Blog Post #2: One Band, One Sound!

            Teaching all of the many aspects of a high school marching band is both physically and mentally demanding, but the rewards are worth it.  After spending a hot, august morning on the asphalt learning how to march, the Boonville marching band got to eat lunch. After their hour long break, the music rehearsals started.

When I first started to warm up the ensemble, I was quite shocked because most high school groups after a lunch break are unfocused and quite talkative. The ensemble proved me wrong by responding positively with the instructions I was giving them.  After the full ensemble warm up, outside we went to work on coordinating music and drill, but the temperature quickly rose to a level where we could not work outside any longer. After the band got inside, we broke into sectionals, where I got to work with just the low brass at first. Later the entire brass line came in to work with me. The first thing we tackled as a full brass section was tuning. More specifically, the brass tends to force too much with their air, especially towards the ends of phrases, causing them to play sharp. We did a lot of tuning exercises, which mostly centered on listening down to the tubas' intonation for a fundamental pitch. Balance was the next big item on the checklist. We played a 16 bar chord progression, which entails root position, and first and second position chords so that every member of the ensemble could have a different listening environment. Doing this ensured that the tubas were not always playing the root of the chord and the mellophones were not always playing the fifth, etc. Just by working on the blend, balance, and intonation of the brass line, the overall core sound of the ensemble was more “dark” and resonant. These students are working very hard and they still have some ground to cover in their musicality. To prove that these students are working hard on their musical performance, the Band of Gold also got the best music award, along with best visual, and a shiny 1^st place trophy for their class. These dedicated students never cease to amaze me.

             To the members of the Boonville High School Band of Gold, just know the sky is the limit. Go for it!