A Very Productive Tuesday

Today was a very productive Tuesday indeed. The show is cleaning up. We still have plenty to work on though. The guard work is getting better but still has a ways to go before it is clean. Mr. Apple has been out with kidney stones so the percussion section has been pretty much self policing and they are getting better too. I really enjoy our Tuesday's in the stadium. It is nice to be able to work in there once a week. We kind of get the best of both worlds. There some things that are easier to clean on the band grid while sometimes you just need to be in a stadium. We get both. Last Saturday proved a lot to us all. Perhaps this Saturday will be a chance to prove something to everybody else.

Weird Day

Today was somewhat odd. I really felt kind of rushed all day. There were a lot things going on. I knew I could not attend the last hour of rehearsal today due to open house. I was "told" to be there and that is fine. I understand that sometime you just have to do things like that and I understand the chain of command too. The kids looked really ready to practice today. Maybe getting close to what they wanted motivated them a little. Maybe they finally believe that they can be great...this year! Or maybe we are just into our groove of rehearsals. Maybe they finally understand that together we can all get what we want out of band. I think it is a combination of these things. It was nice. Today it was just Mr. Henke and myself with the band. It reminded of the old days when I really worked the entire band alone. After I went in for open house, Mr. Henke ran rehearsal and I was happy to have somebody that could do it other then me. I did meet a few parents of students not in marching band but I really, really missed being at rehearsal. It was odd for me to listen with out helping but the band is sounding better and better. I heard there was some more talking than usual with me not there but I know that would never happen in a band as good as Dutch Fork. Right? I will be more than ready to tomorrow. I am sorry I had to miss a bit today. I will make it up later. Promise.

Great Job!

I am really proud to be the band director at Dutch Fork. This is only the beginning for us. I think the sky is the limit to what we can accomplish.

Time to Go!

By the time most of you read this, we will know our results from our first competition. What ever the results, I am proud of the band. We did it. We are about to leave for Irmo and we did it all the right way. From the end of July to right now, we have all changed for the better and have became a band family. When we take the field tonight it will be a new Dutch Fork for sure. People will see more movement and a hear a new sound but the important thing is that we did it all together. There have been some rough spots but all and all it I am happy with our progress. I will proudly listen as the announcer calls out my name tonight as the director of Dutch Fork.

Rain Out!

We were rained out tonight at the game. I have to say I was looking forward to a dress rehearsal for tomorrow night though. Non the less, we have done our work for the week and sometimes if you give it up on the Friday night before a game, it seems to have an affect sometimes. But anyway, the work is done and I think we will be happy when we come off the field tomorrow night and isn't that worth a whole lot?

Now for the task at hand...the Okra Strut! It will be my first one. I am sure it will be fun.

Guess What?

We're getting better. I asked the kids if they thought they had a chance to win this weekend and they seemed pretty convinced they had a chance. Good for them because I think they do too. Things came together pretty well for us today and we even got out a few minutes early. Regardless of the outcome Saturday, I think we will leave our mark and give others something to think about. I told the kids back in July that I wanted to make sure they always felt like they at least had a chance to win every competition we went to. I kept my word so far.

"Why do you push them so hard?"

This is a question that I have been asked more than once. I have extremely high expectations for my students. Guess what? I get a lot out of them. Sometimes I get more than I really should be able too. I have seen students obtain things that they didn't even think they could ever get. I get emails from parents time to time stating that they wished their children would be as dedicated to their other studies as they are in band. Why do I push them so hard? Because I love to see them succeed. It is that simple. I don't get paid one dime more even if we win state and I won't get paid one dime less if we are last. Sometimes you just have to trust me though. If there are students coming home and complaining that I expect too much from them...Great! Things at rest tend to stay at rest. Things at rest need energy to get them moving. Things in motion tend to stay in motion. My greatest rewards in band directing are when I get to see my students succeed. I have seen them cry because they were so happy. That is why I push them so hard. My worst days as a band director have come when I see them fail. I can't stand to see them sad. So I will take the criticism because when we leave the field Saturday, I will know I have given it my all. I just want to make sure the students feel the same way. If having a great band was easy. There would be 400 students in band and every band program would be great. We will be the elite. It doesn't have to take that long of a time either. How do you speed up time? This is easy...hard work and don't except excuses.

