Happy Halloween

Ode To Halloween

To the dark house they rang,
When opening the door, they heard "dang!"
If it's candy you want,
The wrong place to come,
But for a treat,
Well I have some.

To the cabinet I ran,
and what did I see,
Some chili looking back at me!
To the micro I ran,
with a spoon in my hand.

With swiftness I did heat,
Something the looked a bit like meat.
As the children laughed with glee,
That all changed when they saw me.

With my spoon I did dip,
Some chili for all,
and made it quick.

One scoop each they did recieve,
right in their bag of goodies.

So moral is here to stay,
When begging for candy,
You should beware,
You just might see,
Old Man Brad-y!

Hard to Believe

Today is our last after school marching rehearsal of the year. In some ways it seems like we have been practicing forever and then in other ways it seems like just yesterday when I was meeting with the student leaders in the orchestra room to form a plan for the season. I have, for the most part, enjoyed this season. I think we have established how to do things and also established a high expectation for the members of the band.

But the task at hand is this Saturday when we compete in the 5A marching band championships at South Carolina State. I think we may have a surprise for many. If we can put together a great run, we may just surprise ourselves too.

Keeping it Real

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING

POLITICAL VIEWS, POLITICAL VIEWS, POLITICAL VIEWS

LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY

Okay, you have been warned but anyway. Here are my political views of a new way of politics. I am just keeping it real.

Education: If you can take the time to teach your children...do it. If you think you need some help, send them to me and I will teach them to play something.

Health Care: Take care of your body. If you have some problems that you can't take care of...go to the doctor. They will know a lot more about this than I will.

Finances: Don't spend more than you make.

Employment: Do something you love. You will never have to work a day in your life.

Family: Hold them close and tell them you love them.

Environment: Go fishing often with somebody you love. If they won't go, go anyway.

Other Stuff: Just keep it real and go with your heart.

Brought to you by the REALIST PARTY! We just keep it real.

Cold

It was cold at rehearsal today but band did great. We are really getting it together. I think we can shock a few people Saturday. I enjoy going to rehearsals like the one we had today. I am finally thawed out. Everybody should remember to dress for the weather. We can't have anybody out sick for state if we are to do our best.

As for Cindy, she is doing OK. I came home tonight and she was on the couch watching TV with about 5 remote controls around her. We even have one for our fireplace so that is good. The dogs are pretty happy with the whole things as one of their favorite activities is inactivity, especially Henry.

We only have one more rehearsal of the year. It is hard to believe it is almost over for another year. I just have to think that we have done things the right way and we will have much to build on in the future.

Strange game we play

We start this marching band thing is 100 degree weather. I can remember telling the students that they would miss that weather. I can take the heat much better than the cold. I always have. Today we will be lucky if is 50 degrees at rehearsal and I bet it will be colder than that at the end of it. I am ready though. I have my under armor ready to go. I hope everybody is prepared. The judges won't care how cold or hot is Saturday just how good it all is or not.

Something more important than work...

I missed my classes at school today for an important reason. I usually miss on Wednesdays and yes, I am usually on the water at least part of those days but not today. Today Cindy had surgery. I won't go into the details because I think I do that too much any way but I was at the hospital all day waiting for her. I am at home now taking care of her as they let her come home tonight and I am glad for that. The reason I am putting on the blog is because she has made all the difference to me and how I band direct. She is my biggest supporter and even when I am wrong she would never tell you (she will tell me though!). Any way she is doing fine but I will keep everybody up on how she is doing. It is strange to think that this weekend will be the first time in 12 years that I will go to a competition with out her. I don't even want to think about it. She is everything to me. The band world in South Carolina and beyond certainly knows her too. You can't miss her with that red hair and it is always asked of me when people see me "Where is Cindy" because they know she is always close by. I may be one of the only band directors that takes their wife on the field with them for awards. My question is simple. Why don't more?

As for the band, we continue to improve and I really think we could be the surprise of the year this weekend. I did go back to school for practice. Cindy wouldn't have it any other way. I would love to call her this weekend and tell her we did our absolute best ever at state.

