One note. That's all it takes to define you as a band student. If you loved it, everything said to you made that note just a little better, good posture, deep breath, focus relaxed air stream, hold instrument firm but relaxed. I was all those things. I respected that one note. Take away the flutes, and the clarinets, and the brass instruments and you would definitely hear my saxophone above the others. Add them all back in and they would all blend around my note as the root of all that was good. There was a time in my life when I lived for nothing more than making music with my instrument.
Tonight, I find myself on the spectator side and I see my Chubs starting out, hopefully on a stretch of seven and maybe even more years playing that one true note. It was a warm-up routine, the kids have only had their instruments since late August, and still, that one note defines you. Some hit it on their first try, sounding like they have been born to do it. Others, were hit and miss, and even with only a few months, I could see those that belonged in the 2nd band, those that are just fidgeting, faking it, overwhelmed by the beast in their hands. To tame it and bring it under control would help them conquer a fear of doubt some of them will carry all their lives, but to do so would mean to commit and too many times that is problem number one, kids don't want to commit.
After plenty of practice and going through the challenging sections, we were treated to a concert flavored in holiday music. Chubs was horribly worried about the spotlight when their section, the saxophones all played a solo together. His worry was because there are only five saxophones, it would be easy to tell if they messed up. There was a little fumbling, but it was over in a few seconds, overall we could tell what song they were playing, so I call it good.
I was also very surprised that they call it the beginner band and it was composed of 6th graders and it was over one hundred students. This is just one middle school that fills Akins High School, no wonder their band reaches numbers up to five hundred students. I was thinking we had a good band back when I was in high school, our total headcount was around one hundred members, it was only after I told the band director this that he said this band was that size. The school also has a band for seventh graders and a band for eighth graders, not to mention an orchestra band with violins and cellos, and to make sure the brown peeps are represented, their even exists a mariachi band that accompanies the ballet folklorico group.
After this treat by the youngest in our household, we went and celebrated by eating dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. My mom made the three hour trip, which I thought was very nice. It is very hard to get the family to be involved as it is for us to be involved in their activities because we live so far apart, and it doesn't help that these things are scheduled for middle of the week instead of the weekend. I had to use a few hours of vacation time to be there, but it was worth it.
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