Cleaning it up!

We are at one of my favorite places to be in the marching season. It's cleaning time! What is cleaning? Well it means we have the show on the field and we can march and play it. Now is time to get it perfect. We will work on step offs and entrances. We will also work on stops and releases. For the guard, our largest visual element, it will mean perfecting all the existing work and adding more to the transitions. One thing is for sure though if we don't strive for perfection, we will never, ever get close to it. Some say I demand too much from my students as I do demand excellence. I don't ask. I myself say they deserve that kind of respect. I mean if you think about it they spend many, many extra hours at school and they deserve a chance to be successful. That is ultimately my job. I must ensure that the students have a chance to be successful. This means giving them the best possible product in which to work. "As somebody once said, everybody deserves a chance to fly!" I saw such happy students last weekend. I walked up tired and salty from sweat but guess what I saw them the same way. We all came together for a common goal last weekend. Students, parents, staff, and family for one common goal and cause and although we met our goals for the day, we longed for more. Isn't that what it's all about though, we went for it and came up short. I would not bet on that happening as the season progresses. We are coming together and figuring our just what we want.

P.S. What an awesome picture!

The Work Continues...

We were all pretty happy with the results from this weekend's competition. We were 2nd overall and the percussion was 1st overall. We definitely met our goal for the weekend. Not a bad finish considering the band really didn't have the show together a week ago! (and I am not just saying that either). But today really work took place. We started outside and almost got through the warm-up when the rain started and it set in. So we went inside and went into music mode. Mr. Apple and myself had spent several hours working on a plan to make the music more, well more musical. We are at the point that the kids can play with expression and dynamic contrast. The only wasted rehearsals are ones you don't have. So the forecast for tomorrow is much better and we need to put all of our musical skills with the drill. What does this weekend hold? We should be better that's for sure and hopefully cooler. (It was 97 degrees when we took the field for the preliminary performance!)

Sometimes Winning is not the Goal

I know it is strange to hear something like this from me because I love to win just as much as anybody but today the goals are a bit different. Our goal today is to be successful on other ways. Here are a few of our goals:

1. Successfully establish a standard for ourselves in both performance and behavior at competitions for the season.
2. Successfully get ourselves and everything we need from point A to point B.
3. Allow the young members and parents to see why we work so hard and to remind older students and parents of the same.

4. I would like to make finals at the competition today.

If these things are accomplished, today will have been a success. Today is the beginning of our competition season.

"Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything." Vince Lombardi

Away We Go...???

We have a weekend full of band scheduled. I have some hesitation about the scheduled competition and I would be lying if I said anything different. Tomorrow is Friday and it will be a long, long day for sure. We have pep rally too just to top it off. We are have a home game so at least we are not traveling. Tomorrow will the be the premier of our new uniforms. They are super cool too. Just wait until you see them. Then Saturday is the real show. We are going to a place I know well, Batesburg-Leesville High School. Here is why I am hesitate about the competition:

1. The show is hard. I mean really hard both musically and visually. It is just pretty darn rough right now. In places we just kind of "get though" it. I know we will get better but right now it is not very readable.

2. We are trying new stuff. We are going to B-L because it is a pre-lim and finals format which means 8 bands will get to perform in finals regardless of class, but each class winner gets in automatically so that only leaves 4 more spots after that for the next highest scores. If we don't have a good run, we could be home early.

3. We came out of the box on fire last year and I don't want the kids or parents to think if we don't we early, we are done. The show we have isn't about winning early. It's about doing well at BOA and state.

Here are some reasons why we are going:

1. We are a competitive marching band and we have to compete. At some point you need to go and learn, if you are new, or remember, if you are returning, why we work so hard.

2. We need to see if we can physically get everything from point A to point B. We have lots of new stuff and we need to see if it all will work.

3. My kids and myself thrive on competition with other bands. It is not always about winning though. My goal for the weekend is to make finals and have a successful day with regards to the above items.

So although I don't think we are really ready to compete, it is at this point we must. It is just time! I know one think for sure, we are going to look great!

