Marching Band Concert Report

Bright stadium light gleamed, my feet rolled through the damp turf, all eyes were on us, and the spectators roared. This bustling evening in late August was what is commonly referred to as, Friday night lights. I was overwhelmed by the crowd's positive reaction and my performance level heightened. Contrary to want you may have pictured, I was not a part of the football team. I was a part of the Samuel Clemens Mighty Buffalo Marching Band, which performed the memorizing halftime show. Our show, entitled, “Wavelength,” was filled with swaying visuals, rotating circles, interlocking diagonals, musical runs, dynamic soloists, the whole kitchen sink. However, I did not just arrive at show time the day of the first football game. Weeks of hard work and tedious preparation went into that spectacular halftime show. As an overwhelmed freshman, who was having my first experience of marching band, those weeks were brutal, but it was during those weeks that band had its greatest effects on me. During those strenuous weeks I started from the basics and eventually worked to put on my very first performance, where I would discover a new found confidence. For the first
I had participated in band for the four previous years at the intermediate and junior high level, but nothing compared to my experiences in high school. Similar to junior high and intermediate school, the band partook in concert performances. Prior to high school band, the entirety of band class consisted of playing the standard sheet music, which was played from the comfort of our own chair. On any given day I would casually stroll to the band hall, where we then rehearsed our concert music. I remember counting the simplistic rhythms, fingering the black notes that floated across the page on my clarinets shining keys, and most importantly leaving at the end of the period for the day. However, once I graduated to the next level, I was thrown into the new world of marching