Band: Part I

      I have always considered myself to be a musical person. My father told me that when I was just five months old, I cried whenever I heard the main theme from the movie “Titanic”. I love music; it has become been a major part of my life. Sadly, I never did much with it as a kid. I learned to play keyboard, but that was about it. I really began to get involved in music when I joined our school band in 7th grade.

       I learned about band in 6^th grade. I thought that it would have been fine learn a new instrument, but I did not think much of it. Finally, the issue of band completely left my mind. A year passed and I transferred schools. There I met new friends who were a part of band. They tried to convince me to join, but I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t know how to play a wind instrument. Despite this, I ended up joining band anyway. What happened was that in the winter of 7^th grade year, my friend Jacob mentioned to me that the indoor percussion ensemble at the high school needed a keyboardist. He remembered that I played piano and asked if I was interested. I thought it would be an interesting opportunity, so I agreed. I met with the band director, Mr. Umphlett, who gave me a stack of sheet music and a list of practice times.

       When I told my friends that I was joining band, they were excited for me. When they asked me what I was going to play, I responded with keyboard and they all gave me odd looks. They had never heard of a keyboardist joining band before. As I did not have a lot of information to begin with, this left me in a state of confusion. Mr. Umphlett was hard to find, as he bounced back and forth teaching at three schools. Jacob became my only source of information, but at times he was infuriatingly unhelpful. The only information that I got out of him was that I was to ride the bus to the high school on the afternoon our first practice.

       The Monday of our first rehearsal, I was really nervous. I was in middle school, what was I doing playing in an ensemble for the high school? I looked at the sheet music that Mr. Umphlett gave me, but it was insane. There were odd rhythms, crazy time signatures, and chords so wide that I couldn’t get all the notes. I was able to learn the first few measures but I could only hope for the best when it came to rehearsal.

       When I stepped into the band room of the high school, I had no clue what I was doing. I saw people around me moving things and setting up. I saw that everyone played on large xylophones and drums. It was interesting, because I had never seen those before. One of the high school students helped me locate the synthesizer (electronic keyboard) and helped me turn it on. Not knowing what to do, I thanked her and stood awkwardly by the keyboard and practiced. Our instructor showed up after a few minutes. The ensemble played through some warm-up exercises, but I didn’t have any of the sheet music. I looked on with someone else before I got a copy, but it was difficult to try to sight-read it. I was also impressed by their playing, almost everyone who played one of those xylophone instruments played them with four mallets, even Jacob. I felt completely out classed. Again I wondered: what was I doing there?

       Time passed, and I began to improve. I was able to learn to play my part and began to measure up to the high school students. Through experience I learned everything that initially confused me. I found out that indoor percussion was a unique group that featured only percussion instruments. I also learned that it was common for middle school students to be a part of high school groups. Besides Jacob and me, there were also three 8^th grade students in the ensemble. By the end of the performance season, band had become a major part of my life. I loved being around friends and playing music.

       Indoor percussion ensemble was a gateway for me. After indoor percussion was over in April, I decided to join concert band. Instead of playing keyboard, I would be learning how to play marimba (one of the xylophone-like instruments). For my elective block at school, I ended up splitting my time between Science Olympiad and concert band. Many of my friends on the Science Olympiad team were also in band. They explained things to me and helped me get used to everything. I ended up growing close to everyone in band. Then at the end of the year, I decided to join another band: marching band.

       Year after year I began following the same pattern. In the summer and fall, I would participate in marching band, in the winter and spring I would participate in indoor percussion. Throughout the year, I would always participate in concert band. I realized that I loved playing marimba. It became engrained in my life; it was my passion. Almost every day after school, I would head to the band room of the high school. It became my home. Before practice, I would hang out with friends, do my homework, and practice my instrument. These were some of the happiest times I had in middle school and high school.

       Then it was my turn to give back to the band. In 9^th grade, I became section leader for percussion. With this position came a slew of new responsibilities. I had to arrive to every practice early to make sure we had all of our equipment. I also had to leave late to ensure that everything was put away correctly. As section leader, I also had an example to set. I had to learn my music stone cold before anyone else, had to always be on time, and had to always enthusiastic about making music. I think that out of all the responsibilities, my favorite was teaching rookies how to play marimba. I wanted to pass on to them every bit of knowledge that I had. I would not be there forever; we all have to graduate sometime. The rookies were the future of our band. I had to pass on the legacy to them just as my seniors did to me. It was always rewarding to work with them because of how eager they were to learn. I hope that I did not disappoint.

       For four years, I was surrounded by a great, big, band family. We supported each other; together, we were “The Band Kids.” The beautiful music we played flowed from our instruments to our hearts. Band gave us a lifetime of joy and myriad of happiness. I will always remember the glorious times that I had in band.