When Cindy and I lived in Beaufort, we went to Hunting Island Beach as often as we could. I would fish and Cindy would bask in the sun. It is one of greatest and best memories ever. One day we went to the beach and there were thousands of starfish on the beach. We both quickly started playing with them but then it occurred us they would die in the sun. Then we started putting as many as we could back in the water. It was after that I ran across the poem below:

An elderly man was picking up objects off the beach and tossing them out into the
sea. A young man approached and saw that the objects were starfish. He asked,
“Why in the world are you throwing starfish into the water?”
“If the starfish are still on the beach when the tide goes out and the sun rises high
in the sky, they will die,” replied the elderly man.
The young man countered, “That is ridiculous. There are thousands of miles of
beach and millions of starfish. You can’t really believe that what you’re doing
could possibly make a difference!”
The wise old man picked up another starfish, paused thoughtfully, and as he
threw it to the safety of the sea, he said, “It made a difference to that one.”

Well this is where I am going with this whole thing. Yesterday I received the scores from the all state auditions which happened last Saturday. I always look at them to see what they did well in and what they need to improve upon. I noticed that one of my clarinet players had a zero for her scales score. She was already 43rd out of 70 with a zero on her scales. This seemed odd so I found her in the cafeteria, I bet that was fun for her, and asked if she played her scales. She said yes. I then contacted the All-State chairwoman about the situation. She discover that the scale score had not been enter in the computer. After adding the 30 to the young ladies score she moved up to 17th in the state! This is huge for many reasons. This student may now have more oppertunities for scholarships and it really validates her work. I knew she was playing great before here audition too.

Now the other part of the story is about me. Sometimes I feel that the kids at DF don't really need me. They have a lot going for them. They come from good families and have advantages that some of my former students did not. That is great too. But sometimes I just feel like I am not "needed". They are certainly great young adults so don't get me wrong. But in me finding this mistake and hearing something so honest as I did this afternoon made me feel like I did make a difference for one starfish. All she said was "Thank you." That was reward enough for me.

Doing Stuff...

I never really knew how much my band director took care of for us until I was the one that had to take care of that stuff. Just in the past two days I have had to deal with region band and all state band rooms and transportation. It seems easy now but it wasn't always. I got reservations for 12 rooms for region and 4 for all state and that seems fine but try it sometime. First you better have a high credit limit on your credit card because if you don't...denied. Any way I am glad I am good at this stuff but I still the best thing I do is teach music. Lately I have stopped worrying about some of the things that are out of my control and just, as my note on my stand says, I just teach. I must be OK at it too. The top band, Symphonic Winds, is just playing well. We can pretty much sight read grade 5 music. That is not an easy task. Today we basically read Chorale and Shaker Dance. It is one of my favorites. Somebody asked me once why I push my bands so hard. Truthfully some it is the fact that I just like to play a lot of stuff. Yesterday we started Jazz Band and I have to say, it was pretty good. I think it was better than it as at the end last year and it was fun too.

Check this OUT!

If band is for nerds, count me as a NERD because this is great.

Click on this:
A cool thing for sure.

Taking Risks

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have been talking about this in our playing lately. We are just too conservative and play it safe an awful lot. By this I am not talking about POLITICS! I just don't get into that on my blog but any way. Our playing is in the middle to much. One saying that my kids hear a lot is "you almost made music but you got scared and ran away." The students will almost put all of themselves into a phrase or a passage of music and then chicken out and pull it back in. My suggestion is "Go for it!" Don't be afraid to be wrong. Risk takers are the ones that truly get the greatest rewards. Of course sometimes it won't work. Sometimes you may fail. Sometimes you may just get it wrong. But it is the times you do something nobody thought you could, the times you surprise yourself, and the times you succeed that make it all worthwhile. Sometimes to not take a risk is the riskiest choice of all. My suggestion is this. Do things that are uncomfortable. Do things that make you stretch your abilities. Do things you can't do. Do the impossible. Do it for you. The greatest rewards are ones you realize with yourself and those closest to you.

Why Get Better?

"Why isn't where we are now good enough? We play pretty well and did well at competitions and even have a bunch of kids in region band." Well the truth is that the better we get, the more fun and more we will all get out of band. Just today we were able to read through and make music out of two grade 4 compositions. We are now able to get through grade 5 music the first time too. It puts us in a different frame of mind. Most bands are concerned about picking out music for concert festival this time of the year. Some bands will read through a few things and then pick. Others will, unfortunately, just play the same three pieces until concert festival. While there are others, a few only, that will have many pieces in their folders and then they can pick a few to play for concert festival. "Practice makes band fun." I have used that statement for years. It is so true in so many ways. Not only do great bands get to play great music at festival, they get to have better experiences in class too.

Today we read one of my favorite band pieces, An American Elegy by Frank Tichell. It was commissioned in remembrance of the students of Columbine High School in Colorado. I passed out the piece and pointed out a few musical things in the composition and then told them how I felt about what had happened at Columbine and about the piece. We then played it straight through. The skills we have learned to be able to sightread now help us do other things beside just playing music. After we played, there was not a sound in the room. Just silence. I think maybe I taught a little more than music today. I taught an emotion. Try that in AP Math.

