Bill Graham's Accomplishments

I don’t remember if it was my choice or my parents, but in 5th grade when we were given the choice to be in band, I was very anxious to start. We got to meet with Mrs. Jones and try a few different instruments before making a decision. My top three choices were percussion, trombone, and clarinet (only because my sister had played it). I tried the clarinet first and thought it was alright, but not my favorite. I tried the trombone next, and while it was difficult, I really wanted to keep trying. I also tried percussion- she just had me keep a beat on my leg- and I thought percussion may be difficult for me, but I still wanted to do it. In the end, Mrs. Jones decided I would be best fit for the clarinet, mostly because I could use my sisters and not have to buy a new instrument. I was happy with the choice, mostly because I was excited to be playing anything!

Growing up I was always around musicians, and music interested me, but I was always steered towards more academics. I finally got into music in High-School. It made me rather nervous because here I was sitting in a room with people who basically played instruments and sung within the womb, and I was unable to even read music. So at first I asked my friends who were all music aficionados. Every second thing that came out of my mouth was a question about music. What was tone? How do I play a scale? What is moderato? And how on earth was I going to catch up to these kids? So especially in band I took control and I took my French horn home every weekend and practiced for hours, determined to meet my high standards.

When I came to Highlands Ranch High School as a freshman, I didn’t know where I belonged. I had done soccer, but a concussion and several headaches later, decided it wasn’t for me. I had tried fully devoting myself to academics, but later realized that I can’t spend my life focusing on grades. I didn’t have anywhere to belong. Then, in the winter of my freshman year, I was persuaded into doing winter percussion. I had never played an instrument before and had absolutely no idea what was going on. I didn’t even really know what a quarter note was, no less how to count them. My freshman self was totally clueless and wanted to quit at first because I was so bad and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But, I stuck with it to the end of the winter percussion season and when we took second place in the state suddenly all the long hours of rehearsal and constant changes were totally worth it.

In seventh grade, Mr. Fulks asked me if I would like to play the tenor saxophone. I had no idea what it was be me being me told him sure. The first thought that went through my head when I first saw the bigger, less shiny, slightly less new, and weird saxophone was that I never told my parents. When I came home with it my parents flipped out on my. They came down on me like the Berlin Wall. But they understood that he needed a tenor saxophone player and he asked me to so I had to. On tenor I had to use more air, and carry a 100x bigger case. Through seventh grade I lugged around my tenor sax and still do. Besides getting a new saxophone, nothing big happened but eighth grade was filled with amazing

Going into sixth grade band, I was unsure what instrument I wanted to play, or even if I would enjoy being in band at all. Initially, on the day we were allowed to try out instruments, the trumpet and alto saxophone stood out to me. I first tried to play the trumpet, and I was able to produce a fairly reasonable tone with it. On the other hand, I tried the saxophone, and it made what I described as a "farting noise" at the time. Needless to say, I decided that I wanted to play the trumpet, and I have never regretted that decision.

I’m not going to say that am raise in a musician family, but most of my family how to play at least one instrument for example my dad plays piano and guitar, one of his brother lay drum and the other one play many instrument because he owns his own music studio. See those guy play an instrument motivate me to plat instrument because at the time the was learning those instrument I wasn’t easy for them but they didn’t give up because there parent force them to learn. After many years of learning those guy meet a lot of famous people , play in music band , and many other place. All

I was first exposed to the performing arts in fifth grade. Recalling my past, I was eager to try a variety of instruments in the small room. It smelled of soapy lemon and lavender. Eleven-year-old me had his eye on one instrument,

Music isn 't just what I do, it 's who I am, and who I’ve always been. I play twelve instruments. Some fluently, some only a singular note or, maybe a song. This all started out in sixth grade when I could not decide what instrument was best for me. I started out my first two months of middle school by switching from instrument to instrument. I began with the oboe, and a week later, I changed to percussion. Only then, did I attempt to play all of the brass instruments-- and I mean all of them-- trumpet, french horn, tuba, trombone, and baritone, you name it, and I’ve probably played it. Next, I moved on to all of the woodwinds, flutes, clarinets, and all of the saxophones. Again, I cycled through the percussion instruments once again. Finally, I decided that I would rather play notes on a staff than beat something with a stick. I was forced, by my very irritated band teacher, to pick one of the two that I was better at, the alto saxophone or the trumpet. Two completely different musical instruments in two completely different musical families. Of course, as an indecisive twelve year old, I could not pick. Mr. Deneen, a woodwind player himself, chose the alto saxophone.

