plus, I missed 10 minutes to try on uniforms, so I was trying to make drill up. I could barely do everything they were asking of me.
The visual at the beginning is really annoying. We're laying on the ground, and the pavement was extremely hot.
Two down, I think six more to go! :)
One thing I don't like about band camp, besides the weather, is the schedule. In some ways, I'd rather have more four hour days than less eight hour days. That way I could do more on band camp days. Also, I find it hard to have energy and focus for an entire nine hours. Also, the first three days are 12 noon to 9:00. Friday and Saturday are 8-5. Thursday night, I'll go to bed around 10:15, and Friday morning, I'll get up around 6:50. Even my band director said that Friday morning comes fast. I'm exhausted, and I slept in until 8:00!
Yesterday was exhausting. At the end, I mentally checked out. I didn't want to check out, yet I still did. We learned this "follow the leader" set, and I didn't get it, so my section leader had to explain everything to me. Also, the sets we were learning were with the music that is a two measure phrase that repeats 14x.
I was just too overwhelmed to play. Plus, I missed 10 minutes to try on uniforms, so I was trying to make drill up. I could barely do everything they were asking of me.
The visual at the beginning is really annoying. We're laying on the ground, and the pavement was extremely hot.
Two down, I think six more to go! :)
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Band Camp Day I
Yay! The first day of band camp 2011 was yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I had remembered. The weather wasn't as hot either. It rained off and on, and it felt absolutely amazing.
During dinner, my marching band mentor pulled me aside as I was walking around and asked me how I was doing. I told her that things are easier this year. Then another upperclassman who tried to help me last year came and told me I was doing a lot better. I remember last year, on the first day of band camp when we were connecting sets, I didn't know one goal was to keep shoulders square with the sidelines. So I marched facing the end zone. Now I know better. Also, I can march and play some, especially the beginning, where I know the music really well and the sets are easier to make. When we were handed drill sheets, I wasn't sure how much I remembered about reading them. I had forgotten until I had overheard someone say it that the left and right are from the director's point of view. I made fewer mistakes, like using the wrong 40.
One thing I still can't do is track. That's where music is played with the sets, but the marching is in basics block forward and backwards. I struggled with it because we just learned the step offs yesterday, so they were new. Also, I didn't know the music as well as I should.
Our director added the very first visual. I don't like it. I don't exactly know all of the counts, and it requires going down on one knee. On pavement, that's extremely painful.
An upperclassman who was a clarinet and now baritone said when I "interviewed" people of how they got marching down said that she doesn't count in her head, she listens. I'm trying to break my habit of counting in my head. Instead, I'm trying to play and know that when a certain note in a specific beat is played, I'm in this set.
So far, all of the drill we've learned seems as if I do a lot of dodging the colorguard, especially the ones with sabers.
The directors also changed my sets with another flute's. We practically had to go around each other to make this one set. So now, we have to chop our drill sheets in half and give them to each other. It makes my life a little easier for one set. It's still a backing set, but I don't have to go as far.
One day down, I think like seven more to go...
During dinner, my marching band mentor pulled me aside as I was walking around and asked me how I was doing. I told her that things are easier this year. Then another upperclassman who tried to help me last year came and told me I was doing a lot better. I remember last year, on the first day of band camp when we were connecting sets, I didn't know one goal was to keep shoulders square with the sidelines. So I marched facing the end zone. Now I know better. Also, I can march and play some, especially the beginning, where I know the music really well and the sets are easier to make. When we were handed drill sheets, I wasn't sure how much I remembered about reading them. I had forgotten until I had overheard someone say it that the left and right are from the director's point of view. I made fewer mistakes, like using the wrong 40.
One thing I still can't do is track. That's where music is played with the sets, but the marching is in basics block forward and backwards. I struggled with it because we just learned the step offs yesterday, so they were new. Also, I didn't know the music as well as I should.
Our director added the very first visual. I don't like it. I don't exactly know all of the counts, and it requires going down on one knee. On pavement, that's extremely painful.
An upperclassman who was a clarinet and now baritone said when I "interviewed" people of how they got marching down said that she doesn't count in her head, she listens. I'm trying to break my habit of counting in my head. Instead, I'm trying to play and know that when a certain note in a specific beat is played, I'm in this set.
So far, all of the drill we've learned seems as if I do a lot of dodging the colorguard, especially the ones with sabers.
The directors also changed my sets with another flute's. We practically had to go around each other to make this one set. So now, we have to chop our drill sheets in half and give them to each other. It makes my life a little easier for one set. It's still a backing set, but I don't have to go as far.
One day down, I think like seven more to go...
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