Recap of yesterday's performance

We are pretty good. We played very well for the most part and are down to small things. Visually the small things are killing us. We still have individuals not holding their horns up the entire time and just being a bit lazy. There is no excuse for this at all. All the judges really liked us and some loved us. The best comment I heard on the tape was this: "You will certainly be among the best next weekend." I would like to see our best and most emotional run of the year next week at 4:45 p.m. The stadium should work for us. It is big and the field surface is AstroTurf so it will be a firm surface. That should fit us well as we rehearse on asphalt most the time. I wish there was some way to get the kids excited about what they were doing. That would give us the 2 extra points we are looking for. We are so close yet still have so far to go. What do we need most? Self discipline is it. The easiest and yet the most difficult quality we need is in us. Nobody can make us do it yet nobody can keep us from it either.

Great job yesterday and for me a day I won't soon forget. Our first win together as it should have been. It was far away and just us competing with us. I sure was nice to hear our name last!

WE WIN!

Finally! Lot's of work to do before state but still it is nice to win! Good job!

Let's Have Fun Today!

Let's have fun today. We have what we have and it is time to have a bit of fun. We are travelling up to West Oak High School in Westminster, South Carolina. I have never been there so it will be new to everybody. The leaves should be pretty and we might even be able to see the mountains. I want to score a 90 or higher. That is the goal and to have a good time. It looks like the weather is even going to cooperate. No run through and no practice today. Just one shot. Make it count.

Interesting?

Well I may make mistakes (although rarely...haha) I have learned that counter productive rehearsals are just that. They are counter productive. They don't work and they may actually let you lose some of the edge that you have. So I ended rehearsal early today by a little more than an hour. Could we have trudged on? Sure. Could I have made the band rehearse? Sure. Would we have gotten it back together and gotten some work done? It is my experiences that say NO. The band seemed lazy and content with what they had. That is not what can happen at this time of the season. We only have 3 more rehearsals left and if we perform at state like we did today, we certainly won't need to worry about finals. We just aren't clean enough. This is the time to really put the polish on and not relax one bit. Were there some members and sections working hard today and really trying? Yes but not enough to be productive so I ended the rehearsal. We have 3 more rehearsals to get it right. We still have a few individuals that just have to get better if we are to have chance at state finals.

The DMV

This has nothing to do with band but it is my blog so here I go. I left school a little early today (yes, I taught all my classes!) so I could go pay my vehicle taxes. I got a new truck in July (the other one got a dent in it) so I had a pretty good bill but anyway...I went to pay my taxes. We moved about a year ago and changed my licence and everything but for some reason the DMV did not change my address on my registration. So I paid my taxes and had to go the DMV to get my tags. Oh boy the fun of it all. The lady in front of me was having some sort fit because she had to court tomorrow and she had paid her taxes but was being "wronged". I am so sure of this...Not. The place was like a circus as usual. Then the helper people were just having fun with me and sending me to wrong side and laughing. I played back and they confirmed that nobody wanted to be there, not even them. So any way that is why I left school a bit early.

I hope everybody has a restful afternoon off from rehearsal. Only 4 more after school rehearsals until state. We got to make them all count! I am starting to get a feeling about this weekend. A good one!

Some Good Stuff

I have to say some really good stuff is going on in the band lately. As for marching band, we are cleaning up and continue to get better. This is great. This is why I always chose difficult shows. We don't need to add anything or change anything. We just need to keep getting better and we are. The guard continues to grow as well. Just wait until you see us at West Oak and then State.

I have to say the I really had fun in Symphonic Winds today too. We played a great piece by Alfred Reed named "The Hounds of Spring". It is one of my favorites and we just may take it to festival this year. It really made me feel good to see the kids excited about concert band. Just wait, I have more great pieces. We got all the way through it...the right way. I taught, they counted, and we made music together. No "it goes like this" any more. Just music.

I am getting pretty geared up for the weekend. I know we are really getting things together. Win or not, this weekend will be ours. As for state, just wait!

