Friday,
August 15, 2008 at 5:17pm
It's
the last day of band camp. I get whiffs of the silly string and
shaving cream that the band planned to “surprise” the staff with,
which I could have fully avoided, but hung around to make proper
goodbyes. I didn't want to get wet, which was my one victory, and I
can remain “happy” writing this knowing my Ipod stayed safe, even
if my phone dropped and cracked during the dash to my car as cream
pies trailed in the distance. Given that band has been one of the
biggest parts of my life, I feel it's appropriate to work out the
many things I could only think while working with them this year.
On this last day, what are we celebrating? 8 hours a day, 5 times a week over the last 2 weeks. It isn't easy so yes, be happy you can now relax more often and stay out of the sun. Apart from that, I'm confused why everyone is so happy. For those of you not in the know, MHS isn't exactly top tier when it comes to marching band. In the four years I marched there, we never even got a gold rating at regionals, and once, didn't even get past district. I figured I should put that in here so any band member that reads this won't think I'm out to rag on them or there is anything special about this year's level of performance.
When I think about marching band, I put it in terms of many individuals choosing to act as a group. If someone doesn't care to be there, I offer them the door. Putting in that much time to be mediocre or “ok” just seems overtly pointless. I take on the responsibility as a teacher to build people, train individuals. Nobody is going to force you to memorize your music. Nobody will be on the field holding your shoulders parallel to the sideline. It is purely about making yourself look better, and by transference, helping the others around you look and be better as well. I only got hints of this happening in these last few days of camp.
One of the first things Byron and I talked about when we got there was the lack of leadership. When we looked around, we didn't see section leaders. There were barely any juniors and seniors that bothered to show up. So that being our first problem, we took it upon ourselves to assign people the position. Now in our experience, the section leaders were frequently the best marchers, they didn't talk at set, they held sectionals and caught the mistakes so we didn't have to. They dolled out the punishments and led the laps. How naive we found ourselves, given these section leaders didn't always act appropriately because they weren't taught appropriately. This is one of the reasons I can't find myself super angry at them or the band.
The second thing that plagued this band was the lack of discipline. All I remember from marching was getting yelled at to stay still, reset faster, and run to and from water breaks. When you screwed up, there wasn't a hesitation to send you on a lap. If that sounds kinda shitty, Byron marched corps where there's more running, yelling, and beat downs than there is playing and marching. So with these mentalities, coming into a band where breezy weather is regarded as “hot,” being called to attention means shaking around and scratching heads, and assigning push ups or laps means forgetting we had to do push ups and laps, I can't help but find myself a tad frustrated.
I was the dick staff member. I had my tick system where you got a check for moving, and stepping off wrong, and not moving your shoulders correctly. Those checks were suppose to translate into push ups and laps. Therefore, obviously I'm the bad guy. But, shall we remember that band is about individuals. When you mess up, you make yourself look bad, and by transference make the rest of the your band look bad. When you refuse to police yourself in a situation where you represent more than yourself, someone has to be the dick. No shock to me, the people who liked me where the ones that did things correctly, took constructive criticism, and hated when the band did bad as much as I did. Think they understand something the others don't? It isn't fun to watch other bands wipe the floor with you at competition. Nobody wants to look back at the hours of band and repetitive music and think, “Yay, awesome how we looked like little bitches back then. Wasn't the way the judge said 'silver' just so cool!?”
After marching under Meyers and working with Danielson I can objectively say that despite Meyers being a total dick and me not always being “happy” while marching, his method led to a more disciplined band. I can fully appreciate where Mr. Danielson is coming from with wanting people to stay and feel positive, but the happiest waste of time and effort, is still a waste of time and effort. When they didn't stand still after being called to attention that first day is when they should have taken their first lap. When they opened their mouths for the first time after going from set 1 to 2 they should have dropped for ten push ups. It is about everybody getting to the same level. There are some great marchers and great players in the band, but as a whole they will get over-shadowed by the one guy who takes two more steps during a hold, and the one girl who's looking entirely the wrong direction when marching diagonally. Is it better to feel bad about it now and work to make it fixed, or later when all you can do is cope and act like you don't care? If the perfect marcher and player doesn't feel responsible for the ones who aren't getting it by the time the staff leaves, it is too late. If the person next to you doesn't feel bad for letting their friends in the band down, there's a bigger problem than step size or wrong notes.
So no, I was not surprised or sad that the staff members who got the biggest applause, as we were introduced to the parents, were the ones who said and did the least. I'll take my handful of kids who could take things seriously and fully appreciate why I wasn't actually a dick by simply pointing out what THEY, key word, were doing wrong. The music is so simple we spent much of the time in sectionals joking and talking. When you start doing things correctly, I have no problem talking to you on the field or spending less time on music, but as a band we were unable to reach that point. For the record, it was Byron who cussed the most at the kids, but they still hated me more, so what really gets to people, your mean words, or your ability to make them cognizant of their imperfect and undisciplined selves lol.
At the end of the day, I like being around the band and hopefully contributing to someone getting better, but the strain of watching them not care or undo something that was fixed or leave a basics block that has been run 15 times, but still not correct, to move on to more “advanced” things, leaves me feeling like I've done something wrong. It makes me feel like I've cheated them by not letting them experience what it really takes to grow as a person then ipso facto seeing it play out on the field. Ultimately, I wasn't in charge and my “what if, if onlys” don't have any weight. What I can say, is there wasn't a single thing I said that Mr. Danielson ever disagreed with. Not one instruction, not one yelled order got me pulled off to the side and lectured about. I didn't get one complaint from my mellophone and saxes about “being too mean” or asking too much. Band is like anything in life. If your going to choose to do it, actively put yourself in the situation, do it well or regret it. Become the person that expects a certain level of performance and don't be happy simply going through the motions. You can't fake effort, and if there is a moral cell in your body you would feel bad about yourself well before I get the chance to yell about dressing and covering.
