Personal Narrative: My Experiences Of A Band Leader

During Senior year’s marching season, I was given two leadership positions. Section leader of the french horn section as well as Hornline Captain for the whole entire wind ensemble. I had many responsibilities and obligations to fill with both positions. With time,patience, and much failure I was able to rise to the challenge.

About three weeks into marching season, a spot opened up. Of course, I had to audition for the spot with the other alternates, but I was successful in winning a marching spot at that time and have never lost it. I also worked hard on becoming a better musician. I drastically increased my practice time and was fortunate enough to be able to hire a private tutor to improve my musical abilities. Now in my senior year I am in the top band and I am on the varsity marching squad. I have even obtained a leadership role in the band as a rank leader. As a rank leader I am a mentor and coach for several other students in the marching band. I really feel like I am providing these student the same thing that Zack Santos provided for me. It makes me feel good that I am assisting other kids in achieving their

The Evergreen Marching Band and Colorguard (EMBC) has stewed in accomplishment, success, and hard work, for more than two decades. People don’t know, that we 're not just a normal halftime marching band--we are a competitive marching band. Like any football, drill, or soccer team, EMBC strives to compete amongst the greats. For a couple decades, EMBC has marched to success and we don 't want to stop now; however, the competitive program was close to being slashed this year, due to lack of funds. Students and parents raged at the thought of no competitive season. Competing is the best part for everyone in this program. If we lost that it wouldn’t be as much fun. We were so far in debt that if we couldn 't raise enough money, it would 've been game over.

When I joined marching band in my freshman year of high school, I felt nervous and reluctant about joining because I questioned my abilities. However, I decided to commit myself to it so that I would know if it was something meant for me to pursue in the future. On the first day, I was overwhelmed with the many people who I did not recognize, and I started to feel as if I should never have come. Things began to change for me when I met an upperclassman named Sophie, who was my flute section leader. She was kind to everyone and did not get upset if anyone made a mistake in the music or marching technique, but rather, she gave constructive criticism. Sophie was an amazing leader and musician, and she was, and still is, a role model to me. Without

When I entered High school it was a completely different experience. I used to play sports, why was marching band so demanding of me? An immediate change was present in the level of musicianship needed to be recognized above the others. My band director’s name was Ms. Mello but she was beyond mellow when she was judging our musical capabilities. She was a great friend but would tear kids apart when it came to musicality or standing out of form in marching band. Luckily for me, I was one of the few middle school musicians who practiced somewhat in middle school. I was recognized as a great musician for a freshman in high school. During the concert band season, there were two bands. The advanced group, the wind ensemble, and the beginner group, the concert band. I admit that there was another freshman trumpet player who made the Wind Ensemble when I did not even bother to audition. In the concert group, I would advance far enough that the director trusted me to be the principal trumpet player, above the older musicians in my section. When sophomore year came around, I earned first part for marching band and I made my Wind

Marching band is a social and collaborative effort at its core. As fun as it would be, a one-person marching band would consist of an exhausted player trying to trapeze across a football field carrying a bass drum, trumpet, tuba, snare drum, flute, bells, and cymbals in a contraption reminiscent of the life-draining machine in The Princess Bride. Every time I walk onto the grass in front of a crowd of semi-apathetic high school students and devoted band parents, pushing an array of wooden blocks and twine sticks, I realize how much of band is a group effort. I have no ability to march or play a brass instrument, which is where marching band started. I cannot throw a flag and guarantee that it won't hit A: myself, B: someone else, or C:

In eighth grade I was first chair trumpet player for the J.A.M.S. band. I led the band in most songs and the band teacher made me feel like I was the best trumpet player ever. In eighth grade I was again accepted into a junior high honor band just as I had been in seventh grade. In eighth grade however I was not concerned about chair placements at the honor band as I had been in seventh grade. When I went to honor band in seventh grade I received a second chair placement. An eighth grader received first chair. Therefore, I thought I was almost guaranteed first chair as I was an eighth grader now so in my mind no one would beat me.

