Announcement #1: The Park City High School Marching Band is on Google Maps! If you go onto Google Maps, and search Park City High School, there is a field (while on satellite) where you can see our arc! There is also a link on the words Google Maps in the second sentence. Anyway, I took a screenshot for you guys so here is the marching band on google maps!
 |
| Screenshot by me. |
2: Okay, quick story. In band yesterday, we got a new piece titled The Saints' Hallelujah. I don't remember the author, sorry. Anyway, the first few bars are in four-four time. It's great. It's a pretty cool song that combines both When The Saints Come Marching In, and Saint's Hallelujah. Anyway, after those few four-four time bars, it switches to cut time.
I. Hate. Cut time.
I could never figure it out and I still can't! It's such a trouble for me and I don't know why. Everyone else seems to get it and they make it look/sound/seem so easy, but it's not! I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out good enough to pay it at the concert, because I'm pretty sure this is one of the songs we're going to play in our first concert in December. Oh well. I'm sure I'll figure it out someday.
3: Sometime soon, I'm going to have to order my band dress. It's on some website and it's really funny because they name all of their dresses after girls. The dress we order is called the Hannah, and we need to order a red trim. I've seen these dresses, and I'm not too thrilled to have them, because although they are nice dresses, they're not extremely flattering. I don't know how to describe it, I just don't really like the style of the dress... Not to mention I'm not much of a dress person in the first place. I'm excited for it to come none the less because there's nothing I can do about the required dress for our concerts. Last year, in our 8th grade band, we were allowed to wear nice clothes in general. There were a few more specific rules than that, but I can't be bothered to go into detail right now. Anyway, last year, I fell in love with the red pants and black dress shirt jacket thing that I wore to concerts. They were my favorite! I might be able to wear them again this year because for Percussion 2, I'm going to play with the 8th grade band as a percussionist. The only way I wouldn't be able to wear it is if I had my own concert for band right before/after the 8th grade band, and there's a chance that will happen, but I'll survive somehow.
4: Recently, we’ve started getting our music for my band and percussion concerts in December. There are three or four for band, and only one for percussion so far. Let’s start with band. There are three pieces that I’m almost positive we’re playing for the concert. These are Bobsled Run, some title that starts with “S” that I can’t remember. Lastly, there is Twas’ The Night Before Christmas. Obviously, I prefer Bobsled Run and Twas’ The Night Before Christmas, because those are the two I can actually remember as I sit here in my Honors English class after finishing the quarter final. Bobsled Run is a very fun song, although it's very technically complicated. The majority of the song is made up of eighth notes that go fairly quickly. On my instrument, the clarinet, there is something called the break. I have gotten over this difficulty a very long time ago, however, this song requires a very decisive change of fingerings that constantly crosses the break. The only troubles I am having is the fact that I have to go from one or two fingers to play E or F, then having to click down nine fingers for the C over the break. Not to mention the register key, I have to shift my thumb so the register key is open, which is required to play this C. Other than my annoyance with the song last night, when I was practicing it for half an hour, which was very stressful, it's a fun song and I'm determined to get it under my hands for the concert. The next song, Twas' The Night Before Christmas, is a song where we will play a little clip of a popular song, then a narrator will read a short part of the poem. Then we will play another little exert of something, which goes along with that little chunk of the poem the narrator read, and so on. Back and forth between the band and the narrator. The little exerts in the song include, but aren't limited to: Up On The Housetop, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen, and Rock A Bye Baby. Some of the little parts, our conductor, Mr. Taylor, was very shocked that they were a part of the popular Christmas poems musical piece, Twas' The Night Before Christmas. I don't mind. It's all in good fun. Now for percussion. The other day, our teacher, Mr. Hughes, split the class into three groups. Fourteen kids, including myself and my closest percussion friends, Whitney, Emily, and Syscilia, were pulled out from the rest of the class, which were mostly the kids who didn't take percussion with Mr. Hughes last year. Quick long-story-short story time: the Percussion one and two kids were mixed together and split into two different classes because there were next to no percussion one kids and a whole bunch of percussion two kids. The fourteen kids who were pulled out were then split into two groups of seven. Each of those two groups were given a piece of music that we then practiced on practice pads. Most of my group complained a little bit that the larger group got to play marimbas, but Mr. Hughes later explained that we would've gone mad if we stayed and played keyboard instruments, for those kids were learning how to locate and play the C key and F key. We practically screamed hallelujah and we all thanked him dearly for his generosity. It was a kind thing to do for him to have us do this, harder music, than learn the stuff we already knew. Back to this song we (Whitney, Emily, Wyatt, Dalton, Sarah, Syscilia, and I) were playing. It's called Kaleidoscope. When we play it all together at the same time, it sounds really cool and I love it. For now, I am playing the part of woodblock. Funny story. At the end of last year's percussion class, Mr. Hughes split the class into groups and gave each a different instrument group to play. Last year, I was given the part of woodblock. To be completely and totally honest, I was very disappointed in the instrument, but, now, I am very excited to play woodblock on this new piece because, after sight-reading, I am enjoying my part very much. We are required to learn and be able to play all six parts (there are two parts for snare drum, I'm pretty sure) and then we don't know if we'll get to choose what we play or if Mr. Hughes will tell us which parts to play for the concert, but I don't mind. Yes, I'd prefer the woodblock, but I will happily take whatever Mr. Hughes sees fit. I'm still sitting in Honors English, about to go to percussion class, and Mr. Hughes promised that today we will get to play our parts on the actual instruments. This is getting mea and my percussion friends very excited for class. Instruments are always fun, and we all love our music very much.
I've just got to say this. Ever since the 6th grade, I've been playing only one instrument practically all day every day for everything in band. Yes, I did have a saxophone once upon a time for a little while, but eventually I just gave up saxophone and stuck with clarinet. Anyway, in band, everyone plays pretty much only one or two instruments. Then, percussion came along. Now, we're getting a pretty big part of choosing our own instruments to play in a piece, even if sometimes Mr. Hughes assigns parts. So, in percussion, I am often feeling torn between which part to play. Sometimes, I wish I had twenty arms so I could play them all at once. That'd be so funny! And fun! Well, that's not going to happen anytime, but it's a lot of fun to have some variety for once! I'm sure my friends agree!
Until next time! Be well, and do good!
How To Be A Band Geek?
Rule #10: Get totally pumped for your three concerts (one for Symphonic Band; one for 8th grade band, I'll be playing percussion for them; and one for only percussion) in December! A whole two months in advance!
The song with the "S" is Shalom, it's a compilation of Isreali folk songs of something.
ReplyDeleteOR something, sorry. I can't spell today! : )
ReplyDelete