Somebody sent me the quote below today. I think it says a lot:

"Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown".

A Bump in the Road

Lately we have been stuck. Or so it may seem. Sometimes when things seem like they are not getting any better, they actually are about to get a lot better. I don't know why, but it works that way. We are at a bump in the road. We will either get over it or fall down. The season is half way over and now we get to what we have worked for... competitions. There will be no second chances at competitions. We get one shot to make our impression. Lately some things beyond our control have been affecting us. It seems like those are the things that are the most difficult to deal with.

All I really want on Saturday night is to know that we all did our best and maybe even did things that we didn't know we could.

Lessons from Tom

Tom is my new (new to me) assistant band director and I have to say he offers some really good advise to me. I am really glad to have him around. We will have 5 holes in our show Saturday and they are unavoidable. I will have 3 students out for reasons beyond my control. I thought I had one hole filled but then she quit, and then there was always one hole anyway. I haven't been to contest with holes like that in about 9 years. I told Tom I didn't think we should go to the competition with that many holes but he made a good point. He said that wouldn't be fair to the kids that has been working so hard. He is right. I have always tried to be fair to my students so that is what we will do.

I get the feeling lately of unimportance. We spend so much time working on our product that I can't bear to think that it is "just an after school activity". It is much, much more to many of us yet I still see that attitude from some. For groups to be successful they must be important and the members must have a sense that what they are doing is important. I will do my best to continue to teach to the best of my ability but I get the feeling some just don't believe in what I am doing or maybe it is not important.

We will go Saturday. I just wish this band would live up to its potential but then again that is the story of the Dutch Fork band for sure. Always close but just a bit off of the real prize.

Fishing

Fishing has been terrible for about 5 weeks now. Today I only caught 2. The bait has been small, only about 4-5 inches and they have wanted bigger bait lately of 8-12 inches. I have made attempts to jig up some bigger bait but the wind has blown the last 2 times I have been out and it is hard to hold the boat in the wind. If you know me at all, you know I take my fishing very seriously. Over the past month though it has not been. Today was no different except that it was raining. But hey it is still my little place. I love to go out in my boat and have my own little world to work in. I know I will get into the fish again soon and sometimes I like the challenge of not catching them. It makes is special to get a really good one. It will be more difficult to go for the next few weeks as we will be gone all day Saturday with band competitions but I will still find time to go. It is an important thing for me. Hopefully things will go well on Saturdays for us though. It always feels good to be on the water after good results.

Game Report

Logistically we did fine. The pit crew was great and got everything loaded up for us. The buses were right on time and were very comfortable. Our half time performance was not our best though. Things were very hectic and loud and that did not help us at all. Not to mention the apple that some find person from Blythewood threw on the field during our performance. Nice crowd over there?

We are at the point that it is time to step things up a bit. If we are to take things to the next level, all of us will have to find something inside of us to do what it takes to make things really shine. We still have a few people that are not in time with their feet and it is time for all that to get right. We only have 3 more full rehearsals until our first competition. Everybody should rest up this weekend because next weekend will be a busy one. We have a home game Friday in full uniform, the Okra Strut parade Saturday morning, and the competition at 7:30 Saturday night. Let the games begin!

And Away We Go...

Tonight will be our first time travelling together. We are taking the full band Blythewood for the football game. We will be performing the "Dark" section of the show for the home side tonight. I usually perform for the home side even at away games because I think if they are nice enough to offer us some time we should play for their side. I will give you a report on how things go later.