On this last day, what are we celebrating? 8 hours a day, 5 times a week over the last 2 weeks. It isn't easy so yes, be happy you can now relax more often and stay out of the sun. Apart from that, I'm confused why everyone is so happy. For those of you not in the know, MHS isn't exactly top tier when it comes to marching band. In the four years I marched there, we never even got a gold rating at regionals, and once, didn't even get past district. I figured I should put that in here so any band member that reads this won't think I'm out to rag on them or there is anything special about this year's level of performance.
When I think about marching band, I put it in terms of many individuals choosing to act as a group. If someone doesn't care to be there, I offer them the door. Putting in that much time to be mediocre or “ok” just seems overtly pointless. I take on the responsibility as a teacher to build people, train individuals. Nobody is going to force you to memorize your music. Nobody will be on the field holding your shoulders parallel to the sideline. It is purely about making yourself look better, and by transference, helping the others around you look and be better as well. I only got hints of this happening in these last few days of camp.
One of the first things Byron and I talked about when we got there was the lack of leadership. When we looked around, we didn't see section leaders. There were barely any juniors and seniors that bothered to show up. So that being our first problem, we took it upon ourselves to assign people the position. Now in our experience, the section leaders were frequently the best marchers, they didn't talk at set, they held sectionals and caught the mistakes so we didn't have to. They dolled out the punishments and led the laps. How naive we found ourselves, given these section leaders didn't always act appropriately because they weren't taught appropriately. This is one of the reasons I can't find myself super angry at them or the band.
The second thing that plagued this band was the lack of discipline. All I remember from marching was getting yelled at to stay still, reset faster, and run to and from water breaks. When you screwed up, there wasn't a hesitation to send you on a lap. If that sounds kinda shitty, Byron marched corps where there's more running, yelling, and beat downs than there is playing and marching. So with these mentalities, coming into a band where breezy weather is regarded as “hot,” being called to attention means shaking around and scratching heads, and assigning push ups or laps means forgetting we had to do push ups and laps, I can't help but find myself a tad frustrated.
I was the dick staff member. I had my tick system where you got a check for moving, and stepping off wrong, and not moving your shoulders correctly. Those checks were suppose to translate into push ups and laps. Therefore, obviously I'm the bad guy. But, shall we remember that band is about individuals. When you mess up, you make yourself look bad, and by transference make the rest of the your band look bad. When you refuse to police yourself in a situation where you represent more than yourself, someone has to be the dick. No shock to me, the people who liked me where the ones that did things correctly, took constructive criticism, and hated when the band did bad as much as I did. Think they understand something the others don't? It isn't fun to watch other bands wipe the floor with you at competition. Nobody wants to look back at the hours of band and repetitive music and think, “Yay, awesome how we looked like little bitches back then. Wasn't the way the judge said 'silver' just so cool!?”
After marching under Meyers and working with Danielson I can objectively say that despite Meyers being a total dick and me not always being “happy” while marching, his method led to a more disciplined band. I can fully appreciate where Mr. Danielson is coming from with wanting people to stay and feel positive, but the happiest waste of time and effort, is still a waste of time and effort. When they didn't stand still after being called to attention that first day is when they should have taken their first lap. When they opened their mouths for the first time after going from set 1 to 2 they should have dropped for ten push ups. It is about everybody getting to the same level. There are some great marchers and great players in the band, but as a whole they will get over-shadowed by the one guy who takes two more steps during a hold, and the one girl who's looking entirely the wrong direction when marching diagonally. Is it better to feel bad about it now and work to make it fixed, or later when all you can do is cope and act like you don't care? If the perfect marcher and player doesn't feel responsible for the ones who aren't getting it by the time the staff leaves, it is too late. If the person next to you doesn't feel bad for letting their friends in the band down, there's a bigger problem than step size or wrong notes.
So no, I was not surprised or sad that the staff members who got the biggest applause, as we were introduced to the parents, were the ones who said and did the least. I'll take my handful of kids who could take things seriously and fully appreciate why I wasn't actually a dick by simply pointing out what THEY, key word, were doing wrong. The music is so simple we spent much of the time in sectionals joking and talking. When you start doing things correctly, I have no problem talking to you on the field or spending less time on music, but as a band we were unable to reach that point. For the record, it was Byron who cussed the most at the kids, but they still hated me more, so what really gets to people, your mean words, or your ability to make them cognizant of their imperfect and undisciplined selves lol.
At the end of the day, I like being around the band and hopefully contributing to someone getting better, but the strain of watching them not care or undo something that was fixed or leave a basics block that has been run 15 times, but still not correct, to move on to more “advanced” things, leaves me feeling like I've done something wrong. It makes me feel like I've cheated them by not letting them experience what it really takes to grow as a person then ipso facto seeing it play out on the field. Ultimately, I wasn't in charge and my “what if, if onlys” don't have any weight. What I can say, is there wasn't a single thing I said that Mr. Danielson ever disagreed with. Not one instruction, not one yelled order got me pulled off to the side and lectured about. I didn't get one complaint from my mellophone and saxes about “being too mean” or asking too much. Band is like anything in life. If your going to choose to do it, actively put yourself in the situation, do it well or regret it. Become the person that expects a certain level of performance and don't be happy simply going through the motions. You can't fake effort, and if there is a moral cell in your body you would feel bad about yourself well before I get the chance to yell about dressing and covering.
