Marching band has given me a lot over the past three years. I became more socially and physically involved with school and fine arts, and I learned that I’m happiest when I’m surrounded in a musical setting. I care for our band program, and I want to leave my senior year with as much commitment as I can give. This past year, as I improved not only as a player, but a marcher as well, I began to expand my leadership outward in my section and in the ensemble. For example, when I noticed a problem within forms or fundamentals, I would take initiative to point them out and attempt to find a solution. If I could see a line was curved in front of me, or that a new marcher was struggling with keeping in time, I would try to fix it. If a member might …show more content…
When our section had questions on music or drill that I was unsure of the solution, I would forwardly ask either my section leaders or band directors for an answer. Small things also mattered to me. From retrieving water for my section at football games, to copying lost music, to lending old horns or neck straps to members, I took every single detail personally. However, being a leader has affected me as well in a positively. Not only have my contributions helped in the group, it influenced me as a person as well. I began to gain respect as a leader from members in my section, and I started to become less anxious about speaking out about things. It also has strengthened relationships for me between band members and band directors. I think these are important factors, because it’s important to communicate and get along with other members and …show more content…
Next year, I want to focus more time, particularly in my section, to have thorough uniform checks before every game. Specifically, I know that uniform checks did not happen often, and that many members of my section had mismatching or colorful socks. I also want to potentially suggest more ways to get involved in the stands. For example, I think having more physical involvement like we would in Low Rider would be an interesting addition. Songs like the intro to the Rebel Charge March where woodwinds don’t play, or some drumline songs could potentially incorporate more physical involvement within each section. I found that moments like our inverted horn dance in the saxophone section to Low Rider or headbanging to Dump was, for me, a moment to look forward to, and I’m sure many band members could also agree. Finally, I think having sectionals should be split with the instructor and the leader. For the first two years of my marching career, our sectionals would be spent playing music irrelevant to the show, and it took a lot of convincing of the instructor to go outside and work on fundamentals. In my third year, it got better in that we actually performed marching music, but I felt that we spent a lot of the sectional going over show music instead of fundamentals and marking time. I think that while music is a key part of the show to go over, I think that it is also necessary to review marching in this time. Splitting