West Oak Competition

I just got the schedule and we perform at 5:55 p.m. and are second to last. This means we will need to leave the school at about 2:00 p.m. and should return to DFHS at about 10:00 p.m. This is just a heads up for those of you wanting to know.

How Bad Do You Want It!

This whole thing could come down to the band that wants it bad enough. I want to see us score a 90 or higher at state. We know the show and we are continuing to get better. This is a long season for sure. We started 3 months ago. Now is not the time to let up. I know we can do it and maybe even be the surprise of the year if we can just keep things together and continue to improve. All the bands at state will be great. They will all have their shows perfected. What it will come down to is who has the best show and who wants it the most. I am not about to give up after all but final 6 rehearsals.

The Final Push to the End

We only have 6 more after school marching band rehearsals left in the 2008 competition season. We need to stay focused and keep our mind on the end goal. What is the end goal you may ask? To do our absolute best show possible on Saturday, Nov. 1. If we meet that goal, all will be well. If we meet that goal and don't make state finals, all will still be well. I have to admit I am looking forward to the prelims/finals format of 5A state. I think it is perhaps the most fair format of all the classes.

I have had a restful weekend and look forward to what we can accomplish in the next two weeks. I think we just keep improving every day and am glad we have two more weeks to perfect our show. Everybody should dress warm for the week though. It looks like we finally have a cool one.

Lots of Rain

The rain kind of put a damper on homecoming. We just couldn't get out in that tonight. I try to do everything to support the students in every way we can but it just wasn't possible tonight. We have tomorrow off and that will be strange for me for sure. You have remember that for the past 13 years I have been going to competition this weekend with one thing in mind...make state. I have had many good days on this weekend but some not so good too. The facts are that many bands will end their season tomorrow because they will not place high enough to continue. We should all remember that everybody wants to do well but only a few will advance. I wish them all the best of wishes but I must say that I am biased towards the bands in which I have been the director. I will certainly be thinking of them all. Here they are:

Fort Mill - Marching instructor/low brass instructor/director's assistant - 3 years

Buford - Head director - 4 years

Battery Creek - Head director - 2 years

Batesburg-Leesville - Head director - 4 years

Swansea - Head director - 3 years

As for my present kids and parents, get some rest. We will need it for the next two weeks. I know we can offer a surprise for everybody if we can have a great next two weeks.

Something is Happening

We are getting better and I mean a lot better. We have definitely found our grove again. Things are really cleaning up. Here is what is scary. If we score say an 85 at state, we might or might not make finals but more than likely not but if we can find just 5 more points and score a 90, we will probably be top 5 in the state. We have to dig in now and really go far it. We have this weekend off for a reason. We need the rest. We have the homecoming game tomorrow and then we have 2 whole days off. We will do the show post game for any alumni that wish to stay and watch. See you there.

Wednesday Afternoon

Today is almost like a day off. I only have to work 9 hours and that isn't bad considering the 14 hour day I put in yesterday. Sometimes I feel like a visitor in my own house. Soon that will change but for the next 2 and half weeks I am devoted to putting my efforts into our best result possible at State. We are still improving so I feel good about our chances at a great result. Remember that there are on field judges this year at State and that should an advantage for bands like ours. Nobody is allowed on the field in our band unless they are playing. We may be a bit smaller with this attitude but it is the only way I can feel good about what we are doing. We only have 7 more rehearsals until state. We need to make each one count.

The Easy Way Out

Change is hard. The easy way out is to just keep doing the same thing. This is fine if you are where you want to be but if you expect to grow and become something more you must change. Change is difficult. It makes comfortable people uncomfortable. It makes competent people uneasy, but what change offers is a chance to find the unknown. Change offers unknowns a chance to experience great things. To remain the same is to let others pass you by. To remain the same is to give up and accept what others are willing to give you. To change is to give yourself a chance to perhaps fail but it also gives you a chance to perhaps find greatness that you did not even know was possible.

I myself have learned far more from my failures than I have with my successes. Successes are rewards for hard work. Failures remind us that we need change and are opportunities for growth. Nobody likes to fail but when you are attempting to learn new things and new ideas, failure is inevitable on some level.

