Meet my Jazz band. This is a picture of us in New Orleans my junior year during spring break to play Jazz. I decided upon this picture because this band has had such a profound impact on how I frame my future. My connection with music through the piano has been fostered ever since I could reach those shiny black and white collection of keys. Starting at the age of four, playing the classical music of Mozart and Bach was what my musical background was founded upon, with tangible medals and accomplishments as achievements.
For as long as I could remember, I have wanted to be a drum major of my high school marching band, The Mighty Marching Bucks of Hoke County High (MMB). A drum major is the leader of the marching band and also second in command under the Director. Before I was honored and presented with this title, I had what is known to be the “drum major instinct”. The “drum major instinct” was well described in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s final sermon “The Drum Major Instinct”.
At one point it was so intense that my mother and I considered transferring me to a private school. I didn’t go because I wanted to push myself past the cruel words of others and prove that I could do anything. When entering high school everything changed. I made many new friends through band and learned that people were wrong. As a junior
When I was selected to play in the 2015 All-State honor band, my dream transpired. Since the seventh grade I have participated in jazz band along with concert band; I now play in my high school 's most selective jazz band. Humbled by my elite group members, I accept many improvisation solos to express my ideas and find my place among
I began participating in band in 5th grade and throughout the years I have discovered that music is something that I truly enjoy. I originally decided to continue on with band during high school just for fun, unaware on how much of an impact it would have on my life. Through band, I have met some of my best friends and I have experienced once in a lifetime opportunities like performing at Walt Disney World, during a parade. Over the past four years I have drastically improved my musical ability and my leadership skills. Most importantly I have learned the value of a job well done.
When I ended my sophomore year, I felt as if I was on top of the world. My grades were top tier, I had a successful soccer season, and I had just been assigned the drum major position in my school’s marching band. However about halfway through the following summer, I was diagnosed with depression. Instead of trying to fight through my condition, I allowed myself to slink deeper and deeper into an abyss. I knew that in my tenure as drum major, I would need to have a stable mind in order to be effective and have a possible impact on the band
The band program taught me how to push through the difficulties and struggles that would allow me to become a better performer in the end, and taught me the importance of respect and courtesy, whether it be for volunteers with the band, my bandmates, other bands, and so on, and how far simple manners can go. Most importantly, though, this band taught me what it was like to be dedicated and passionate about something. In the past two years, I have developed a love for playing music that has given me more joy in life than anything else in the last four years, and due to that caused me to learn a new instrument, get more involved with our music program, created friendships and relationships that will last, allowed me to become a more rounded person, that is better equipped to handle my future. I have grown greatly in the last few years, and this is all due to the band program, which I will never be able to repay for all it has done for
Seeing Rascal Flatts in concert is something I will never forget. It was a rush from the start, I wasn’t even planning on going. At the last second my sister's friend cancelled, so I rushed to take her place. It was the first concert I had ever been to, so everything was new and exciting. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when they started singing it blew my mind.
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.
My Theme Song Songs can connect with how we feel and our experiences. Music has been a major part of my life ever since I was just a toddler. For me music has helped me express what I am feeling and who I am as a person. My therapy has been music, it has helped me through almost every problem I have faced. With listening to the song lyrics, we can get a true understanding of what the artist is trying to tell us.
One year ago... I just saw the results of the Select Ensemble Orchestra auditions. I remember playing. I may have tried hard, but it wasn't to my full potential. Ever since I got the music, I practiced three hours each day with my viola. Although there were many good auditionees, I naively hoped that I still had a chance.
During my freshman year of high school I was introduced to Led Zeppelin. I recall being mesmerized by the way the band was able to play so smooth and with seamless cohesion. The way Jimmy Page grips the neck of the guitar as if it was a snake trying to escape and his ability to transition from each string to create a symphony of sounds, the way the John Bonham’s drums resembles the roar of thunder, and the way Robert Plants presence on stage matches that of a thousand men is all so captivating to me. If I had a ticket in hand, I would use that ticket to travel back in time and watch Led Zeppelin perform at Madison square garden in New York City in 1973. When I get to the concert the first thing I will do is look around at the enormity of
At the end of the year for auditions, I decided to try out for Symphonic band, the top band in our school. Because I was in one of the last bands, a lot of people told me this would be very difficult to do. When the results came in I found out I had made symphonic. I was very proud of myself with how much I had improved within just a year. I even got the Academic Excellence for Concert 2 band award at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Joining band had an immense and almost immediate impact on my life. Before being in band I had never had a talent that I felt completely confident in. I enjoyed practicing and spent many hours trying to improve my musical ability. In
I’ve spent hundreds of hours working with my peers, building friendships while working toilsomely to perfect one show each year. When we weren’t on the field practicing, we were performing at football games or at community events, bringing the community together with a sense of pride. Being a part of the marching band has taught me to put the betterment of my peers over myself and I have made it my goal to make the people around me the best that they
