Road To Band Camp, Part 1

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, and will be updating this blog much more frequently in the future.

Although I wasn't excited at the idea of three hours of band initially, my opinion greatly changed as we began our sectionals and learned a great deal of music.

Today's practice wasn't much different from the others schedule-wise; however, that didn't stop the band from being incredibly productive. Our basics block was particularly challenging - after a quick jog and a lesson in forward marching (focused on posture), the ban

d reviewed backwards marching. We steadily increased our speed until we could march 8-counts at 180 beats per minute, the tempo of our opener (for perspective, that's three beats per second).

The breathing/warm-ups period was also quite intense, though it was still a relief from the intensity of the marching. After around half an hour, we split into sectionals (Woodwinds, High Brass, and Low Brass). We received and dug deep into Part 3, the closer, and I now can say I feel very confident with all the music in the show.

Our ensemble period, while somewhat short, showed that the entire band really is capable of another Championship win. However, we have a lot of work to do before band camp, which is approximately three weeks away, namely, memorize all three pieces of music. The band staff has informed us that the drill for the first piece of music is complete, so we really are closing in on the upcoming season.

Image credit: ILC (here).

My Music

It seems like a shocked that I've never mentioned this before - I play the clarinet. And I've been playing for nearly 5 years. In those years, I've been in symphonic band, orchestra, and my all-time favorite, marching band.



The Warwick marching band (yes, the one with the scandal) has won the Regional Championships for three years in a row now. This past season was my first year with the band, and we took first place (as well as several other awards, including High Percussion) with our show, The Rise of The Samurai Warrior.

I tell you this because practice for the next season begins in just a few months, and Drumline has already started. Of course, our practice is much longer then sports, as we have to teach newcomers how to march and such, as well as memorize several pages of music.

Although I do not know much information about this next season (our show has not even been decided upon yet), I will post updates about all my adventures in marching band. For your viewing and listening pleasure, I have included a video of our performance. This video is from our home competition, and the stands were packed, as our band is famous in our town (and among other bands).