Band Camp - Week 1 Review

Week one of band camp 2010 is done. Some good things are happening and some not so good too. Here are few good things:

1. The show is incredible. I have to admit I had my questions about this show with its new look and sounds. This is certainly not an easy one to pull off. The drill is so good and well thought out. We haven't found one mistake or anything that just doesn't work, but it is hard. The music is great too. Not one other band in the country will have anything similar to this.

2. The talent level of the group is up. I feel we are marching as well now as we were at the beginning of September last year. The playing level of the rookies is definitely better than they were last year too.

3. Attendance has been great. I started to push the group a bit Wednesday and they responded well to a point. I have a stickler on being on time and being present. Anybody that has been in my group knows I just don't tolerate inconsistency of attendance.

Here are few bad things:

1. A lack of focus and attention to directions when it is needed. The drill is more difficult not due to the physical demands but due to the mental demands. It is not just point to point or follow the leader. You have to understand it to be able to execute it and to do that you must be able to listen to directions. We just don't have time to make the same mistakes over and over.

2. A lack of individual work on music. The music is difficult and this is one show you won't "get in band camp". Many shows have fairly easy music as the saying in South Carolina is "Who cares about content? Just get it clean!" This will not happen with our music. It must be learned and perfected at home.

3. A lack of respect for what is trying to be accomplished. Everybody is giving up time to be a part of the group but I often see it as "just another activity". Of course many students are committed to our goals but I still see many that are not and to me this is very disrespectful to that ones who are giving their all and doing what needs to be done. Many seem to just take for granted what is being offered to them. I and many, many other people have spent a lot of time on the show itself. You can't just order this one out of a catalog. When lunch comes around I often spend up to an hour getting things copied and ordered and returning phone calls. I didn't even get lunch one day because nobody thought to save me any. I always let my students eat before me out of respect for their work but DF is the first place in which I have felt like "hired help". One thing is for sure, if the group doesn't start working more quickly, time will run out. We will not have the show on the field in time to attend early competitions. The show is just too difficult for that.

This year certainly is a pivotal year for the DF band. We have so many great things going for us like new equipment and uniforms, a new type of show and more talent. What must happen though more than anything else is a new attitude of respect and desire.