So the easy way out is to just stay the same. You can easily make excuses why you did not succeed. You can place the blame on something or somebody else. You can deny the failures. It is all so comfortable and easy. I, like many others, love challenges. Challenges are best when you have help to over come them but then again rewards are certainly best when shared with others also.

That is Enough!

Alright that is enough of the stuff below in the comment section. This blog is suppose to be fun and to give others some insight into what a band director goes through. After reading this, anybody considering being a band director has probably changed their mind. If you can't play nice, don't play at all. I don't know of any other band director stupid enough to do something like this blog so if you don't like it, don't look at it. As I have said before, you can post attacks on me but I will fight back. I am disappointed in this "Band Drama". You may not agree with me but guess what? I am not a band director to make the parents happy or to give them something to do. I am a band director for the kids and the vast majority of them get it and like what is going on. They are smart and understand the inner workings of the band far better than most anybody because they are the ones in it!

By the way band is co-curricular which means that what we do after hours is part of their grade with the stuff in class. We have one class, concert band, that does not require any after hours activities. That is the only one. Read the syllabus! You probably signed it.

About today, we had fun. The weather was great and we got some things done. That is what matters most. Not how many adults found stuff to complain about. If anybody would like to take over for a day or even a week. I have plenty of leave days left (89). Just let me know when you are ready to give it a try! I also know that the vast majority of the parents are happy too. I know because they tell me in private. It seems most of the complaints come from that anonymous person. I still can't figure how that anonymous person moves so much. They always seem to have a kid in my band.

About it all...yesterday that is.

Yesterday was a regression for the band in many ways in my eyes. We have been working hard and well together (I thought so anyway) but much reverted back to old ways yesterday. For one thing we had many holes in the show. There were some things out of anybodys control and some students made poor choices that will affect their future in the band. Unfortunately the poor choices of individuals sometimes hurt others but then that is the way the real world is at times. When you have numerous holes (hole are missing members in the drill) is affects everything. With regards to visual execution, it makes having good intervals almost impossible and takes away from the flow and continuity of the forms. This affect visual effect. Musically is leaves spaces in the sound and that affects musical effect. So it is perhaps the things that can take away from the entire show more than just about anything. Mostly this shows a lack of commitment from a few that affects all. Our performance was greatly hampered by these things and perhaps we should have not went to the competition at all but I think that not showing up is worse than a poor performance in the long run.

Some of the older students chose to do things the old way and that is disrespectful to me and what I am trying to accomplish at Dutch Fork. I was even mocked by some of them. Nothing new for me though but still disappointing and hurtful. During my first year in any of my positions, there have been plenty of non believers. They go away quickly and are not a factor after my first year. This will be the case again. I really appreciate some of my former students coming to see the band yesterday even though I taught them in a different band. This means a lot to me.

The greatest challenge at Dutch Fork is the change of mindsets and the norms. This includes all parents, students, and supporters. The band has a very different look and sound now but this will be nothing compared to the future under my direction. Serious philosophy changes will occur. Some will leave because of them and many will stay but change will happen.

Yesterday is over and leaves many questions for the remainder of the season but I still feel that things are in place to develop an incredible band program at Dutch Fork but this process with be difficult for all involved as are all things worthwhile are. There is a great core group of students and parents that are "getting it". They will be where the true changes will start. Others will come though. Some of the older students and parents will join to help and be a part for many years to follow, while others certainly will not. This is the way things work.

The Dutch Fork band has enjoyed successes in the past with out me and certainly may enjoy them in the future with out me as well. Many of the band programs I have helped progress still enjoy great success because of the work we did together but I would really like to be at Dutch Fork for a long time but when you make a choice to attempt to become the elite, you of course run the risk of being pushed out. I am willing to take that risk because in the end, should it all come together, it will be worth it.