My senior year of high school, my high brass director left on an extremely short notice, leaving our band one director short for the whole marching season. I cannot begin to describe the trials that we encountered as a band, specifically the high brass family. Not having our “band dad” with us took an excruciating toll that set the high brass back and ultimately the whole band. As a senior, it was my job to step up and facilitate my section since we did not have anyone else to guide us. I did my absolute best to accommodate the younger members with ideal practices to improve their marching skills and playing techniques. During this challenging time, I attempted to take on the persona of a band director to motivate my section to work hard every

As I stepped out onto the field for my last marching band performance of high school, I could not help but be overwhelmed by emotion. I knew that my band would have my back and would follow through for a great performance. This comforted me--not because I knew they would listen to me, but because being a drum major over the past year had given me the chance to get to know the people in my band and serve my program in a way I never had before. Leadership and service have become two very important aspects of my life because they have both allowed me to better myself as a person while making a positive impact in the lives of others.

My decision to join marching band was the best choice I’ve made during my high school career. Over the years, I’ve learned countless of important qualities; punctuality, determination, courage, and responsibility. Not only did I learn those qualities myself, but we learned them together as a band. If one of us forgot our drill cards or was late to practice, we all knew that meant running and tybo jumping jacks. In one way or another everyone learned that we had a responsibility to uphold. If we didn’t work together, the band was going to crash and burn.

Since junior year, I had been section leader of the low brass and woodwind section. My high school had just gone through the transition of losing a music teacher and gaining a recently graduated band director. This of course was a recipe for disaster. My “friend” Field was the drum major. She wasn’t a very good leader of the band and we often butted heads on how she should lead. While I admit it was not my place to say how she should run things, I had a very clear and set way of how to lead. I had been utilizing this since the end of sophomore year and thought that it wouldn’t be that difficult. But I digress. The band was having difficulty with setting charts. The drum majors, counting out Field, and the other section leaders were itching to have a night rehearsal. Eventually the new band director, Mr. Watson, agreed to initiate a night rehearsal. Everyone in the band had already had their nerves on end. Our marching show was not yet placed on the field, plus the vast majority of the band did not have their music memorized. Mind you, we had the looming cloud of state competition which was only four weeks away at this time.

At the end of my sophomore year, I was given the title as one of the two Drum Majors and was now the student leader for a marching band that consisted of over a hundred students. My role as a Drum Major was not only leading the band to perform to the best of their ability, it was also to be the biggest proponent of the group.

Music has always been one of my greatest passions. However, the most difficult challenge I have ever faced has been participating in jazz ensemble.

The summer of 2016 I traveled to Muncie, Indiana to attend the Drum Major Institution (DMI). One of the scheduled workshops was Leadership Three, instructed by a counselor, Taylor Watts. Leadership Threes’ lesson was revolved around time management. However, this workshop was not about solving procrastination, it was pertaining to how you affect others with your time. We participated in an activity where the objective was to balance a binder on your head and cross the finish line. If the binder fell you had to start over. The majority of other students and I quickly passed the finish line and then waited for the others. At that point I was not able to go back and help the others who were struggling, I then realized I put my objective over the team objective. The

Sophomore year of marching came. This year was a surprise for everyone. With our show being named ‘Masterminder.’ The band members marching were under control by the color guard soloist; the puppeteer. This show was pretty exciting, too. The judges also thought that. We made it past regionals AND semi-state. What? Yeah, we all thought the same thing. We had made it. We had FINALLY made it after so many years of just trying to get past regionals for once. It was a bitter-sweet feeling waiting for placement awards at Lucas Oil Stadium. The instructors went around to each band student one by one. The congratulated us on an amazing season. I started tearing up, but that isn’t surprising. As we marched our way out of Lucas Oil Stadium that night, I knew that this was only the beginning of a new generation for the Marching Marksmen.