My parents wasted no time in taking advantage of the new piece of plastic in my wallet, circa 1982. "You get to take your brother to morning marching band practice now," they said. One less pre-dawn task for the overworked adults in the house.
My younger brother played percussion, and back in the day, he marched with a xylophone. Yes, they marched with xylophones back then; these days, those can be found in the "pit". (More on that, later.) If the El Paso weather was cooperating, I would sit in the bleachers and finish my calculus homework. If it wasn't, I waited in the car until the school doors opened and I could escape the cold, picked up some friends, or drove to the convenience store down the street to get a Big Gulp Diet Coke and a Snickers bar.
We were at the smallest high school in the city, and the band had less than 100 members, to my recollection. I was in choir, with a cheaper instrument and much less coordination involved, except when Mr Shirley insisted on choreographing movement to accompany a song. I was always worried about falling off the risers, a problem my brother didn't have to worry about on the fifty-yard line during half-time.
Fast forward almost three decades, and I was back to those pre-dawn marching band chauffeur duties once again. My daughter plays percussion, and did her high school band gig in the pit--the front row of keyboard percussion players, brandishing double mallets on marimbas and xylophones. No weighty harnesses for her, just pushing her instrument on and off the field, time and again throughout those four football seasons.
A year after our daughter graduated from high school, I was back at band chauffeur duty with her younger brother, French horn in tow. I'm still amazed at how he played and marched at the same time. He didn't inherit that trait from the parent who was worried about falling off the choir risers...
So here's to all those band kids and band directors on this March Fourth--National Marching Band Day. I hope this is a tradition that never dies--though I am more than happy to be done with those early-morning chauffeur duties.
I grew up in Queens, NY - part of the city. Public schools (or at least the ones I attended and then taught in) didn’t have the resources available for many music opportunities outside of the recorder, every parent’s nightmare. Now I work in a suburban area with amazing access to music education. I’m always amazed by the talent. Every morning in my classroom I post a “National Day” and today I posted about Marching Band Day. I wish I had this opportunity, and I hope all my students are appreciative. Happy Marching Band day!
ReplyDeleteI never knew that March 4th was National Marching Band Day, but it makes perfect sense. I attended high school football games just to watch the band's half-time show. And then the after game fun at the mosh pit! So glad our school district had a thriving band program. It was home for my kids.
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