Starting to Feel Like the Time

It is starting to feel like time to go to competition. We have 4 more rehearsals and then we show everybody what we have. I think the "Cat will be out of the bag" next Saturday night. Win, Lose, or Draw everybody will see and hear a different Dutch Fork band. We are aggressive and determined. The one thing we lack is confidence. We will attempt to fix that this afternoon and next week. One thing is for sure, the band everybody will remember next Saturday will be us! We are different for sure. We may have the most progressive drill of any band. 97 pages of non stop action. If we can just get the sound we have while we don't move to match the sound we have while marching...then great things will happen.

Setting Limits

I thought about this a lot today and I don't really know why but here it goes. I have always heard that you should set yourself limits. I think most people in the business world call them "obtainable goals". I have even written about this before but lately I have been "dreaming" I guess. As of late I have not been concerned too much about the band world outside of Dutch Fork and I have to say I like it. I certainly don't mean that I don't think about my former students either but at this time of the year I am usually preoccupied with winning contests. This year is different. I am very happy with our progress so far but I know we have a long way to go too. All I really want is to have a successful season and that really doesn't matter who we compete against. Our true competition is ourselves.

So the limits and expectations that others may have put on us this year really don't matter. We are getting better and better and I think we are all having fun too.

My honest opinion is to not put limits on myself because I know others will do that for me. I mean if you think about it others are the ones that truly limit us. They say things like "you can't do that" or "not this year" and stuff like that . I really don't have much to say about what others think but I sure do have control over my own attitude.

"Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you may just end up amongst the Stars."

Some Days Just...

Work! Today was one of them for us at rehearsal. Everybody worked really hard and things were really coming together. Keep it up! We only have 4 rehearsals left until our first contest. I want to make sure that we leave no stone unturned.

We were in the stadium for the entire rehearsal and things started to feel and sound for real. The golf cart was certainly an adventure too. I am not real sure why they even pretend to say them have brakes but my helpers did good too pushing it up the hill.

For the first time in a long time, I am not really concerned about what other bands are doing and who we will be competing against. For once it is just about us. That is a great feeling.

The Dazzlers are really making great strides too. The flag work just keeps getting better and better.

7:00 p.m. on Saturday night is when we will finally share what we have with others for a score but all I want is to come off the field knowing we did everything we could and had fun doing it too.

We Got It!

We have the entire show on the field as of today. Now comes the hard part. Cleaning it! We only have 5 rehearsals until our first contest so the pressure is on. Hope for us that we have good weather. I really don't feel well today so I am closing this post early.

Report: Last night's game

Man that was a long game and hot and humid too! Lots of passes and incomplete passes make the games long. I thought we did very well though. Our pre game was fine and I thought the National Anthem was better than last week. Although our half-time performance was very rushed it too was OK. We were much, much better post game though. I think things are really coming together and as I listened the band warm up for half time something hit me...they sounded like my band. It really had an affect on me. We had a dark, rich sound that can be loud or just pretty. Our feet will get better but the sound is really what will make us what we are. I also thought the Dazzler's did very well. They are getting use to the 6 foot flags and they move so well. They really great young ladies and will only improve as the season progresses.

I am getting ready to watch the Carolina/Georgia game. I really don't have a dog in that hunt but hey everybody else is doing it so why not? I will fish tomorrow.

My 15 hour workday

I am about half way through my 15 hour work day. Friday's are hard. I can't leave after school and before the game because a few students would have a hard time getting a ride back so I stay. I get hungry though but I know what I signed up for so not a problem. Just a long day. So I will end up with 62.5 hours this week.

We had a great rehearsal yesterday and I look for our performance both on the field and in the stands to be improved this week. Things are starting to come together but you can be assured I won't stop pushing them.

If you don't have anything to do tonight, head over to Dutch Fork and check out the band.

Getting our feet underneath us...

