Bobby knight once said, “If a basketball team trained as hard as these kids do, it would be unbelievable.” What could one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time be talking about? In this case, he is talking about something many people think is dying in this country. Truthfully, it’s actually thriving. Many people know it as marching band, but I know it as Drum Corps. Drum Corps was more than music; it was friendship, hard work, dedication, and emotion. It shaped my entire outlook on life from an early age and is one of the reasons I am where I am today. We were all working hard together as one towards something. It was finals week, and we were fighting for the championship. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into. Someone told me about this activity that happens in the summer for musicians when I was a freshman. “The worst thing that can happen is they say no, and you learn from the experience” my mother told me. Anything I could do to further appreciate music I wanted to give a try. The best part it was …show more content…
I had made it through all the rounds. Now “move ins” were upon us. After school let out for summer break in May, I moved into the campus where we would spend a couple of weeks really working out the 13 minute show we would compete with. Never in my life did I think music, the thing that I loved most, would also be the thing I sometimes abhored. Move ins carried on at a grueling pace. 7 a.m. came, and we were on the field practicing until 9 and sometimes 10 o'clock at night. The only breaks we got were for water, and our three meals; though honestly I can say I never wanted to quit. There were over two hundred other people going through the same things I was, and they weren’t giving up. We were constantly picking each other up, pushing ourselves to the next level, and getting up and doing it all again the next day. I wouldn’t give up now, not after everything it took to get
There are many famous and important people who were a part of the Civil War and drummer boys are some of those people. R.C. Murphy said, “When most people think of the Civil War, they think of famous generals or battles fought or how politics entered into an Army operation. But when I think of the War Between the States, I think of quite possibly the most important member of either side--that is the drummer.” Drums and drummer boys played a crucial role in wars, mainly in the Civil War. The first time that drums were used in America in battle was during the Revolutionary war and they were used for several different reasons. Drums became crucial during the Civil War. Adult soldiers were not the ones that were playing drums in battle, but more on that later. There are a few drummer boys that stand out among the rest because of what they did during the Civil War.
What started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for an art form that allows me to use movements and expressions to tell a story. Whether I’m on stage in front of an audience of just friends and family, hundreds of strangers and a panel of judges, or the whole school, performing over thirty times, has helped me build lifelong
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has a website that announces its programs. Anyone can easily find and choose a concert. I chose a concert for Sunday July 25, 2010. This concert was emerging artists from Ipalpiti Festibal 2010. It included the four pieces of music that are described below. One of these was Fantasiestucke, Opus 88, both Romanze and Duet were preformed. This concerto was performed by pianist Luiza Borac, violinist Vladimir Dyo, and cellist Yves Dharamraj. The second piece was Ahnung, a new discovery piece from Kinderszenen. This piece was U.S. Premiere, played solo by the pianist Luiza Borac. The third piece was Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Opus 47. This piece was an Andante cantabile piece. This concerto was performed by pianist Luiza Borac, violinist Conrad Chow and Adelya Shagidullina, and Cellist Kian Soltani. The last piece was Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Opus 44. What I discovered about my own musical understanding by attending this concert is the following thing. I know how to appreciate and to enjoy music that is a little bit familiar, but my understanding stops when a very new type of music is performed. I made a conclusion from this experience. My conclusion is that learning about music will increase the pleasure of listening to music, but that musical learning is not, perhaps, as easy as learning subjects like Math or History.
DCI, an acronym that not too many people know the meaning of, but for those who do, you’ll soon learn that it is more than marching band. Started over three decades ago, Drum Corps International has “delivered the message of ‘excellence in performance and in life’ to over 7.2 million young people” (Drum Corps International About). That motif of excellence is echoed throughout their 60 day tour around the country. While learning their music, drill and visuals, the participants learn something more important, something that can’t be judged on finals night. Having to support themselves for more than three months on the road, the kids learn values and skills that they’ll use for the rest of their life, skills such as “the value of teamwork, improved self-confidence, meeting and working with people with diverse backgrounds and origins, and making new, lifelong friends” (For Parents).
I looked out at eighty sets of frustrated and tired eyes. It was my job as drum major to take these eighty marchers with their multitude of attitudes and unite them under the umbrella of productivity. When they let up, I push harder. When they push, I push harder. When they push harder, I push harder. On and off the field, I am their leader and their most dedicated servant.
On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, I attended a musical concert. This was the first time I had ever been to a concert and did not play. The concert was not what I expected. I assumed I was going to a symphony that featured a soloist clarinet; however, upon arrival I quickly realized that my previous assumptions were false. My experience was sort of a rollercoaster. One minute I was down and almost asleep; next I was laughing; then I was up and intrigued.
