Brass Band
I am sitting in the drivers license office renewing my id that expired on my birthday. I never remember that. I am trying to upgrade to the. iPhone 4s and it wouldn’t let me because of the expired id. Grog. Well, it needed to be done anyways so here I am. Well, talk about slow. Dang these people move so slow. So I have some time to put up a post.
We are three weeks into the youth band season and Monday’s rehearsal was really encouraging. I am really exited about this band. The kids are really nice and all seem to want to be there. The beginning of the season involves a lot of concept teaching and general ensemble skills techniques. We work on a lot of hymns and music that is less technically demanding to work on phrasing and basic musical shaping. We work on the tougher music as well with the understanding that the development on the technical parts is soon to come. It is a unique challenge to mold the kids into a cohesive ensemble when they come from so many varying backgrounds and daily band experiences.
The kids are great about being on time to rehearsal and taking care of their paperwork. The vibe is good and we will be a pretty good band this year. It’s interesting each year finding out what the group will be like. We are really strong in low brass. I would say half the band is new this year.
The goal is to provide the students with a musical experience that they share with other talented players with a serious challenge. The repertoire will certainly push the students and they will grow musically as the season wears on. Many will need to spend a good bit of time practicing their brass band music. I have been doing longer breaks in rehearsal to give the kids a chance to socialize which is always a near thing to see. Already, like every year, it’s hard to tell these kids go to different schools. They all hang out and talk to each other like they are old friends who see each other every day. Not really sure why this happens but it always has, and I can’t really take credit for it. It’s just the kind of kids that do this.
So, we are off to a really good start and looking forward to a great season.
tonytuba.org 