Keeping it Real

If you know me at all, you know I tell it like I see it. Today things were better at rehearsal and honestly if the band can make those kinds of strides in a 24 hour period, they can pretty much do whatever they want. I guess that's the deal though. They have to want to do it. I learned a long time ago you can't make people what they don't want to do. The best you can hope for is to put people in a position to do things they want to do. This is often easier to say than do but any way I regress...I have been "accused" of being "negative" before this year. Perhaps true. Think about what a music director does though. We generally point out mistakes and tell people how to do things. This is the nature of the beast. I mean think about it if it went like this: "I know you really like to play the wrong notes in this piece and that is fine if you want to. I think you should be allow to express yourself in this manner if you want to. Good for you! You are doing the best you can." Here is the truth. I find mistakes and fix them. Do I ever say positive things? Yes! Do most people hear them? No. They tend to focus on the other. So was I more positive today? Yes. Was the band better today? Yes. Did I tell them more things to fix? Yes. Did I tell them they did their best when they didn't? NO! and I won't. They deserve better than that and they certainly can see right through it too. Did we get better today? Yes. Are we where we should be and is the effort level a 100%. Nope. We have a long, long way to go and one things is for sure...I can't make them do it. They have to want to do it.

Monday...Here I Come!

Tomorrow is, of course, Monday. I don't really know what's going to happen this week but one thing is for sure. It's coming! So where as Mondays are usually a case for sadness, It won't be that way this time. I have not idea what is going to happen this week but I know this, It will not make a lesser person, it won't change who and what I am, and in the end it won't change much of anything if I don't want it too. But maybe, just maybe, it will be the beginning of something better, something bigger, and something life changing. You see, you just never what tomorrow brings and, well, Monday brings a whole new week, so that's at least 7 more days to get it right. So I say bring it on! Monday I look forward to the week you have to offer!

Oh No...Friday!

"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection." ~ Bhagavad Gita

Why are my shows so difficult?

I don't really know is the true answer. I try to do shows that I would enjoy marching and playing. Sometimes this makes for a show that is difficult. I also try to get the best people possible to work with me. Many times they write difficult things. One thing is for sure though. If you are clean in September, your show is too easy and you will have a hard time keeping it together until state.

What makes a difficult show? Hard music? Hard drill? Velocity? We have all of the above this year. We should have the entire show on the field at the end of the day. Now the real work comes...to clean this beast up. I mean really we needed something to do in November!

Remembering September 11, 2001

I remember the day well. It was a nice, clear, cool morning. It was my first year at Batesburg-Leesville and things were finally starting to come together for the little band. We only had about 40 kids that year and changed shows during band camp to a "Beach Boys" show. Things were not ideal but the support from the administration was sincere and that made things better too. Any way, I had 1st block planning that day and the Pecknel guy, Will, had just came into my room when the phone rang. It was Cindy telling me that a plane had crashed into on the trade towers so Will and I turned on the TV in the band room. We thought it was a bad accident because things like this had happened long ago to the Empire State building. We then saw the second place hit the tower. It was apparent then that the crashes were no accident. Through out the day things developed as they did. The principal called me and asked if I would like for him to announce the cancellation of my planned afternoon rehearsal because all other after school activities had been cancelled. I thought about it for a moment and of course that would have been the easy thing to do. I knew there would many confused kids that day but when they came to band room for class that day, one student asked "Can we just play music?" One other student even thanked me for letting them play and turning off the TV. That day we did rehearse. We were in the stadium and I can still remember it as the quietest marching band rehearsal I have ever attended. I don't remember if we got better that day at band but we learned a bit more than notes and sets. There were no airplanes, no other people, nothing but us. I also remember the butterflies. The monarch butterflies migrate this time of the year and as they start their journey south. Every once in a while two or three would fly across the field slowly. At the end of rehearsal, I called the group down as I still do today. They gathered together and I told them this "Some may ask why we chose to practice today and my answer is simple. We practiced because we could." Although a group of people tried to take away our feeling of security, they could not. We practiced because long, long ago and today too there are people who have fought for and continue to fight for our right to be free and have the freedom to do things we enjoy. That day we practiced because we could. I will always remember that day and the monarch butterflies too.

Wednesdays

Wednesdays are a good day around here. It is the day I get to come home and be with Cindy. I miss her and the Boyz in the week so much but there is no doubt that time has to be put in to be a championship band. That doesn't make me miss them less though. Today after I worked 8 hours, I worked on the boat, made dinner, and watered all the plants. Very soon Saturdays will be competition days and I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't nervous. This the most difficult show my bands have attempted. If it comes together, watch out because we will be someone in which to contend. For now though I will just be at home.