To leave things the same is to leave things to chance or at best to accept what is given to you. To change and adapt is to at give yourself a chance at greatness. I have seen the glimpses of greatness at Dutch Fork. Now is time to put all the pieces in place to change and find our own style and image. Then we won't have to worry about what competition we go too or who the judges are or who we are in competition with because then we will playing the game by our rules not theirs.

I have the faith and trust that enough people are together in this to make it work. Just give me a chance to prove it but either way at least I won't count myself "with the cold and timid souls".

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

The Uncontrollable Factor: Weather

Well this is a surprise. Weather could play a huge role in the competition today. Bands that do not have an established marching technique could find themselves on the ground with wet conditions today. How about electronics? This could really be a problem for some bands. All these things could lead to a very good result for US!

An Important Day

Today is an important day for us at the Dutch Fork Band. This will be our third competition together. Today should be the day we put it all together. We have has a great week of rehearsal and the run last night was a fairly good one for a football game. We should have our best performance ever tonight. I am amazed that things have come together as quickly as they have. There is no doubt that I have been pushing the band and changing the expectations and they way things work in the band too. There has been some resistance and I still see some of that even now but things are on the way in a good direction. The one thing that must get better is the focus on details when it counts. It seems that there are always other things to talk about or distract when we need to focus the most. I must say that our drum major is really making a difference in this though. She is certainly becoming the leader that I had hoped. Today will be the largest competition we will go all year. 31 bands will be present. In 12 hours, we will know if all the work though out the week has come together and in just a bit more time than that we will know our results. I have been very happy with our results so far but I would really like to get the results on paper today. Will a focused, sharp band show up today or are we still developing that? We will know soon.

Racing the Weather

If there is one thing that we can't control, its the weather. Today is a day we will need some luck to get in a full rehearsal. This is why we can't waste even one day and we haven't this week so if for some reason it is bad weather, we are still alright. On Thursdays, we usually put everything together and practice some specialized parts of the show. This is how I work for a good rehearsal . Below you will find the plan for our rehearsal today.

Fix list for 10-9-08 - visual

Light

Page 1 – music and timing
Page 13 – visual
Page 21 – 22: Measures 49 – 52 Tempo
Back field – tempo
Low Brass feature – timing and visuals
Last set – colorguard angles

Dark
Slow section – scarfs? – foot placements in poses
Pg. 57 – box rotation
Check all of the end

Fix list for Music

Light
M. 19 – softer, more contrast
M. 22 – trumpet run
M. 37 – timing
M.49 – 53 – timing
M. 138 – 139 – run and articulations

Dark
M. 5 – trumpets
M. 10 – trumpets
M. 11- 12 – more horn movement
Slow section – articulations
Pg. 55/M. 57 – 58 - try crescendo into 59
Pg. 59/M. 68-69 – same as above
Check articulations is the above sections
M. 86 – fortepiano in low brass
M. 106-125 – check all articulations and notes
M. 145 – 146 – check for tempo
M. 148 – 151 – check for tempo – trumpet rushing
M. 158 – 159 – check for tonguing in low brass triplet quarters

So you see, it is all very technical this marching band thing and this is just one rehearsal and this is just the wind section. The guard and percussion do their own fix list.

Mental Health Day

I took off today. I played hooky...literally. When I changed school districts, I lost 14 days of leave. They will only let me carry 90 days a year now so I spent one of my personal days today. I went fishing. I caught plenty too. Sometimes I just need to get away and go to my little island (my boat). You can bet I will be raring to go tomorrow though. I hope everybody behaved in class today. I also hope the rain hurries up and gets through before rehearsal tomorrow. We have had two good days but we really need to put it all together. See you tomorrow!

Making the Choice

Yesterday was a good one. We really got into cleaning the opener. Today we are in the stadium and Dark will be our primary focus. We have some music and visual issues to deal with at the end of the show. Unfortunately, the weather people are calling for rain Thursday so today must be dealt with a sense of urgency about it. Today's rehearsal will go a long way toward what choice has been made. Are we to just be satisfied with what we have or dare we look into the unknown where the greatest rewards lie? Anybody reading this has the power to help us. Just encourage individual work to those in the band that you care about. That could become our greatest asset...our friends, our families, and ourselves and the attitude that we can do anything we want if we all work together.