Region Band Auditions

We hosted the Region 3 Band Auditions today. There were about 2200 students that made their way through our doors. Things were set up physically Friday afternoon and evening but many hours of preparation went into it long before that. Ever;y audition room had to have a page to sign the auditionee in and then a monitor to help with the audition process in the room. This is alto of people. Things went very well. The only problems were with things out of our control. First, the school decided Saturday would be a good day to add another coat of varnish to the gym floor. Not a good idea. This resulted in heavy fumes being dispersed through out the building all day. Not very good planning since region band auditions have been scheduled for about 12 months. Then the network did print the results so all the results had to be saved to a flash drive and then individually printed. This took more time and effort than it should have. Then the heat or lack there of. Some rooms just didn't have heat. Although all of these problems were well beyond my control, I still feel somewhat embarrassed that they occurred.

Now for some good stuff. The band booster club performed very well and that is the way it should work. Things were taken care of and I could do the things I needed to do. Mr. Apple was a great help to me. It was nice to have somebody to help me with things I needed. And finally Howard, our worker, he was absolutely great. He kept up with everything and anything that came up through out the day.
As for results of our students, we may have as many as 20 students in region band from the high school. We also have several students that have moved on to the next audition for all-state band which will happen in two weeks. I am very pleased that we have students that had never made region before that will be placed in the band. It is no secret that we have had major problems with the feeder program and that problem will continue to affect that total program for years but I do finally see hope in this situation. We may be developing a team that has common goals and want to work with me instead of against. So although the number of students DF high has in region and perhaps all-state this year is not the most ever, it is good to hold our own while we get through a tough time.

Just give me a chance because none of you have seen the best I have to offer yet. I did not know getting into this job how much needed to be done but I enjoy challenges and I am certainly capable doing what it necessary to make DF the jewel of the midlands with regards to band. Just trust me, help me, and support me but most of all.. get to work. We need more help from parents and students alike. Students don't stop practicing. If you accomplished your goal, keep working and stay in habit of practicing. If you didn't get what you wanted, get it. Don't give up. Things that are hard are worth the work for the reward. I saw some new parents working with us Saturday. I want to see more of you.

Marching Band?

Yes, I work on it all. All year long too. I have been working on marching band for next year and so has the band. You see, band is band is band. By working inside on our playing, we are just getting better for next year. OK...I really am working on stuff too. I have started working on putting our staff together. I think many will be surprised at what we end up with. Last year was a step in the right direction. This year may be a giant leap for all...bandkind.

Back to the Basics

This is my theme for the next few weeks or maybe even more with the band. We will be relearning how to do a few things...The Brady Way of course. The topics will be breathing, counting, sightreading, tuning, all the good stuff. We may not even go to concert festival this year or may even not play very difficult music but we will learn. I think far too many bands and band directors are too concerned about what they are going to play at concert festival. I would love to go to festival and play grade 6 music but I would like even more to not worry about picking music until about mid February at the earliest. Which is a better band: 1. the band that plays grade 6 music from mid November until festival and might get a Superior or 2. The band that learns a lot about playing and reads a lot of music and then picks 2 compositions out of the many they have played and goes in grade 5 and might get a Superior. If you you know me at all, you know I will side with choice 2 any day. So teach I will. Now the learning is up to another group but if the teaching is done right, they may not have a choice but to learn.

Difficult Choices Lay Ahead

There are some difficult choices ahead for our band program. We have made some strides in the right direction but lately it seems we have hit a road block. For most where are right now is fine but I have other goals for the band. In general, there just is not enough individual effort. I see flashes of greatness but in general, the individual preparation and effort is just not happening for the band's musical level to progress beyond the current level. Certainly I have always said that the directors, parents, and students must all work together for a band to achieve greatness and I know sometimes it just doesn't work. I am not ready to give up yet though but I can't keep being the only one pushing toward the end either. It is not healthy or enjoyable for me. Today I put the task of progressing to the students. They will need to let me know if they wish to progress or if what we have is enough. I can't continue to make them do things they really don't want to. Time and effort will tell what the choice is. There is so much potential within the band program but potential is just that...an intangible idea.

Happy New Year's 2010

Here we go. Another year over and a new one just begun. Here are my resolutions. Well they really aren't resolutions at all. They are some things I would like to do this year:

1. Surf - I used to surf as a young man and I would like to do it again in 2010. I still have my boards.

2. Win a minor/major bass tournament on Lake Murray. I want to win all the money.

3. Become certified in at least one new thing as related to work or band.

4. Go somewhere really cold and play in the snow.

5. Give something significant to somebody less fortunate they I am.

Here are some of the big things I would like to do that have nothing to do with doing them for a year:

1. Care less about what others think of me.

2. Know what is within my capabilities and do them better and not worry about what others do not let me do or are unwilling to help me do.

3. Make some new true friends and reconnect with some old ones.

4. Pay more attention to my family.

5. Save for the future both monetarily and mentally.