Marching Band

*Before you read this essay, allow me to explain it. I wrote it for an end-of-the-season assignment for marching band. The topic was "What was your best marching band experience this year?" I talk about MSBA/Mid-States. (they're both reffering to the same competition) I mention the "disappointment at regionals." Our band didn't make it past regionals, even though our goal was to go to state. Three weeks after regionals was our MSBA/Mid-States competition, a contest we had never competed in before. If you still have any questions, please feel free to ask!



         Fall 2011 has been a strange time for the NorthWood Red Regiment. Reflecting on the past few years, I think this was the most emotional season of my marching band career so far. I’m sure a few others would agree with me. This poignancy has emphasized my favorite experience of the year: the day of the MSBA competition, which, as I write this, was just yesterday. To be more specific, our finals performance was the most amazing part of the day.

         Following the disappointment at regionals, I was thankful we still had Mid-States to prepare for. I wasn’t ready for the season to be over. However, I thought it was a bit silly to work for three extra weeks for one little completion against a bunch of bands I’ve never even heard of. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be worth it. Nevertheless, I “just kept swimming” as Dorothy the fish would say. I didn’t think of it as improving for MSBA; I thought of it as improving for the next practice. If I felt we had a better show at the end of practice than at the beginning, I was happy.

         By the end of these three weeks, I’ll admit that I was becoming tired. I honestly enjoy rehearsal most of the time, (as long as it’s not too hot, not too cold, I’m not too sleepy, and I don’t have too much homework to do later)  but staying positive was starting to be a difficult chore. Additionally, everybody else was becoming tired, and when people are tired, they act grumpy. Grumpy people aren’t fun to be around. This past Thursday evening, however, I made a u-turn: something about performing our bolstered show in the freezing cold for our parents made me insanely excited for Mid-States!

         Two days later, the MSBA competition had arrived. I’d been looking forward to staying overnight since I learned about the trip last spring. At that point, however, I couldn’t care less about hanging out at the hotel later, and that’s saying something. I felt our preliminary performance went well, and I was ecstatic when we made finals. The apex of the day, as well as the season, was with our final performance.

         Our performance for Mid-States finals was incredible. After making the top ten, I no longer felt concerned about ranking and places. We oftentimes say we don’t care how we place as long as we do our best, but that is rarely true. Egotistical as it sounds, it feels really nice to know you’re better than somebody else. This performance was an exception. I no longer tried my best in order to score higher than the other bands; I tried my best simply for the sake of trying my best. This attitude translated into confidence: I wasn’t nervous at all. I think this is because when we’re trying to outdo other bands I know that our score must be higher than their scores, and how well the other bands perform is something over which I have no control. Doing my best, however, is something I can control completely, and I was confident that day. Nerves can be a good thing, but yesterday evening it was nice to feel calm yet energized, like a summer afternoon spent reading The Lord of the Rings. Thinking back, the feeling of that performance is most comparable to Thursday night’s show for our parents, only better. The word that most summarizes the feeling performing Saturday is “fun.” I truly had fun.  A specific memory I have of playing the show is our final note. I admit, I occasionally sneak a subtle breath during that hold even though I know I shouldn’t. This time, I was out of air and tempted to breathe, but I remembered that it was the last note of the last performance of the show, so I decided to tough it out and sustain until the end. This might sound really stupid, but I’m really glad I chose not to take a breath. I didn’t spoil the final note I’d ever play of Deliver Us!

         Every other year I’ve been in marching band, we’ve never known that our final competition was going to be the end. This year, we knew that we’d never play the show again, so our last performance was like a hug goodbye. Not just to the show itself, but to everything that was put into it. We suffered the long days of band camp, sweating and burning under an August sun. We spent hours memorizing music and learning drill. We budgeted our time trying to maintain good grades and a social life outside of after school practices. We endured grueling rehearsals after major defeats, when it didn’t seem worth it anymore. We bonded together: some of us are best friends, some of us don’t like each other very much; but every Saturday for seven minutes, we bonded together as one music-making unit. Even more labor was put in by the composer, drill writer, and band parents behind the scenes. One might wonder if all this work and all these hardships are worth it. Looking back on the season and the MSBA competition, my answer is this: of course it’s worth it! It’s worth every exhausting minute.