Time to Chose

It is time to pick. Will we move to the next level and get all the little things correct? Or will what we have be good enough? This week will tell a lot. We are poised to really turn things on. The students now have the skills required to really clean the show. They know the music and the marching techniques. Now we need the desire to push it to the next level. This is the week where hard, complex show should take over the easy ones. The judges tapes said that there are somethings that we accomplishing at a very high level, while there are other times that we miss easy things. This means we are ready to get very good or we can, like many bands, give up and just get what we get. I have a feeling that this band will want more. I know I do! We shall see today.

Round 2: Third Place...Again

We were third place overall again. Hey I think we should get something for that but alas no. We did do a few things that were noteworthy though. First, our wonderful drum major won! I am very proud of her and she always does what I ask. She is top notch and only a junior. I am happy for her and I hope she is proud of herself too. We also won the percussion caption. This is a surprise in that Mr. Apple has been out all week with kidney stones. Congratulations to them! Now the not so good stuff. We were third in our class and third overall. We did compete in the top division though and I have to say when I heard them announce the band in Class 5A I felt a bit weird. It was my first time in that division. I have been the head director at every division. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, and now 5A. That should be worth something too. I guess I feel kind of bad for the kids because we could have competed in 3A or 4A due our smaller hornline size of 62 but that would not have been right. We would have won those classes, but that was not for us. If we are to take our place at the top with the best bands in SC, we have to compete at their level.

I am very proud of my students, staff, and boosters. We did it all the right way today. Perhaps we fell a bit short but in reality we did all our way. One judge said we seemed to be really pumped up for the show and maybe too much. I disagree. We were a Brady band. We were in your face. We were aggressive and maybe most of all, we were ourselves. We now have a style and it is good. I hope we get to hear our name last soon but if not that is ok too. It is truly the journey that is the fun part.

Congratulations to you Dutch Fork for yet again making me so proud to be your director. If you keep doing what you are doing, I promise you will get the rewards you seek. I promise!

A True Test

We will have a true test of our skills and attitude today and tonight. We are travelling to Charleston to compete in the Lowcountry Invitational hosted by the Wando High School Band. We will be competing in Class 5A. Some may ask why we should compete in 5A although we only have 106 members this year. Well that is simple. If you ever want to compete at the top levels this state has to offer, you've got to get in the arena with them. We will have to do much better than we did last night at half time though. It was an unfocused run that seemed to have many, many small mistakes and some big ones too. Tempo continues to be our main issue although small issues like horn angles and getting our toes up continue as well. It is time to start putting it all together. Whatever the outcome, I just want our best tonight at 8:15. Travelling to competitions is fun. Travelling home knowing you did your best...priceless.

We Got...

What we got. I think we are quite a bit more clean than we were a week ago but we still have a ways to go. Small things were the order of the day at rehearsal today although we had some big problems. The deal is that when you get a certain point in cleaning the drill you sometimes start finding some other problems. That means you are about to get good. I think some of the students may be in new territory here too. We still have 4 weeks to clean everything before state. By the time we get to state, mistakes will be very difficult to see and hear. We are going to make it hard for the judges. We certainly have some tough competition this weekend but all I want is our best run possible. If that happens, I will be happy with the band and my students regardless of where we finish.

Get ready though, we are about to really start cleaning the show. It could be a bumpy ride if everybody is not totally prepared individually.

Anxious

I am very anxious about the weekend. We have a chance at something only others think about...an upset! Most won't give us much of a chance this weekend and everybody would be shocked to see us win except for me. We are doing things the right way and it is paying off. I think many in the Dutch Fork band world are not use to seeing a lot of improvement during the actual competition season but then I don't think a lot of people were ready for what they saw and heard last Saturday. We have improved. ALOT! in just one week and we will continue to do so. Who knows everybody could be in for a real shock on Saturday night. We have to continue to improve everyday and then, just maybe, in the end of it all, we could find ourselves together with more than anybody thought was possible.