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Competition Essay

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We all sat down on stage, sharing both nervously and excited glances with each other. We watched Mrs. Sharpe take the stage and raise her hands into position. The whole band raised their instruments. I saw her count us off, and heard the intake of breath right before we started to perform. On Saturday, April 22nd, 2017, one of the greatest days of my band career occurred. For months, me and the Westville High School band, had prepared for the 2017 ISSMA Band Competition. Eight months have hardcore practice on our pieces and sight reading skills, all came down to this very moment. So how did it all start? How did me and my band get here? It all started in September of 2016. Mrs. Sharpe, our band director was going through the list of …show more content…

It was becoming one of my favorite pieces, but there was one problem. At this point, contest was only a few months away. Four to be exact. We had gone through numerous pieces of music, but couldn’t decide on any. Then one day, Sharpe had us sightread a new piece. This new piece was called “Blue Ridge Reel.” She turned on to the recording and we all listened as light bubbly music filled the room. The sound of tambourines and flute were the start of the piece. Me and Danny shared looks with each other. This piece sounded like a flute feature. A difficult flute piece. I glanced behind me to see what Conner thought, but instead saw him dancing to the music. I turned back around because I knew that I’d end up laughing to hard if I said anything. The piece kept repeating the same part over and over again. The same melody was echoed back and forth between the different parts, and it sounded amazing. After the piece came to an end, Sharpe explained to us why it was called a reel. A reel is a lively Scottish or Irish folk dance where the melody is repeated and passed along between the different instruments. She handed us our music and I knew that the rhythm would be difficult. I thought to myself “Why are we even trying? She’s giving us these incredibly hard pieces that we’ll never be able to perform, let alone in front of four judges, on stage, at competition! This is insanity….” If I had know we’d receive top score for

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