My Second Family
Band has been part of my life ever since I was in 5th grade. At first I was forced in to the activity, but eventually it grew on me and loved it. My cousins were all musicians and we all got started at a very young age. Our parents wanted music to be part of our lives, just like how it was for them.
During my middle school years, I hated band because none of my friends did band and they would tease for being in band. But my parents refused to take me out of it. My cousins always told me to just stick to it, it’ll get better. And so I stuck through it all throughout middle school. It was finally the end of 8th grade year and it was time to register for marching band. At first I didn’t want to do it but my cousins talk to me about all the fun activities they do, how you develop life-long friends, the bus rides, free football games, and the memories that will surely last a lifetime.
The start of something new…
On my first day of band I remember my band director telling my friend, Maddy, and I to switch from playing flute to sousaphone. At first I was hesitant but my friend said it doesn’t hurt to try it. So at the end of the rehearsal we tried playing it. (Note that we were on of the shortest girls in the flute section. So imagine 2 5 foot girls trying to carry a 40 pound tuba.) We absolutely loved it. I took home a tuba that night to practice the difference between treble clef and bass clef and the new fingerings. It was a challenge at first but I got through it and I was able to play the music in 2 weeks of practicing it over and over. We got a couple of our close friends to switch to sousaphone. We had the dream section, I’ve met people that I knew that was going to be there all throughout this journey.
The week before band camp.
A week before band camp we are always given what the themes are for the week. So during the week my section and I always come together and develop and a plan of how we can get everyone in the section to be involved in doing the themes and the activities. We set out a date where the whole section is free and we get together and make all the props that we would need for the week. It wasn’t always like this for the sousaphone section. According to our band director the sousaphone section have always done their own individual thing and so when we heard that from our band director we decided as a section that it needed band to be changed because band is all about becoming a team and working together
Band Camp
Everyone has their own memories of band camp. I will forever treasure all the memories in band in my heart. Each day at the band camp there is a different theme. The themes could be super hero day, Hawaiian day, section theme day, color day, spirit day, and etc..
Our day starts of in a block where we warm ups. For warm ups we usually do stretches, listening to a song called “Sally Up” every time the song says “Bring Sally Down” we squat down and when it says “ Bring Sally Up” we get up from the squat, and we do snakes throughout the field. During stretches we usually listen to pop music or any songs my director decides to put on to get our blood flowing and get us pumped up for the day ahead of us. “ Sally Up” is a big hit in the band, everyone always gets pumped for it and although there are some people that hates it. And snakes are everyone’s least favorite thing to do in the morning. Snakes is when you run down the lines on the field and you do it for the whole field. So when people say the marching band doesn’t do any physical activity except for “walking around the field” they should come to a day in band camp.
After warm ups we do a fundamentals block where we practice basic marching: forward marching, back marching, fixing shoulders making sure they are facing forward, adjusting step sizes, and marching in different tempos. We spend about an hour or so in a fundamentals block. After that we learn new drill. Drill is the formations we make in the field and each member has their own coordinates. Each season we learn two different shows, one is our football show and the other is our competition show. In our football show we play popular songs and in our competitor show its more serious and has a theme in it. We spend hours on learning our sets. After we get our sets down we practice with instruments on. Making sure everyone shoulders are squared to the sideline.
After spending hours being outside all morning, its finally lunch time! We ask that everyone in our section to eat lunch together, so we get a chance to get to know each other and bond with each other. After lunch we stay inside and practice memorizing music. Memorizing music is always a challenge especially for new members. We have to memorize music for pregame, football show, competition show, stand tunes, and our own section songs. Each season it get easier and easier to memorize music. After our music rehearsal we head outside again and we put the music we just learned on the field. It’s not always pretty at first but as we practice it gets better.
At the end of each day in band camp our director announces who are the hustlers of the day and the section of the day. If you are named a hustler of the day or the section of the day you get pizza for lunch the next day. To be awarded hustler of the day you usually have to be noticed one of the staff hustling to your spot and to be the section of he day your whole section has to be putting the same effort. The sousaphone section usually gets section of the day in one of the days. throughout the week. But everyone’s goal was to be awarded section of the week. Although section of the week just gets the same prize as section of the day, you get to brag about it all throughout the season.
