“Mr A, Mr A, if we can play the whole scale, can we play some games?” one of my classmate, Sam, asked.
The ten of us looked at the conductor in hope and that was the motivation for the day. It really was. We were focused on playing again and again despite circling on the same note. However, once we were able, time was up.
This happens over and over again through the week and after countless reminders and practice, the ten of us were able to play half of the scale. It was an achievement. We did sound a little less terrible and after the nagging, we did not mispressed our keys and every note was sounding similar to the original.
There were a few music theories. We learn how to read the notes written on the score. The treble clef spaces spell out FACE and for the bass clef the spaces is an acronym “All Cats Eat Garbage”. The acronym was created by Sam as an easy and funny way to remember and all of us just stick to it. It was fun, everything was easy and practice for us was like a breeze walk as we slowly worked on the Bb scale. We even get to play some games in our free time and learn some breathing exercises.
A/N: also there was a first year trombonist that was kicked out of the main band and now we are 11.
The problem comes after memorising the scale and being able to play it because now, we are moving into playing the songs in the beginner book. We started with Hot Cross Buns and then Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was then difficult for us because now we switch between notes. With the songs being introduced to us, practices were no longer fun because we felt useless.
I remember my first break down. It was while playing Mary Had a Little Lamb. My partner, Andy, was able to play it after a few tries and I wasn’t able to, there were just too many notes. Just a few days ago, my senior had told us that she would not be there next year because she will soon graduate and I felt this rush to quickly brush up my basics.
Yea that was quickly solved by Mr A comforting me by saying how there’s a process to everything and how after a few practices, I would be able to make a comeback. It was a really great pick me up and I was able to trust myself and the process. This was also true to all the other first years. We had a mission and that is to catch up to our batch mates in the main band.
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Hmm, Luck?
General FictionWent into band by force, found interest, passion, dreams, friends, companions and then left with at least no feeling of regret and a sense of accomplishment. My life in band, as a tubist player, a section leader and as a drum major!
