My school's band is nuts...but we're cool. Here are some really strange or cool things that I've heard or done in band, and some fun memories that I'm sure I'll always try to forget....! All names changed to protect the not-so-innocent...

"Frank and Matt are being mean to me!!" that was me, our eighth grade trumpet section decided to stomp their feet during a rest while I was playing a solo, and I couldn't keep on playing because I was laughing so hard.
"Hey!" says one of the flute players. "They're not mean!" My teacher, who can be not-so-nice at times, responds, "Sure they are. But they're just mean to Danielle." Sigh...everyone just hates me...

On playing the French Horn: "Hey, Nate, how do you play this thing, anyway?" "With great difficulty..."

On "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "Hey, it's QT's song!!!!" (cultured kids in my school, huh?)

"This song sounds like fairies...dancing fairies! Pretty dancing fairies! And the fairy king and queen are coming soon!" Another clarinetist, who should not have eaten any sugar that day...actually, the song did sound kind of fairy-ish....

On the supremacy of all reed players: "I'LL SHOW THOSE DAMN TRUMPETS WHO'S BOSS!! POWER TO THE REEDS!!!" "Hey, how about French Horns?" "Eh...you guys can come along, too..."

"Pep Band"....we have a staff-student volleyball game at the end of the year. Everyone hates the "pep band," which is actually the members of the jazz band, who volunteer for this suicidal job. I had to dodge two volleyballs thrown at my head, and endure trumpets blasting into the back of my head for three hours. It was actually kind of cool once we realized that we could play whatever we wanted to because no one would really hear us, or pay attention.

Getting kicked out of full orchestra: It was all the brass section's fault, I swear! They decided that, during the concert, it would be fun to do the "Macarana" (sp?) while the strings played a piece that we didn't play in. Also, they mimicked the percussion section (the cymbals, bells, etc.) during "Russian Dance" from The Nutcracker Suite. Ok, so maybe I did that, too...

Last year, we marched in our town's VERY SMALL Memorial Day paraded...after MEMORIZING "Washington Post March" (damn Sousa!), shelling out 7 bucks for a school band t-shirt (damn cheap middle school teachers!), and practicing marching for a month while we could have been playing FUN things, we ended up playing the piece about six times, during the seven-block parade, and then standing for a half hour to listen to someone babble about patriotism. Ugh...

(Said at warp speed, on the bus back from All County rehearsal) "Ya know what? Music makes me hyper. Very hyper. I mean, I'd think that I'd get tired, but once I stop, I get really energized. Isn't that funny? Ya know what else? I'm really thirsty. And I gotta pee. Hey, Mrs. R! I gotta pee!"

"Hey, everyone! Look at my pretty stand holder! Isn't it just the coolest stand holder ever? Look! It's got CATS on it! Pretty cats! And it holds my stand!" Ok...so maybe I was obsessing just a little bit....

"...and with the seventh grade percussion section here, we'll be able to hear all those parts in Peregrin that we can't hear with just the eighth grade!" "Yeah, like those people standing in the front saying, 'Nah-nah-nah!' and sticking out their tongues!"

"REALLY?"

"Nah....but it would be awesome..."

"Louis (pronounced Lou-is) Louis! Ohhhhh, baby! I don't know the

words! Yeah, yeah, something about railroad tracks, yeah!" Our version of "Louie Louie"