The very first practice together was the most intimidating experience I have ever had. A group of freshman, including myself, were waiting in the Chorus room and then it was time. We walked into the double doors and the whole West Haven High School band was standing up and clapping. I thought to myself, “Why are they clapping?” After everyone was seated, our director, Mr. Crabtree said, “This is your family for the next four years.” It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I found out how much that really meant.
I’ve been in band for seven years now and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The band director now, Ms. Marcella, says, “This is YOUR band, get involved!” because there is just so many things to get involved with. I thought that band just during school was exciting, but there was so much more to that. There is Band Council, Ensembles, Pep Band, Jazz Band, Leadership Positions, local performances, and much more I had missed out on during my freshman and sophomore year.
In my junior year I joined Band Council, Clarinet Ensemble, and ran for Field Leader and Office Assistant for the Leadership Team. I did not receive the position of Field Leader, but did receive the position of Office Assistant. I was very grateful for this position because in order to try out for this position, I had to attend 5 meetings, write an essay on why I wanted these positions, and make a 3 minute marching performance.
Office Assistant means that I have responsibility to ensure all music in use is fully stocked at all times, fill music orders 24 hours of submission, spend at least one day a week after school or during a free period working in the Band Library, assist Section Leaders in handing out music, work to keep the rooms clean and keep rehearsals productive, and in my opinion, the most important responsibility, is to set an example for the Band to follow. There are 200 members in the band and once someone sees someone joking around and not follow the rules, others will follow.
The most important thing to me is band.
Band is family. When your student walks onto campus, he or she is instantly adopted into the strongest society on campus. They will be spending their school days among the top achievers on campus, with fellow students who look out for one another and steer each other away from trouble instead of towards it. Teachers, staff, parents, and volunteers watch over all the kids as if they were their own.
...join so long ago I never really knew I 'd end up here doing what I do. It seems like the common theme for me is seeing something and saying “I can 't do that” then pursuing it until I can. One of my fondest memories is watching someone at the percussion concert play a marimba solo when I was in sixth grade and just looking over at Justin molder and laughing saying “wow I can 't do that” now I do that all the time. I didn 't think I could ever be the leader of a group like this it seemed like too much for me, but now after watching and being in this program and seeing where it could go and what I can do, I want to help take it there. I feel great about next year no matter what happens but I 'm ready to step up, I 'm ready take on whatever I have to to make this year the best year yet. Not just for me but for us all every last one of us in this great family I call home.
Sweat dripping down my face and butterflies fluttering around my stomach as if it was the Garden of Eden, I took in a deep breathe and asked myself: "Why am I so nervous? After all, it is just the most exciting day of my life." When the judges announced for the Parsippany Hills High School Marching Band to commence its show, my mind blanked out and I was on the verge of losing sanity. Giant's Stadium engulfed me, and as I pointed my instrument up to the judges' stand, I gathered my thoughts and placed my mouth into the ice-cold mouthpiece of the contrabass. "Ready or not," I beamed, "here comes the best show you will ever behold." There is no word to describe the feeling I obtain through music. However, there is no word to describe the pain I suffer through in order to be the best in the band either. When I switched my instrument to tuba from flute in seventh grade, little did I know the difference it would make in the four years of high school I was soon to experience. I joined marching band in ninth grade as my ongoing love for music waxed. When my instructor placed the 30 lb. sousaphone on my shoulder on the first day, I lost my balance and would have fallen had my friends not made the effort to catch me. During practices, I always attempted to ease the discomfort as the sousaphone cut through my collar bone, but eventually my shoulder started to agonize and bleed under the pressure. My endurance and my effort to play the best show without complaining about the weight paid off when I received the award for "Rookie of the Year." For the next three seasons of band practice, the ache and toil continued. Whenever the band had practice, followed by a football game and then a competition, my brain would blur from fatigue and my body would scream in agony. Nevertheless, I pointed my toes high in the air as I marched on, passionate about the activity. As a result, my band instructor saw my drive toward music and I was named Quartermaster for my junior year, being trusted with organizing, distributing, and collecting uniforms for all seventy-five members of the band. The responsibility was tremendous. It took a bulk of my time, but the sentiment of knowing that I was an important part of band made it all worthwhile.
