Chapter 3- First competition: NAU
(A/N): hey! Glad to se you are still here! still reading! Go you! Well, this is the band's first competition. *sigh* the memories. . .
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Well, school had officially begun. And this year, it was high school. It was SO incredibly different than my middle school. Kids wore their hair every way you could imagine it. And the clothes! It definitely made the different groups and societies clear. You had the Goths, as always. The Punks, the Preppies, the middle class, everything! It struck me in awe. My first week was gonna be fun. . . and interesting.
Ok, everyone always gets lost on the first day of school, right? Back me up here. It was only once. How was I supposed to know where the cafeteria was? Luckily, I had sophomore friends to help me. She is such a cool friend! I have known her as long as I can remember. Amy. She is sweet, nice, understanding, cool, and has values. ( you all know her as Abby- Kitty) She helped me out, and gave me a boost on to my feet. And she helped me find the cafeteria! Yay! Go Amy! ANYWAYS. . .
And we were going to have band everyday. I was screaming. I had no real close friends in band with me, and it didn't look like I would make any. Sure, I had people I knew, but no one to really hang with. But that all changed when Lauren and I discovered that we had 3 classes together. We were instant friends, and did everything together.
So, while high school was going great - I actually had a place in society- band rehearsals continued. And it had never been this bad. We had early morning practice. Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays were horrible. I woke up a 4:30 or 5 am to get ready to march. And not only was getting up hard for me, the field was always muddy! It was like walking in filth! My Etnies were brown from dirt, and those were my favorite shoes! The cost me, like 80 bucks! I mean, hello? Band shouldn't ruin your shoes like it ruins your life.
Not only were there morning rehearsals, there was a late rehearsal on Tuesdays! Plus sectionals after school on Wednesday! My life had been stolen! At least before band I could sit home and relax. I wouldn't be deprived of a summer. My freedom had been given up for "Set! Ready, go! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8! Ok, reset!" I was always busy and never had time for my old friends, whom I missed terribly. Basically, my schedule went like this:
Monday- Early morning rehearsal @ 6:30 a.m.
Tuesday- Late night rehearsal from 6-9 p.m.
Wednesday- Brass sectional after school till 3:30
Thursday- Early morning rehearsal
Friday- Early morning rehearsal
Not fun. Why did I have to be the daughter of a band teacher? This was only the rehearsal schedule. We had football games on Friday nights, taking away my day to go to the movies. I was glad football hadn't started yet though. And I was told we were going to have some competitions on Saturdays. How could D be doing this to us? Didn't he understand that we had things going on outside of band? Why did he want us to dedicate our lives to 'The Pride of the West"? But. . . I must say, for a crazy musician, he is awesome! I had never really talked to him, but when I did, I knew this guy was the perfect band director. He knew when to be serious, and he knew when to be silly. He could make us laugh and read our minds. He knew when we were tired. . .and he would give us a WHOLE 5 minutes to get water. Ain't he generous? Ok, really, they would turn out to be fifteen minutes, but hey, I was trying to complain. Well, enough nagging.
I started to look forward to practices, but not for BAND! It was because. . . well, you remember the guy on the bus, Chris? Yeah. . . I kinda-sorta-just a little bit of a sliver started. . .um. . .crushing? Yup. I would go to band practices with a smile so I could flirt. And, well, it was practicing is fun when you are with all your friends. But I still hated band! You got that? HATED!
What do you know? A competition was coming up. The band was going up to NAU (Northern Arizona University) to perform. Lauren and I were flipping out. We would get to sit next to each other on the bus ride there. And on the way back, I was asked to sit next to a sophomore named Jeff. Now, I hadn't heard all the gossip about this guy, or I would never of agreed to sit next to him. He was sweet and cool. But then, Lauren told me news from the band kids. Suddenly, I did NOT want to sit next to him. I was afraid to be within a ten mile radius of him in the dark. And as sweet as he is, I didn't want to take any chances. So I would sit next to Lauren on the way back as well. And the bus ride there was great! Lauren and I attempted to paint our nails a really, really pretty shiny color. And we made a collage for our note-binder. It was great. We talked and laughed, shared gossip and giggled. Now, what was really scary, is what everyone told the wee little freshmen before the trip. They made the dome ( where the football field was inside) seem huge. I was afraid that it would be like being inside a mountain. And, Mr. D kept warning us to watch the drum major, because the acoustics were so bad. I really didn't want to mess up on our first show, so I was really afraid. I knew that I would get lost in the music, blow a wrong note, and because of me, the whole band would go haywire and get the worst rating ever. So by 'warning' us, they made me or us feel nervous.