Near the end of 4th grade, I got to choose the instrument I would play in middle school. There was a big event in the middle school for students to select their instruments for either orchestra or band. The first instrument I test out were drums. In order to participate in the percussion section, you had to play to the beat on a drum head. I tried it out and I as okay at it. Then I went to make sound out of the trombone by buzzing. Lastly, I tried to play the saxophone but I couldn’t do it. At the end of the night, they announced who would join the percussion section and I was not chosen. Instead, I chose the next best instrument the trombone.

In fourth grade our class was taken to the gym to see the older kids playing instruments. There were so many different instruments being played, the sounds they were making with their instruments were awesome. It looked like it would be a lot of fun to play an instrument in the band and I couldn’t wait to get to try it. They let us pick our top three instruments we thought we liked and let us see them closer up and try them out. The trumpet was the first and the only instrument I tried because once I played it I realized it was the perfect fit. I picked this instrument even though most of my other friends had picked different instruments; like the clarinet, the flute, and the several instruments that are part of the percussion

My parents separated when my brothers were nine and seven, and I was five years old. My grandparents live on the same street and developed a close bond with us. They felt music would be a good outlet for emotional stress. Benjamin and Nicholas started taking lessons for piano and guitar. I started playing violin through my elementary school. As middle school was approaching, Nicholas was considering playing in the school band, but guitar would not be a suitable instrument. My grandfather’s friend, Mr. Phil, said we could borrow his saxophone. It was a Tuesday night in the year 2009. Nicholas and I rode our bikes down to our grandparents so he could test out the classic saxophone. He picked it out and blew pure cacophony in the air. I laughed as he grew red in the face from blasting squeaks and squeals. After he set it down, nodding his head pridefully from the noises he produced from this big metal instrument I excitedly asked if i could try. My grandpa was impressed with my curiosity and encouraged me to give it a whirl. I put on the neck strap and connected it onto the heavy instrument. Nicholas

When I entered the band hall for the first time over six years ago, I instantly fell in love. I had heard so much about band from my older brother, and I wanted follow in his footsteps. Originally, I had three choices for what instrument I could play, flute, clarinet, and oboe, which was a decision that would determine what I would stick with for the next 7 years. I knew I couldn’t play clarinet because I wanted to choose a different path than my brother, and I turned down oboe because it was one of the more advanced instruments. So with flute as my default, I began on my musical journey that would last all throughout high school. Right off the bat, I was an extremely determined player, I practiced and practiced sometimes even more than I did

grow more complex. Through music, I welcome opportunities to expand my friendships as well as my instrumental horizons. I began studying piano at age six. For the next five years, my mother lived vicariously through my musical education, which her family had not been able to afford. In fifth grade, as I was becoming an earnest piano student, I was selected to commence violin lessons and play in my elementary school

It wasn’t until about a month in that my band director told my class that there was a solo piece needed on an instrument no one played in our band. She had asked if anyone wanted to learn the instrument and the music. The room was quiet and stayed quiet until another clarinet player asked, “What instrument is it?”

It seems that no matter what at some point in a child’s life they wander up to their parents and ask, “Mom, Dad, can I learn to play an instrument?” Whether or not it is the guitar, drums, piano, or flute a child could possibly have the thought of wanting to learn how to play an instrument. When Mom and Dad end up saying no to their child they should stop and realize that when a child knows how to play a musical instrument it can help them out in many more ways than they know (iDiva). Having a young kid learn an instrument can help develop better coordination, build better concentration, help with stress relief, and enhance a child’s intelligence, along with many