Marching Band Skills
Though, normally I am unable to make it to competitions and concerts due to the fact that I live in another state now. However, I was informed by the one person volunteering with the band that they did not have enough people for the students to be able to perform with ease. Knowing how difficult and stressful musical competitions are without help from volunteers, I knew I had to choose this opportunity to help the students. So I made the four-hour long drive from Cullowhee, North Carolina to Rock Hill, South Carolina, to offer help to the performance. Arriving at four in the afternoon, the work started immediately.
It’s a necessity to play well and successfully, at least in the long run. As such, playing in a band is a communal activity. Duke Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band was comprised of talented musicians who collaborated in an effort to ground themselves in New Orleans, who ultimately became part of something greater
Many students have the opportunity to work in teams whether it’s a sport or a club that partakes in competitions. For me, that activity is marching band. Although marching band isn’t a sport, it’s similar in the team aspect, except we can have 150 or more other team members. Working in such a large group can be very overwhelming and time consuming. The season starts in late June and can go on well into the months of November or December.
Marching Band is a complex activity that many people are incapable of handling. It requires mental and physical output like no other sport. To be able to play an instrument while keeping correct marching techniques is a difficult task. Over time it becomes easier because the outdoor practices a person must endure are two and a half hours long. The marchers must practice for halftime shows, parades, and competitions to earn a record.
Every member of a marching band is important, but some may argue that the drum majors are the most important people in the band that are a part of the student body. Drum majors are mainly responsible for the togetherness of the band, whether through tempo on the field or street, or the overall togetherness as a band community. Specifically for the senior drum major, it is important that the candidate has the ability to carry out all duties such as instruction and conducting, a prideful and passionate spirit for the band, and past experience of leadership to look back on to continue to lead well. I firmly believe that since being the junior drum major, my ability, pride, and experience have only improved and that I am the best candidate for
“Members respecting Members”, if someone is giving me their full attention and respect I am more likely to help them have the best outcome with something they need help on. Someone who is not being respectful and not attentive to things I say may result in not remembering something they needed to do or a correction they may have been given multiple times. I know I will help anyone no matter what if it is a new member needing help or even a returning member who just forgot a few things. My biggest vision for marching band this season is to make sure that everyone is having the best time possible.
In the September of 2009 I made the decision to join the Anacortes Band program. I stayed with program all through middle school and high school, and in the end of my Sophomore year I was voted to be the leader of the Flute section. I was one of the youngest leaders my band director has ever seen. Being section leader, I had to lead sectionals, welcome and teach new members the ways of our band, and to help younger players in class when they were struggling. I may not have been the most experienced musician and I certainly was not the oldest, however through my natural talent as a leader I was able to grow my section to one of the closest groups in the band.
The average student at UW will probably tell you that marching band is “cool,” but for Janice Stone it’s the best thing that she did in college besides receive a degree. Janice Stone, an avid musician has been part of the marching band at UW since 1986 when she joined as Junior. The year prior to joining the marching band, she learned to play the tuba. She became the first female tuba player the next year. Now, 51-years-old, she teaches instrumental music to middle and high school students in the Monona Grove School District and volunteers as a field assistant for the UW Marching Band.
Marching band may seem like a joke but not people, such as myself to me its apart of my life like a bad tumor you just cant get rid of and no matter what you may say or think about it, its not going to affect the way I think and feel about it. But I cant say ive always felt like this, in middle school they told me that “Band is a time intensive elective” and told me I couldn’t hack it so before entering high school I decided to enter band and didn’t think much of it. I thought that marching band was just going to be another elective that I had chosen to take but I was wrong so wrong. During my 2 years in band they’ve taught me how to play the tuba, march on the field while playing your instrument, roll stepping to keep time, hitting your dot,
When I was a child my mother would take me to the Oktoberfest parade each year to watch the marching bands. I still remember standing on the sidewalk eagerly waiting for the sound of cadence from the drums; the bass drum like the pulse of a living creature and the sound still playing in my mind long after the parade had ended. Years flew by and suddenly I found myself standing in block band awaiting the three sharp chirps of the drum major 's stainless steel whistle a signal that would spark a chain reaction causing each row to step off like a well-oiled machine. Standing as still as statues we waited until the drum major had called "Band ten hut!" after one short whistle and one long whistle the signal that we were about to step off.
The old proverb, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together," is a perfect way to describe the values of a successful marching band community. In a marching band, every member plays a crucial role in creating a cohesive sound and performance. If one person is out of step, it can throw off the entire band. That's why it's so important to work together and support each other.
“I’m surprised you didn’t write about band,” Mrs. Miller stated when she heard my concerns. Thus, I decided to write about my first year of marching band. “Music was a coping method,” I wrote in my first draft, because I was worried about revealing more. However, when Mrs. Stokes
I have had few passions more intense and longstanding than that of playing the snare drum in the marching band. If you asked me now why I love the snare drum, I would tell you that it is the driving force of a marching band, and how even though it is a seemingly easy instrument, it requires an immense amount of skill and technique in order to play perfectly articulated notes. Why I actually started to love the snare drum, however, was because it was loud. My passion for the snare drum can be traced back to my town’s annual Memorial Day Parade, where every year, what I look forward to the most is watching the high school drumline.
No other community matches the diverse range of activities found in a marching band. As a musical activity, physical activity, performance art, and social catalyst, my high school marching band has been one of the largest driving forces in my life thus far. Eighth graders with a non-existent musical background interacted daily with a Senior who has already set his sights on music education; the marching unit brings its members together into a tight knit community that shares the struggles of intense practice, schoolwork, and general teenage life in a way that is free of predefined boundaries that are present in many other aspects of life. Race, age, gender: disregarded in favor of personal effort, enthusiasm, and dedication. The marching unit
Band has given me tons of friends and lessons in life that I will remember and carry on with me
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