Post-March Preparation

For those of you who aren't familiar with time, the month we are currently in is the month of February. This means lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of really hard work. Two of my eight classes, are now fully dedicated to the multiple concerts and competitions that come along with the month of March. I also have one after-school class, Steel Drum Band, that consists of multiple more concerts and competitions along with it.

I'm not going to complain about it. March is my favorite month of the year for multiple reasons. One being the fact that the level of awesome things to do in both band and percussion skyrockets.

In Symphonic Band, we have about ten songs that we are to play at our next concert, which is called the Bandapalooza. The main reason for holding this event, is to promote the bands to the younger students. Starting in the sixth grade, you are required choose between Band, Orchestra, or Choir. The Bandapalooza show starts with the highest level band on stage, the Wind Ensemble. After they play their super intricate pieces, the Symphonic Band is brought onto the stage. Then the 8th grade band, then the 7th grade band, and lastly, the 6th grade band. This gives all the students in a band below the top to see what they can become.

There's nothing like a good Bandapalooza concert. I've been participating in them, naturally, since the sixth grade. My fourth concert is approaching rapidly, which also means preparing multiple different songs of different complications. The most difficult song in our possession is a particularly technical one called Esprit de Corps. For us high woodwinds, we find ourselves constantly having to preform multiple different runs of notes that are a bit tricky to hit fast and high enough. Speaking of, this particular song is mostly tricky not because of the constant sixteenth notes and rests. Most of us are very good and have been working with notes as short as sixteenth notes for a couple years now. It's the fact that the notes go so high that we don't even know them. I myself have had to consult my book and my clarinet friends multiple times in order to remember them.

On Thursday, February 25th, all of the band kids and some percussion students will come together to put on a concert called the Bandapalooza, as I mentioned earlier. This concert isn't as much for the audience than it is for the students. Band kids grades six through high school will go on stage, starting with the best group, Wind Ensemble. They will play however many tunes, before the next level down will join them on stage. This process will repeat itself, going down the levels of the bands at the three schools that offer band. The lineup is Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, 8th Grade Band, 7th Grade Band, and finally the 6th Grade Band. I, along with multiple of my friends, reside in the Symphonic Band group. I have a little sister who is going to be playing along with the sixth grade band. The purpose for this show is to show the younger students what they have the capability to become. It is practically convincing the little kids to stay in band for as long as possible.

Personally, I'm pretty pumped. I've been practicing well and I now have a pretty firm grasp on Esprit de Corps. After playing the clarinet in the Bandapalooza, I have to high tail over to the lobby so I can play with my Steel Drum Band as people leave the building. I'm not sure how well that is going to work out, but I think I'll figure it out one way or another.

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How to be a Band Geek
Rule #17: Be good enough to sight read music way below your skill level because you've got a song difficult enough without having to worry about the little things.