Tonight is band rehearsal. I love it!
When I was in high school, band was a huge part of it. Yes, I was one of those band nerds. I loved it. It was fun and the highlight of my day.
And then college came and I didn't continue band. I was busy in college and failed to realize the good it would have done me to continue music. It didn't help that I was not well motivated and didn't manage my time well. So, that was pretty much the end of playing in band.
At the beginning of the year, my Dad found an organization that allows you to play in band again. He was very enthusiastic and invited me and my family to his spring concert. When I went to the concert, I was struck by two things. First, it sounded just like high school. Second, I missed it and wanted to be on the stage playing.
At the end of the summer, my Dad invited me to a recruiting event for the band. He was very excited about it and at the time, Mom had said "no". So, I thought I would go and at least support Dad. Long story short, I signed up, arranged to borrow a tenor saxophone, and started playing.
The organization is called the New Horizons Band. I believe it is national and it was created for people just like me. Folks who stopped playing because school stopped and not because they wanted to stop playing. Here we have several bands depending on ability and availability. I rehearse once a week for 1 hour in the evening. It is an intermediate level group (8th-9th grade music), so it isn't too difficult. It has been perfect for relearning how to play.
I have been going for a month and there is one thing that is very clear. I love it. Even the rudimentary fundamental exercises (breathing, rhythms, scales, etc) are ok because I am in band again. After rehearsal, I come home happy.
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This is the ramblings and tidbits of wisdom from a programmer/gamer/computer geek/father. It's for me. However, I have found help in others' blogs, so maybe someone will find something helpful here.
1 comment:
While I have not taken up clarinet again, I do love singing in community choirs. Rehearsals make me happy too, even when I get one scrap of music stuck in my head for days afterwards (a friend calls those "ear worms"). Maybe when my voice gets too old for singing I'll think about picking up clarinet again. Except, around here, there is only a New Horizons orchestra, not a band.
New Horizons was recently featured on a local radio program, Thinking Aloud. I think it was aired the same day you told me you were starting band - funny eh?
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