A Community Band Can Be Fun and Theraputic!

Last year a good friend of mine put me in touch with a local Conductor who was heading up a hometown Community Band.  Now, I played in the percussion section in high school, but that has been over 30 years ago.  I was alittle nervous when I went to the first practice.  We met in the music room of our local high school.  I didn't know quite what to expect.  Once I arrived I saw people from all walks of our little Midwestern town.  I saw old friends and quickly made new ones.

Two men who had played in the band the prior year (2007) were in the percussion area.  Once we met they put me onto playing the snare drum.  I was excited, but nervous.  As I began picking up our music sheets of the songs we would play, I noticed that I had forgotten something.  That something, was how to really read music in 'real time' without any practice in over 30 years.  It all looked pretty strange to me and I was worried.

John, who seemed to be the 'in-charge guy' of our department, showed me the ropes, and after awhile, it began to come back to me.  We practiced twice a week and preformed in the park area of our local Community Center once a week during the month of July.

Now, if you have never been to the Ozarks of Missouri, let me tell you about how hot it can get here in July and August, and about the humidity.  Many days the humidity is almost as high as the temperature.  Needless to say, it was hot and sweaty playing outside in the band.

We played a collection of marches, several military tunes and even some show tunes, from Phantom of the Opera to South Pacific.

Well, it was alot of fun and when it was over I missed it.  So, I joined up again this year and played percussion instruments again.  This year it was only myself and one other person in the section.  His name is Matt.  He doesn't like to play the snare, so I was first on that piece.  But, with only two people in our section we were headed for trouble.  It's tough enough to play several instruments with 3 or 4 folks, but with only two, well, it left alot out.  One of the saxophone players, Betsy, who was earning her degree in Music, was eager to help us out because she had not mastered the percussion instruments.  She played most of our accessory instruments, like the Cymbals, Triangle, and Tamborine.  She also played the bass drum a few times.

We learned even more march pieces this year.  We had a great piece called "The Bugulars Holiday".  We were also lucky to have two great Trumpet players...and boy did they make that song shine.  Our conductor, Ron, said he never dreamed he'd have a Community Band made up of so many different age folks and so many types of instruments.  We had a Picallo player, two Oboe players, a Basson player, several Saxaphone players and Clarinets, as well as Flutes.  And, I must not leave out the Tuba and Baritone players.  It was just an outstanding group. 

The musicians ranged from high school kids, to college kids, Military persons and, like me, retired folks.

If you want to play your old High School instrument, think about getting a Community Band together in your town.  We played for our local community pool grand opening and for a local church's 135 year anniversary.  We are even thinking about playing in our local 4th of July parade next year.

I may not have been great, but we made it through.  We always received a standing ovation after each concerts.  We always drew a good croud of all ages.  I can't wait for next year.