We need to get our feet to match our music at this point. We have had several rain days and we always find stuff to do like work on music so our music is coming together well at this point. Our problem is our feet but not really. Our really problem is rhythm and pulse control. This is the number one problem with every section at this point. We will get it fixed but it is difficult and takes a while. If every student would count and practice with a metronome, we would be just fine but in the mean time, we are having problems with tempo and that leads to poor marching and phasing. Phasing is when the feet are not on the pulse of the music. Your not quite out of step but you are not on the beat either. Hopefully today will be a good weather day. I just looked outside and the rain is holding off and the temperature is great. We need a good day but if it should rain, we will just keep getting better and better at our music. After all that is what should drive any band program, the music. I would rather be ahead in music any day.

We Remember

Take a bit of time today to remember...

My Classes

I teach 5 classes at Dutch Fork. Here they are with their descriptions:

Symphonic Winds: This is the top band class and they are great kids. There are 45 of them. What they lack in rhythmic interpretation they make up for with their musicianship. They are finally starting to laugh too.

Symphonic Band: Only 23 of them here but they are great. This is exactly the size a class like this should be to really learn some stuff. I am able give them plenty of attention (maybe too much if you ask them) and they are making great strides each class.

Percussive Arts: There are 18 of them and I enjoy teaching them and I think they are surprised that I do know a bit about percussion. After marching season, we are going to work a lot on counting and playing percussion ensembles.

Concert Band: This is my biggest challenge so far but today they were great. I actually am really glad to have this class. They are all non marchers but I think we will produce a great product and too will learn to enjoy playing music. There are 36 of them.

Freshman Success: What!!! This is not a typo. I teach a class of 22 freshmen about all kinds of things. If you know me at all, you know I love to tell stories and I tell a bunch in this class. We talk about college and jobs and just about anything. I thought I wouldn't like teaching this class but I do!

What do I miss? I miss my Colorguard class. I don't teach them at Dutch Fork. We have a certified Dance Teacher and she teaches them with the help of our guard instructor much better I ever could but I miss the fun we had in guard class. Next year I plan to add a Jazz Band class too. So I get to teach 144 students at Dutch Fork this year. You can bet the numbers will go up but I am really happy to have this many students to help me each day.

No Such Luck

We did not avoid the weather today but we at least get to play in the stadium for about 30 minutes and I was pleased with what I heard. Our sound is really coming together. We just have to get our feet under us and that is coming. It is not worth it to take chances with lightning though. We will have other days to work in the stadium but safety must be one of highest concerns. The band did a great job with all the adjustments today. We also had a band booster club meeting and I had fun at that too.

Hoping the Weather Holds Out

I am hoping the rain will hold out for us today. We are scheduled for our first stadium rehearsal of the year and we really need the weather to cooperate with us. I just went outside and it is not quite as warm as it was yesterday although the humidity is still pretty high. If we can consistently get in the stadium on Tuesdays and with our rehearsals on asphalt Mondays and Thursdays we really should have the best of both worlds. The problem is that if the playing field is too wet, we can do damage to the turf and that won't be good. I just hope we have a chance to get out there today.

A Good Rehearsal and Hot Too!

We had a very productive rehearsal today in the heat. I knew it would get very hot again and it did but the band really proved it is getting things together. Not only are we looking better, we are also sounding better and better. This is no time to get content though. We have a lot of work to do but if things just keep going this way we will be very competitive. Tomorrow we are scheduled to have our first rehearsal in the stadium. We have to make the stadium rehearsals great. I am looking forward to working on music in the stadium setting too. Hopefully the heat will not be a oppressive tomorrow.

The Draw

Hey we didn't do too bad. We perform second to last at state. The only problem here is that we won't have a lot of down time between prelims and finals but that is OK. Where you performed at state use to be a huge deal because almost nobody that performed early would really have a chance at doing well. That has changed but I still like to perform later in the day. So I like our draw. Luck or fate what ever you choose but we did well on Saturday afternoon and the band wasn't even there. I am going fishing now. What kind of person gets up at 5:20 AM on their day off to go fishing? ME!

