Marching Band Season

That's right, I said it. Marching Band Season. Not Football Season. Marching Band.

Now I do like football. Wow. It's hard to believe that I just said that out loud. It sure did take me a while to come around. I mean I attended EVERY football game in high school, home and away, as a member of the band, of course. And I played four years in the band at Vanderbilt where we played all the home games + 1 or 2 away games. But it was not until my SENIOR YEAR in COLLEGE that I turned to the other brass players and said, "Can someone please explain to me WHAT is going on?" By the end of the season I could actually enjoy the game. I kept up with college ball over the couple of years, and then when I met my husband, he was able to take my game knowledge to whole new level.

But I LOVED playing in the band. I mean LOVE. Watching the band at the HS Football game tonight made it feel like fall had finally arrived. You could tell that this band was preparing for festival. The excitement as four minutes to go in the second quarter as they made final uniform and instrument adjustments was tangible. Everbody checks their fancy feathered hat. Unfortch, we were standing on the hill in the endzone on the visitors' side and I could only hear some of the percussion. But I could see the formations.

So afterwards I have the opportunity to talk to a parent from the school where my husband teaches, which is a private catholic high school. Nico wants go towards the field. He thinks that is the way home - he was so ready to leave! The woman says, I'm sure he wants to play football. I say, I'm hoping for the band. Her: Well, you'll have to pay extra tuition. Me: WHAT?!

Apparently, in the elementary schools, if you want to be in the band it is an extra $600 in tuition for the catholic elementary schools!?! The woman said she priced out private lessons for the WHOLE year and it would not have cost any more, plus you do not pay for the weeks you cannot make it. So, when the students get to high school, there aren't so many who have been in band, and not many want to start as newbies their freshman year. So the band is small. Unbelievable.

Maybe Schools with small bands should consider allowing community members to join in, like some universities do. I'd be happy to march in the band, and I could probably learn all my charts and drills more quickly than most of the students. Of course, that would make festival hard for them, but maybe there would be a way. I would love almost nothing more than the chance to march again.

I think tomorrow I need to play my horn for a little while. I know where it is, and I think I even know where the box with my music is. I need to keep up my skills, just in case! Who knows, maybe I will eventually be able to join a community band here!

Keep music in your life, y'all. It is never too late to take instrument or voice lessons and connect with creation through musical vibration. It's good for the soul.