As a freshman in high school and band, I was nervous, and very unconfident. But band changed it all for me. I found that helping people out was much more rewarding than just being a good player or marcher. Leadership is the best skill I've learned from band, and it will
I love marching band because, while it is so challenging and physically draining, it is also an amazing and rewarding experience. To me, band is more than a class. It’s more than an extracurricular activity or a summer pastime. Band is a way to express who you really are-- a way to find your true character. I’ve met some of the most influential people in my life through band programs, and they’ve helped me shape myself into
Where I learned how to become a leader through the leadership ensemble within the marching band. Where in my senior and fourth year of marching competitively, I became the Drum Major, and earned the Best Drum Major Award at the Roxbury Marching Band Classic Competition. From marching band I progressed into jazz music, where I became the lead alto saxophonist in the top jazz band at my school during my junior and senior year. I was also one of three saxophonists in the top band at my school. I picked up the clarinet, the flute, and the soprano saxophone on my way through high school, and have played all three as well in my performing ensembles. I played in the pit orchestra of the theater production of “All Shook Up”, and was the principal saxophonist at my high school. Too be short, I am very involved in all things music in the past and currently. Band and music have been a place for me to rely on, something that brings me joy when sad. Allows me to express myself through sounds and through instruments. It is truly a talent and a hobby that I hope to continue through college and through life because of the joy it brought me and creative outlet it was throughout my
George Helmholtz, as the head of the music department at Lincoln High School, is very determined with his regular students and the gifted musicians of the band. Each semester and year at school he dreams of “leading as fine a band as there was on the face of the earth. And each year it came true”. His certainty that it was true was because he believed there was no greater dream than his. His students were just as confident and in response, they played their hearts out for them. Even the students with “no talent played on guts alone” for Helmholtz.
It gave me memories, opportunities, my best friends, and the best group of seventy or more people I could have ever hoped for. Without band I would not have gone on to any of the leadership positions I acquired, would not have met my best friends from my hometown or at college, and I would not have accomplished nearly as much as I have. It gave me confidence, respect, and discipline, qualities I am very grateful to have. Above all else, it gave me music. The ability to play an instrument is something I will never lose, and a talent which allows me to express my emotions and thoughts in a less forthright manner. I firmly believe that the marching band is the soundtrack to every student’s high school career, whether they are in band or not. Because with every football game, pep rally, and national anthem they hear, a family of band nerds sat in a room for hours each week perfecting it. No high school experience is complete without the band marching on at half time, or crowds of people cheering along to the fight song or alma mater. Marching band is the kind of activity that changes you in ways you do not realize until much later when you look back on the experience. Even if you were not involved in the band- it still affects you somehow. Because it is more than music and awkward
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.
I attended the Milton Hershey School in the middle point of my eighth grade year from Wilson Southern Middle School. For the third and fourth marking period, I earned distinguished honor roll and effort and conduct achievements. The only student home I lived in was student Naples with the Kieffer's. In my time at Catherine Hall, I participated in Senior Hall combined orchestra, orchestra, Catherine Hall band, the Reading Symphony Junior Strings Orchestra, and PMEA District Orchestra. I developed strong relationships with my previous school’s band and orchestra directors Mr. Edward Luckey and Mr. Jerry Laboranti, and I remained extremely close with my RSJSO conductor who endorsed me to the Hershey Festival of Strings program in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Band for me was and is everything, at least I thought. My senior year in band I learned that band was just more than music. It is a place where you could find your second family, and I did that exactly. However I did not find that out the easy way, our band started to lose confidence as well as responsibility. All of the directors, and section leaders started to take notice of this. We could not exactly put our finger on why it was happening.
This season was only the second year that I had been in marching band, even though we did do parades in middle school. The year before, I was selected to be drum major of the upcoming marching season. I was excited to meet the challenge of getting back to the state championships. It was also nerve-racking because I felt if we didn't make it to state, it would be my fault. To be truthful, later on I experienced both sentiments from some of the most influential, heart-warming, absolutely awesome friends that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. This would be the year that our band would adopt its slogan, its mission statement: Band #1.
School can often be boring, and maybe even stressful in someone's mind, but this is why most schools offer a variety of different activities that might spark some interest. One of the activities offered by my school is band. First, band gives a lot of people time to socialize with others who might have a similar taste in music, so they could possibly make new friends. Second, in band they do a lot of hands on activities, and some people may learn better if they are shown hands on. Lastly, it gives someone a big opportunity at making it big in the music industry when they are older.
When school hours were over on Tuesday, my mom drove me over to band practice with the rest of the marching band. Despite the heat, I wore a beanie so no one would see my scalp. Everyone said “Welcome back,” and “We missed you,” and things of that nature, even the seniors. Russell helped snap on the snare that attached to the wheelchair.
From my experience of playing with an orchestra and also a band, I have boosted my team skills, perseverance, responsibility, interaction, and stage fright, all of which are important aspects of being successful in life. While being a part of a band or orchestra, it 's essential that you learn to cooperate with those around you in order to make beautiful music together. The time and effort that it takes in order to learn how to play an instrument teach the qualities of patience and perseverance that almost every musician possesses. Responsibility is also taught while maintaining your instrument in working condition or such as remembering to get to your performance, rehearsals, and making it on time to practice. Being a part of this musical community can also greatly affect anyone 's social skills. Being surrounded by many other musicians who share the same interests as you, makes it easy for a person to open up and create strong