And being nervous is really bad, because then you forget moves and music.
And yet, all these "bewares" helped. When I walked into the performance arena, I was suddenly not frightened at all. It wasn't as big as I had seen it in my thoughts. While I had been imagining a dome as big as the Epicot Center in Florida, it was really tiny. So I was really relieved. My nerves stopped racing around in my stomach and heart, and I could breathe. I sighed with relief, and got in my place to begin the show.
We were called to attention, and I screamed "RIDGE!" at the top of my lungs. The bass clarinets began to play and I heard "Appalachian Springs" come from the flutes and clarinets. And I lifted my horn and played. Somehow, now the music seemed beautiful and exciting. We had fast parts hart throbbing parts, then we would shift to slow, peaceful parts. Our entire second movement was slow, it was Dvorak's "New World Symphony". The soft tube solo sounded so warm and sad. Then BOOM! We would be on the third movement, the fast and famous "Red Pony". It was majestic and strong. Wait . . .why was I liking this music? It's Crapland!!! No way was this music cool. It was dumb band music, nothing more. Before I knew it, I snapped my trombone down and it was over. My heart was pounding and sweat rested on my brow. I had done it. We had done it. By working together, we performed and you know what? I felt great! I had not messed up at all . . .I guess those practices paid off. We marched off the field. I had a huge grin on my face as they took a picture of the whole band. Then all of us sat down with eager faces to learn what rating we were to be given. My brain pulsated as they began announcing the scores. And finally, the moment. I held my breath, and shut my eyes tightly, praying to get a good score.
We got a "Superior With Distinction". I screamed.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*- (A/N): hey! Yay! Superior with distinction! That's the highest rating for all you who aren't band geeks. I was so proud. Our first competition.there were many more to come. Well, more should be up soon! PLEASE REVIEW!!!! Please???? ~Jen
(A/N): hey! Glad to se you are still here! still reading! Go you! Well, this is the band's first competition. *sigh* the memories. . .
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Well, school had officially begun. And this year, it was high school. It was SO incredibly different than my middle school. Kids wore their hair every way you could imagine it. And the clothes! It definitely made the different groups and societies clear. You had the Goths, as always. The Punks, the Preppies, the middle class, everything! It struck me in awe. My first week was gonna be fun. . . and interesting.
Ok, everyone always gets lost on the first day of school, right? Back me up here. It was only once. How was I supposed to know where the cafeteria was? Luckily, I had sophomore friends to help me. She is such a cool friend! I have known her as long as I can remember. Amy. She is sweet, nice, understanding, cool, and has values. ( you all know her as Abby- Kitty) She helped me out, and gave me a boost on to my feet. And she helped me find the cafeteria! Yay! Go Amy! ANYWAYS. . .
And we were going to have band everyday. I was screaming. I had no real close friends in band with me, and it didn't look like I would make any. Sure, I had people I knew, but no one to really hang with. But that all changed when Lauren and I discovered that we had 3 classes together. We were instant friends, and did everything together.
So, while high school was going great - I actually had a place in society- band rehearsals continued. And it had never been this bad. We had early morning practice. Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays were horrible. I woke up a 4:30 or 5 am to get ready to march. And not only was getting up hard for me, the field was always muddy! It was like walking in filth! My Etnies were brown from dirt, and those were my favorite shoes! The cost me, like 80 bucks! I mean, hello? Band shouldn't ruin your shoes like it ruins your life.
Not only were there morning rehearsals, there was a late rehearsal on Tuesdays! Plus sectionals after school on Wednesday! My life had been stolen! At least before band I could sit home and relax. I wouldn't be deprived of a summer. My freedom had been given up for "Set! Ready, go! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8! Ok, reset!" I was always busy and never had time for my old friends, whom I missed terribly. Basically, my schedule went like this:
Monday- Early morning rehearsal @ 6:30 a.m.
Tuesday- Late night rehearsal from 6-9 p.m.