My older sister loved the marching band, so I always got dragged to their performances. I could not tell what was so appealing about it all; it consisted of walking on a field while playing instruments and flags being swung in the air. Participating in a marching band was never what I intended nor wanted to do. The idea bored me, but my mom insisted.
Then, three years ago, I broke through those walls. My conscious urged me against it, ran through all the “what ifs” of the situation, as usual, but this time I couldn’t help it. How can one ever truly test his abilities if one is too afraid to even take any initial risk? So, one cloudy, brisk Saturday morning, and joined the football team. Immediately after the first practice, the option of quitting crept its way into my mind. But how could I ever reach my goals if I couldn’t take on a high school sport? There will be thousands of students in college competing with me, professors looking to make scholars, not dropouts. If I couldn’t face this, I couldn’t face them. So, I endured practice after practice, game after game. Every day, I had to rebuild the courage I had to walk out on the field that first day to step out on the field. I was weaker, smaller, and less apt at the game than man of the guys on that team, but I the constant threat of fear couldn’t hold me back anymore.
I walked towards the gym red nosed and puffy eyed. My tears had finally subsided, but they would return. I accepted that once I left Oakland Gymnastics that day, I would never return. I knew in my mind that this day would come, but I hadn’t expected it to be so soon. I wanted to move on and try new things, but the thought of leaving the place I spent the last 12 years of my life made my heart shatter. However, I finally made the decision that I was going to quit club gymnastics, but continue on as a high school gymnast.
Mr. Compston saw a spark in me and suggested that I join band and introduced me to Miss Linard. My first few years in the band program here at UL it was confusing, I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was looking at on a daily basis. For those first few years though, on an almost weekly basis during the school year, Miss L was teaching me new things, showing me what different words and markings on the paper meant. She gave me lessons and slowly everything started to fall into place. Fast forward to today, I’m one of the most successful students the band program has ever seen. From Solo & Ensemble contest to marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I’ve seen and done so much, all because of band, all because of one decision in the middle of my 6th grade year. A decision that has forever changed my life. It’s because of that impact on my is why I want to become a music teacher. I want to change someone’s life, give them the same opportunities that I was given and see them soar beyond what they are. I have a great love for music and education, so this is the career for
I sit in shock as our band jumped to their feet screaming. I remembered how many times Mr. Reynolds told us we weren’t good enough. 132. I remembered stepping on the scale one morning, and noticing that I lost twenty pounds throughout the season. Going over the same show dozens, even hundreds of times. Me having to run a mile every day. The heat beating down my back. Raining in the middle of practice, but our director ignoring it. Sun blisters. Having to eat properly. My sister being drum major, and telling me I messed up and that I don’t deserve to wear the uniform. I remember telling myself I wanted to quit mid season.
What I thought was sweat streaming down my cheekbones turned out to be tears. The kind of tears that reveal the hundreds of hours of work, pain, and sheer motivation to be the absolute best performer I could be. As a part of East Coast Percussion (An A-Class WGI group), I realized I hold a talent mostly overlooked in America: the talent not only to be a performer, but a percussionist--not only to be a percussionist, but an inspiration. This journey all started from one YouTube video. One twelve minute and thirty seven second video that forever changed my life.
The military can influence many important characteristics in a person’s life. The military is much like a mentor, and. They help mold and shape your personality, and often times your future. They can teach you the importance of trust, and being trustworthy. The military should also be able as well recognize each the military as an individual.
The championship game loss helps the audience, especially young adults with high, aspiring dreams, to understand, that even if you do work-hard and aren’t awarded with winning your goal, this isn’t the end of your journey. It only means you have to work harder in the future, if you want to succeed at your goal. This conclusion shows young children how to lose properly and how to be grateful for what they have, since being good a winning is a much easier task. For like a quote from Colin Powell, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” The under-class, basketball players learned from the mistakes in the title game, so they could go farther and win next year’s championship, because failure should never be your excuse to not attempt something.
At last we had brought all our practicing skills into work at the final stages. After working hard for three solid months it all paid off, the competing mat was beneath our feet. It was as if I could almost hear the girl?s hearts thumping before we walked onto the mat. I couldn?t stop smiling, I had the biggest grin on my face as if I were the cat who just ate the canary. Only when I thought that was enough, my facial expressions were amazing, all the nights I spent in front of the mirror or watching my self through the reflection of the glass door in my kitchen. It?s hard to go first because watching all the other teams compete makes you think, how did I do?