A Weekend Home

We are home this weekend and it should be nice. With the competitive season right around the corner, I should enjoy this time. I plan to work in the yard today and go fishing tomorrow. Sometimes it is nice to not have a plan. I hope everybody has a good weekend too.

Good Job Tonight!

There are not many bands doing what we did tonight on Sept. 4th. We have a long way to go but it was a great start. It is strange because we really haven't gotten into the grove of things yet. We have had a bad rehearsal with bad heat and had to quite early. We have missed an outdoor rehearsal because of a tornado watch, and now we have missed a rehearsal because of a hurricane or something like that but I don't feel like we are behind. In fact, I think we are right where we need to be. If anybody thought we were OK tonight, just wait if we get some consistent 3 day rehearsal weeks. Smart bands win every time. The only thing we really need is confidence. Not only in ourselves but also in each other.

It is not a matter of if but when we are the premier band program in the Midlands. Why not make the choice to be the best you can be individually right now? Then you will see why we work so hard.

It's Here...The First Game

Only a few more hours. Here is what we have planned:

Pre-game - National Anthem from the field and The Fight Song in a Spirit Tunnel from the field.

Stands Music: 25 or 6 to 4, Land of 1000 Dances, Y.M.C.A., Eye of the Tiger, Crazy Train, Hey Ya!, Fight Song (we will add a few more next week).

Half-Time: The "Light" portion of our show.

Post Game: Perform the "Light" section again.

Tomorrow Night is Big!

Tomorrow night will be our debut together. I have to say I am ready to get going into the real swing of things. I want to get some consistency going and I just want everybody to be happy with the band. I think things will be good. I am quite pleased with the progress of my Symphonic Class. They were counting and playing better today. It is obvious that some of them are practicing. I like small classes because there is no where to hide. It makes you be a better musician. There are some things that I do wish were better for tomorrow night. I wish we could have rehearsed in the stadium at least once before our debut but that didn't happen. I wish we could have had time to work on the stands pieces more but that didn't happen. I know things will get better though too. Once I wished I was the band director at Dutch Fork. That did happen.

Here a few reminders for the students reading this:

1. You need to wear you summer uniform. I have extra shirts if anybody needs to purchase one. You are on your own with the shorts though. Khaki with no pockets and knee length.

2. Every one will need a flip folder to participate in pre-game.

3. Have fun! You deserve it but remember we are the Class of the school.

And Just Fun...

Ok. I got a fast one pulled on me today. You know I have my week all planned out because we have our first football game on Friday and I want it to be good. I have everything ready to go and what happens? The moved the football game to THURSDAY! This was probably a smart move due to the chance of bad weather because of a hurricane. I grew up riding hurricanes out and we never evacuated because we didn't have any where to go but in today's age, every precaution has to be taken so any way. All my plans changed today at about 12:00. I was not going to let my first night with the band be less than acceptable so we made adjustments. I taught pre-game this after noon. I have to say it went pretty smooth and then we learned about 8 pages of drill in about 20 minutes. Smart bands win and this is why. Good job today to the band. They handled everything very well and seem to be ready to take things to the next step. We should be fine on at the game. I do wish we had some more acceptable stands tunes but that will come. We have about 6 new ones that are OK and we will work on them some before the game. I know everybody probably wonders what kind of changes will be made with the new band director and I can tell you not many for now. We will be a bit more formal with some things like how we enter the stands and leave the game and dismiss but nothing radical. I really don't know how the Part 1 run of the show will go at half-time. It is a young band and this will be many of there first time on grass! It should be fun and I am sure it will be fine too. Why? Because we are starting to rehearse right and it will pay off in the end. Remember we will pull numbers out of the box Thursday. Oh the box! I bet many of my former students remember the box. Oh well, we should be fine on Thursday even it is a day early!