Wednesday- Brass sectional after school till 3:30
Thursday- Early morning rehearsal
Friday- Early morning rehearsal
Not fun. Why did I have to be the daughter of a band teacher? This was only the rehearsal schedule. We had football games on Friday nights, taking away my day to go to the movies. I was glad football hadn't started yet though. And I was told we were going to have some competitions on Saturdays. How could D be doing this to us? Didn't he understand that we had things going on outside of band? Why did he want us to dedicate our lives to 'The Pride of the West"? But. . . I must say, for a crazy musician, he is awesome! I had never really talked to him, but when I did, I knew this guy was the perfect band director. He knew when to be serious, and he knew when to be silly. He could make us laugh and read our minds. He knew when we were tired. . .and he would give us a WHOLE 5 minutes to get water. Ain't he generous? Ok, really, they would turn out to be fifteen minutes, but hey, I was trying to complain. Well, enough nagging.
I started to look forward to practices, but not for BAND! It was because. . . well, you remember the guy on the bus, Chris? Yeah. . . I kinda-sorta-just a little bit of a sliver started. . .um. . .crushing? Yup. I would go to band practices with a smile so I could flirt. And, well, it was practicing is fun when you are with all your friends. But I still hated band! You got that? HATED!
What do you know? A competition was coming up. The band was going up to NAU (Northern Arizona University) to perform. Lauren and I were flipping out. We would get to sit next to each other on the bus ride there. And on the way back, I was asked to sit next to a sophomore named Jeff. Now, I hadn't heard all the gossip about this guy, or I would never of agreed to sit next to him. He was sweet and cool. But then, Lauren told me news from the band kids. Suddenly, I did NOT want to sit next to him. I was afraid to be within a ten mile radius of him in the dark. And as sweet as he is, I didn't want to take any chances. So I would sit next to Lauren on the way back as well. And the bus ride there was great! Lauren and I attempted to paint our nails a really, really pretty shiny color. And we made a collage for our note-binder. It was great. We talked and laughed, shared gossip and giggled. Now, what was really scary, is what everyone told the wee little freshmen before the trip. They made the dome ( where the football field was inside) seem huge. I was afraid that it would be like being inside a mountain. And, Mr. D kept warning us to watch the drum major, because the acoustics were so bad. I really didn't want to mess up on our first show, so I was really afraid. I knew that I would get lost in the music, blow a wrong note, and because of me, the whole band would go haywire and get the worst rating ever. So by 'warning' us, they made me or us feel nervous.
And being nervous is really bad, because then you forget moves and music.
And yet, all these "bewares" helped. When I walked into the performance arena, I was suddenly not frightened at all. It wasn't as big as I had seen it in my thoughts. While I had been imagining a dome as big as the Epicot Center in Florida, it was really tiny. So I was really relieved. My nerves stopped racing around in my stomach and heart, and I could breathe. I sighed with relief, and got in my place to begin the show.
We were called to attention, and I screamed "RIDGE!" at the top of my lungs. The bass clarinets began to play and I heard "Appalachian Springs" come from the flutes and clarinets. And I lifted my horn and played. Somehow, now the music seemed beautiful and exciting. We had fast parts hart throbbing parts, then we would shift to slow, peaceful parts. Our entire second movement was slow, it was Dvorak's "New World Symphony". The soft tube solo sounded so warm and sad. Then BOOM! We would be on the third movement, the fast and famous "Red Pony". It was majestic and strong. Wait . . .why was I liking this music? It's Crapland!!! No way was this music cool. It was dumb band music, nothing more. Before I knew it, I snapped my trombone down and it was over. My heart was pounding and sweat rested on my brow. I had done it. We had done it. By working together, we performed and you know what? I felt great! I had not messed up at all . . .I guess those practices paid off. We marched off the field. I had a huge grin on my face as they took a picture of the whole band. Then all of us sat down with eager faces to learn what rating we were to be given. My brain pulsated as they began announcing the scores. And finally, the moment. I held my breath, and shut my eyes tightly, praying to get a good score.
We got a "Superior With Distinction". I screamed.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*- (A/N): hey! Yay! Superior with distinction! That's the highest rating for all you who aren't band geeks. I was so proud. Our first competition.there were many more to come. Well, more should be up soon! PLEASE REVIEW!!!! Please???? ~Jen
