Personal Narrative: Middle School Band

The summer of 2013 was both a time of celebration, as I had just graduated middle school, and a time of insecurities, as I started my journey as a member of my high school’s marching band. In middle school, I was normally a shy, quiet person, so it comes as no surprise that I felt uncomfortable at my first marching band practice. In addition, very few of my band friends in middle school had continued into high school marching band, creating a feeling of isolation over me.

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.

Smithville High School presented two winter concerts. I got the opportunity to view both performances. The first show was by the Vocal Music Department directed by Mr. Marcus Duncan and aided by accompanist Emily Rowland, and the second show was by the Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band conducted by Mr. Tom Brockman and Ms. Brittany Terwey. There were very similar aspects of the two concerts and very different aspects of the two concerts.

I walked into the loud building so scared and nervous. I couldn't believe today was the day. The day i'm finally in middle school. That day was the day that I could officially call myself a Vista Verde Middle School student. When I walked into the building the bell had rung for us to proceed to class. On my I spotted one of my very good friends, Esmeralda. After I said hi to her I walked to my first period class which is room 403 and my teacher is Ms. Blasnek.

Next came the moment we had all been pondering for…the concert! Some of our favorite Christian singers were going to be performing. My favorite band by far was

​In the fifth grade, I was introduced to my district's band program. The moment I was shown the instruments and allowed to take one home has changed me over the years. I along with the other students, my peers and friends, experienced the trouble of learning a brand new thing, an instrument. I was given the task of just playing one note and holding it for a certain duration. For the next few days the tasks assigned to me increased in difficulty, as well as how I should structure my schedule around practicing my instrument and school work. Then, from fifth to sixth grade my middle school experience separated the wheat from the chaff. This small transition of just one year showed a willingness or commitment to what I and my peers, my friends

This was a very beautiful love ballad that had a calm and romantic melody. The next song was “My Grown Up Christmas” by Kelly Clarkson. There were four female and two male soloists. When the soloist sang, everyone sang the harmony part. This pop song was very meaningful, inspirational, and quite emotional about the grown up Christmas list that we wished for everyone in the world not just for ourselves. The UIC Vocal Jazz Ensemble ended their performance with “Daddy Lessons” from the album Lemonade by Beyoncé. This is a country and blue song. This song was a an excellent choice to end their performance because it was very entertaining with the scat singing and funny acting like people are exchanging a conversation.

If I could change one thing to improve the Middle School Band Program, I would try to get the high school band members more involved in the development of the younger musicians in the Middle School Band Programs. As we know, our Middle Schools have continuously proven themselves to be skilled and advanced on the highest level, therefore, the concepts being taught are working. However, through my experience, it seems as if us Middle School Students assume that our ability to play instruments is capped at a certain level. Without a long term goal focused towards High School, we just learn our music and play. For me, after meeting with current upperclassmen in wake of drumline auditions, I realized that there was much more work to be done. As

They also provided small improvised solos for some of the students, with of course the saxophone being the main one. Although, I believe the person playing the bass lacked something. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it felt like something was off with his playing. I’m thinking it was more issues with technical skills or maybe just a problem with sound. His improv skills could have used a little bit more polishing, but he did used a couple of different, simple scales repetitively. The group as a whole had great rhythm and appealing attitudes towards us, the audience. The audience then reflected that same attitude back to the performers. That made it a lot easier to analyze this performance in comparison to others I’ve been to. I particularity enjoyed the saxophone player’s solos. Something about the tone of it seemed more expressive than the other instruments. Those solos were definitely the most creative and had more complexity to them. This theme was kept through most of the first half of the concert. It was kind of hard to hear or at least catch things that weren’t quite so

For some students, like Jillian Paffenbarger ‘18, Ostermann’s song choices succeeded in carrying out a joyful sound. “I think it definitely did reflect the theme of joy. Some of the songs were virtuosic and playful, almost.” For other students, with finals only a few weeks away, the concert provided an outlet of creativity. College Choir member and alto singer Lauren Brumfield ‘20 enjoyed performing these songs. “Music in general makes me feel really happy,” she explained. “I liked that we got to sing pieces about joy.” She also added that “it was great to see so many members of the Carlisle community here.”

The band that I went to see was the Shapiro Brothers. The band consists of two siblings, which includes a singer and a powerful guitarist. The lead singer is a female and the lead guitarist is a male. The concert/live music took place at the Louisiana Jazz Kitchen (Kansas City, Mo), which is a restaurant that is based off Louisiana soul food. I am a regular customer at this restaurant, therefore I am familiar with the bands that come to give a show, expect the Shapiro Brothers. Unfortunately, I know little about the band and their music but they did give an amazing show, due to their soothing and unique music.

It was a slow song which are often hard to keep well toned because there are a lot of notes to hold out longer. This song had a lot of parts where Sopranos and Altos overlapped and they kept those even and one-right-after-the-other making it very easy to understand the words. Their second song was in a different language which is tough especially since it was such a fast song. They made sure that each part could be heard equally and no part was too overpowering. Of the beginning girls songs’, their third was definitely my favorite. This song was a more modern song with a similar idea to Lean On Me. The small group of girls that came down from the risers at the end did a good job of holding out the long notes and not letting them fade away. The final song was similar to the third song even though it was a completely different song. It had a good soprano alto balance throughout the whole song. This song, however did seem to have a few voices sticking out from the soprano notes in different parts of the song.

On September 26th, 2016, I went to the Bennet Auditorium a little before 6:45 to see the SICC Showcase Concert. My roommate Isaac was performing, and he wanted to see me before the performance. Fourteen different songs were performed by various groups. Every single one had singing, but some had piano, drum, or cello accompaniment, which was pleasant. I could really tell the hard work that went into the different pieces (my roommate was constantly practicing the song “Harriet Tubman”). My favorites were ‘Ndikhokhele Bawo,’, Harriet Tubman, and the ‘I Know It’s Today’ (that song had me howling; it was priceless), ‘Bottom of the River,” and ‘I Can Tell the World.” Southern BelleTones were likely my favorite group, as their voices were to put it

In a furious hurry after my ride dropped me off at the front of Irondequoit High School with minutes to spare, I sped walked through the doors, into the commons, and straight towards the PAC. I planned to meet two close friends, Claire and Emily. Relieved to arrive with a seat already reserved, I sat down and settled in for a great performance of Christmas Belles. With my expectations set high from the spring comedy I saw earlier this year, I waited anxiously and passed the time by chatting with my friends. People, old and young, packed the seats, which surprised me. I guess I never realized how popular the comedies at IHS were. The lights dimmed. A smooth wave of silence came over the audience. Suddenly, Texas bluegrass Christmas music, or

On Friday, December 9, I went to see the MSVPA 8th graders’ live performance; 1776. The performers were students of course. I expected them to be off-tune at times, but even if they were, it did not stop the performance to be any less engaging. I also thought that they would be too quiet and I would not be able to hear them, but overall, you could still hear them clearly. The setting of the performance was a casual one too, it was located in the school’s cafeteria.