A Small Spot of Light Floods the Floor: Marching Band is NOT lame! But YOU...that's another story.

Sometimes I wonder how the marching band stereotype still exists when over and over again it is proven to be awesome.

AWESOME.

Why is everyone surprised that marching band competes? Why do they all make fun of halftime...........when secretly they know they enjoy the show.

Because these people have all had their balls removed by the concept of SPORTS and FOOTBALL.

But why is band placed below these concepts?
I mean, let's see what is involved in sports...

Competition
Teamwork
Uniforms
Practices
Talent
Skill
Fans

Now let's see what's involved in football...

Competition
Teamwork
Uniforms
Practices
Talent
Skill
Fans
...and men clad in spandex rolling around with each-other in the mud.

This apparently, is totally normal.

Well then. Lets see what is involved in Marching Band...

Competition
Teamwork
Uniforms
Practices
Talent
Skill
Fans
and a healthy dose of AWESOME.

Whoa. Wait. Then, could it be concluded...that...quite possibly...marching band could be considered a sport?

The world is not ready for such a concept. Despite the numerous attempts by chick flicks to prove that yes, the band geek is the nicer guy, and NO, the jock will never stop being a jerk, the world is simply not ready to accept that band could possibly be cool.

Just because the world can't, it doesn't mean a small community won't.

Let us discuss...
Competition: Bands compete in parades and halftime show drills. Not only are these entertaining to watch, but they are rife with rivalries that makes the Red Sox/Yankees look tame.

Teamwork: Have YOU ever tried to make a picture out of people? Does it work when only you are doing it? NO. Marching band requires teamwork, because for it to work, everyone has got to do their very best. Marching bands have made tetris shows, sank the titanic, created a running football player and quite often spell out the name of their school, all while playing and marching.

Uniforms: My high school band just got new uniforms, and they are spiffy. There is nothing quite like seeing a regimented marching band in uniform performing. They look like a single entity and can be quite intimidating.

Practices: Have you ever heard of "Band Camp"? Yeah. Throw out everything you think it is. Band camp is grueling hard work in the heat, so that the band can win the competitions for the year and put on a damn good show. So basically, for all you non-believers.........Band Camp=Your Worst Nightmare. You wouldn't last two days.

Talent/Skill: Every band has a prodigy player that just blows everyone out of the water. But the whole band has to have the skills necessary to win. Feet, Posture, Horn Angles everyone!

Fans: In torrington, the stands would fill up for halftime and clear out after. Why? Because the marching band had groupies. No lie. We were, and still are, loved by many for our....

AWESOMENESS: the last one. You can't touch marching band. It's loud. It's powerful. It's full of decent people that belong to every part of the school imaginable, INCLUDING THE FOOTBALL TEAM. They don't subscribe to stereotypes, because when you're in the band, YOU'RE IN THE BAND.

And that's an awesome place to be.
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I am a little biased. I was in band for most of my life. I started playing french horn in the 4th grade. I was told I would have to start on Trumpet, and I didn't like that too much. I started on french horn, because that's the only way.

My mom played french horn in high school, and I was going to play clarinet until I actually played her french horn. I learned a C scale before I even got to school. I loved it. I was a one-woman section, playing an instrument a lot of the band hadn't even heard of. The thing, in the 4th grade, was practically bigger than me.

I took pride in telling people that I could carry it by myself. I could. I was super proud to play my horn.

Oh. Does everyone know what a french horn is? I'll tell you. It's only the most awesome instrument.

...you need a picture?

Lots of squigglies, I know. But it really is the prettiest instrument.

I went through Elementary School, and joined advanced band and all city band. I was that good.

I went to middle school. Someone else had transferred from trumpet to french horn. He was now competition. He was loud and brash and still acted like a trumpet player. I hated that. I was used to being a one-woman section, and I was upset that I had to share.

That was made better by consistently beating him out for 1st part.

If I couldn't be the only french horn, I could still be the BEST french horn.

I left middle school, and started my freshmen year of high school at WAMOGO, an agricultural school two towns over.

I hated it.

I loved the Ag., I liked the small school.

I hated the band. With a passion. The director was an asshole, simply put. The other horn player was the daughter of the school's principal, so guess who always got first part?

She sucked.

No lie, she'd only started playing horn the year before, and she was a jerk.

We had finals in WAMOGO for band, and we had to sight read music for them. Our final had a horn solo, and naturally I assumed she would take first part and have to play.

No, that little bitch gave first part to me.

So I rocked the shit out of that solo. There's no better revenge than success.

I had a decision:

Stay at WAMOGO, quit band
Leave WAMOGO, go to Torrington, keep playing

Really, the decision became easy.

I went to Torrington. There were more horn players there, but I still ended up getting first part on my first try.

I loved it. Band at THS was probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. Band at THS was where I met my boyfriend of 4 years. Band is where I learned to solo- I learned that I really could do it.

Wanna see? I have a video:
I solo (as in french horn solo, there's also a trumpet playing. The french horn is the mellower sound) in the very beginning, but also at 5:40. I am the higher pitched instrument there. Notice how hard that is? It's not a very good video, but you get the idea. That song is a blast to play. But the sound quality in the video is meh at best.

That was my senior year.

Unfortunately, Becker doesn't have anything resembling a decent music program. I simply cannot convince myself that any venture into the rag-tag things that they do attempt to start would be worthwhile. I would just be disappointed.

I don't really have anything that can compare to my years at band, which is why I get upset when people make fun of it. They have no idea what it's like to belong to a group that big and make things happen.