MiLoh BSGSSB Adventures

Chapter 16:Practice makes Perfect

Tetra's POV
Dear Diary,
Although i wasn't sure if Eva was doing alright in the Band,i could tell that the other juniors were making progress. The seniors and alumni were both drilling the juniors hard,and the Band seemed alive once more.

I hadn't seen Mom in school for a week,and i supposed that was because Aunty Diya had the clarinet alumni so we didn't need tuition at the moment. This was a good thing for her of course,since she always had to rush to Bandset Girls' after tuition at another school. This meant she had some rest time,which she probably used playing her clarinet at home.

The alumni had taught the seniors things that they had learnt last time,and were showing them good breathing methods. "Put the tissue on the wall and try to hold it there for as long as you can,without it moving." "We're gonna do one in sixteen out,try not to faint(Author's note:for people who don't understand this,basically you breathe in for one count and blow out for sixteen counts. This varies in number of counts.)" Then before they started their scales,they would practise buzzing. For the woodwinds,we usually did like,a lot of breathing exercises. We also did a bit of singing to make sure that we knew what note should sound like what when we played.

First we did tuning of (written for brass cos we gotta transpose stuff)B flat,F,low B flat,E flat,C,and high F. Of course for clarinets,it's a bit easier for us than Brass so we got through that pretty fast. We then moved on to scales:C major,F major,B flat major,E flat major,A flat major,D flat major,and G flat major if we could. This,we were told,was called the circle of fourths,because each starting note was a fourth away from the next,for example,C and F. It was hard to remember the order in which all the scales were played,but we managed.

I could hear the percussion section drumming rhythmically inside the studio(we were outside). Aunty Diya had instructed for all the sections to be dispersed,and if i heard and remember correctly,oboes and bassoons,french horns and trumpets in the classrooms,saxophones,flutes,trombones and euphoniums in the Sec 1 block,and tubas and double basses in the canteen. (Aunty Xuan was thrilled cos she had always wanted to have sectionals with the double basses,she did once and liked it a LOT.) And us,clarinets,outside the studio.

At about 4.30,we were called into the studio for combine. Aunty Diya asked us all to tune first,then said,"Eva,try and tune B flat." She looked absolutely terrified,and everyone's eyes were on her. "Go on,try,"said Aunty Diya kindly. Eva took a breath and squeezed out a high B flat that didn't really sound like one. "No,try again."she said. The second note was really forced and i could tell she was squeezing her lips too much. "No,don't tighten your lips too much. Faster air speed. Taaaa."Aunty Diya sang the note out and Eva tried again. Apparently this was how the previous conductor,Ms Siew(bless her) coached the juniors. It was a bit better,but still a bit squeezed. "Ok,play your low B flat first,"she said,and the note came out a bit shaky but otherwise perfect. "Now play from F all the way up."she instructed. F,G.....a shaky A came out,then came the very brief B flat. "Yes! Now try and hold it for a longer period."she said. Eva managed to hold it for another 3 seconds before it tumbled down into that rough,messed up sound. "Good. Now we'll do B flat scale,then C major." She tapped the rhythm with her baton. "One,two,three,four,"

After doing the circle of fourths,Aunty Diya asked the Sec Ones to play Sousa:the March King,which was a song that all Sec Ones played. To us,it was very special,because this was the first song we played together as a Band. Of course,it was still a bit unstable because we had not mastered the whole song as a Sec 1 cohort band yet. Diya let the whole band play,then let only the Sec Ones play. It sounded very empty,because there weren't many juniors in each section. Eva was trying her best to keep up,but kept coming in a little bit later than the rest. I'm not sure if this made Aunty Diya annoyed or anything,because she asked Aunty Jo to tutor her again at one side in the studio. Aunty Jo,again,looked terrified.
Signed
Tetra:)