Game Day
Home game day is like Christmas in my town. The day starts with the drum line going around the school to get the whole school pumped up. After school my section meets in a practice room we call the “tuba room”. Before each game we rehearse out in our practice field. When we come back in from rehearsals outside we go in the uniform line to get our uniforms. Then I go back in the tuba room to get ready for the game. But before we get ready for the game, my section plays “Just Dance” to get pumped up for the game. There is a huge window in t he tuba room that lets others watch what’s going in the room. People usually watch us and try to come in our room but the room can only fit so much. Every now and then my band director walks down the hallway of the tuba room to check out what’s going on and he always seemed to walk by when we are all dancing. Once we are all pumped and excited for the game we get ready and put on our uniforms and head outside to line up in parade block. After the first home game day of the season the band has a tradition, where we present all the seniors their Red Notes. Each year you do band you get a note to display on your window or wall. Also at the very last home game, both seniors of the band and football team are presented during pregame and they walk down the field with their parents.
Away games are slightly different. Duffel bags are stacked up, blankets all over the floor, snacks packed, and slushees all over. Call time for away games are earlier since we have to drive to the game. Bus rides are one of the best parts of the season. We may not be playing “Just Dance” like we usually do for home games but that doesn’t mean we don’t get excited for it. Instead we listen to music on our phones, if we’re lucky someone brings a Bluetooth speaker to play music out loud Since my group of friends/section road on the first bus, we have all our directors on our bus so we couldn’t play the music too loud. When we get to the venue, we have to get dress quick and unload our instruments from the semi. After unloading the semi we line up in the parade block and head to the game. The bus ride home can depend on how the team does, if the team wins we celebrate and play music out load and if the team loses, which is very rare, we sleep on the ride home. Almost every Friday after each game whether it is home or away everyone goes out to Steak and Shake, Applebee’s, or Denny’s.
Competition Days
Duffel bags are stacked on top of each other , blankets are all over the place, coffee everywhere, and hair spray in the air. Since my band was a competition band, we compete every Saturday. The band competition season starts in the end of September and goes on til mid October. Each completion we try to get the best rating, which is a “I”. Getting a one at a competition means we qualify for states, you only need to get to get one “I” in a season to qualify for states. There are five rating you could possible get. “I” being superior, “II” excellent, “III” good, “IV” fair, “V” poor. We always strive to get a superior rating on our very first competition but its very hard since we’ve only practiced the show for a couple of weeks considering that we also have a football show that we perform during halftime.
The starts of with rehearsals outside. We usually have an early call time for competition day since its on Saturdays. We do the warm ups, practice competition music, run some sets, and then do a run through the show. After our run through our band director talks to us making sure we have all the materials we needs for the competition, black shirt, high black socks, and gets us motivated to get a one on our competition. When we head inside from practicing outside for a couple hours, we get uniforms and pack instruments in the semi. While we wait for the buses to get to the high school.
Post Marching Band Season
The marching band season ends when the band performs at states. But there are still few performances after it like the indoor concert. In the indoor concert we perform all the music that we learned in the season. From pregame to stand tunes to the football show to the competition music.
Every year the football team qualifies for playoffs. So as long as the football team is in the playoffs we keep performing whether it cold or snowing we keep supporting them til the end. My senior year the team made it all the way to States. The team lost but the journey was a great experience. All the odds were against us every week we go out we play private schools that beaten us the past. But the team still put a great fight all the way to states.
Every four years the band goes to Disney. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, not everyday you get a chance to march down Main Street USA. We spent three days in Disney parks and on the last day we went to Universal and watched the Blue Man Group. This was an experience that I will forever be in my heart.
Conclusion
Being in band has really changed my life. I never thought signing up fro band when I was 11 could change my life. I’ve made friendships that will last a lifetime. It has taught me so many lessons and I learned things about myself that I never knew. I learned how to be a leader of a small group of people and big groups of people. I will forever be grateful of all the opportunity being in band has given and places it took me.
