Regular Band: There will be no laughing
This was the week where it was clear summer has ended: It got cold. There was no way it would be comfortable to eat outside in the park this week, so I stayed at work and hung out in the break room until I needed to go. Sad. It also meant I did not go walking, since I've been walking, then eating. I'm not eating in my car. It's too new. I respect it too much to eat in it yet.
Band was sparsely populated when I arrived, though both directors were there, and ADB let me know he enjoyed my concert on Thursday. Aha! I hadn't mentioned it, but I thought I saw him sneaking out of the balcony as the concert ended--nobody else was moving, but a familiar figure was heading out the door. Since the high school group had performed a song we'd done last season, I brought up how nice it was with the harp, and he said, oh yeah, especially when it's *harpist*; turns out she's in the local orchestra with him and he's stood next to her for years. Who knew. This local music community is very intertwined.
I also got a visit from a particular band member--the one who'd taken ill a couple weeks back, and who had remoted in last week. She thanked me for my role in her getting better. I must have had a weird look on my face because she was like, don't look at me like that! Honestly, she does look pretty good (and I realize I'm giving away her gender, though anyone who was in band last week will know who this person is) and I'm glad she is doing better. She also acknowledged that I must have walked into a mess in the bathroom. I think I was just dumbfounded that she got told I was the one who discovered the issue, but I'm just relieved she's okay. We didn't discuss what her issue was, and it doesn't matter; I'm just glad she received assistance and is well enough to rejoin us. That's the important part.
Our concert is coming up quickly and we got right down to work on our pieces. One wasn't scheduled to start until 9:10, ugh. But we're working hard, just not hard enough on some things. The city song, AD1 said she'd done that three times previously. Two of the times were great. The third, the group lost the groove and sort of plodded along. Once we find our groove, we're golden. And then we recorded the piece and...song, 1; band, 0. That was actually her pronouncement. And, truthfully, the second flute soloist at the end of the song must not have realized AD1 was essentially conducting in 2 and came in late with the solo. She wasn't listening to the first flute part, which was on time. That's...not good. She's a good flute player--it's flute S--but she gets lost part of the time. When you're the soloist, you need to know your part. This is why I was glad that in the symphony, ADB took it upon himself to reorder the solos. He's not shy about giving parts to the people who can play them best, or re-seating people as necessary.
I don't remember too much from the rehearsal, only that we worked really hard and I kept yawning throughout. Mondays are so long for me, especially when rehearsal extends beyond 9 o'clock. Also, despite wearing a sweater and an undershirt, I still put on my extra sweater on top because it's so cold in the room. It wasn't ideal. After leaving rehearsal, sax R came up to me and asked if I was bored playing this music after being in Fancy Band. No, no; if you saw me yawning, it's only because I'm exhausted, not bored! And really, right now the Fancy Band music is pretty accessible for me, and I appreciate that, plus with AD2 and ADB at the helm here, the level of the band is being raised. They are working very hard at that, even with basic essentials, because those were ignored for the longest time. Complacency is the enemy. Bring out the best in us, and hopefully the band will rise to the challenge.
As for the laughing bit in the title, at one point our second oboe ended up having a giggling fit, and it wasn't during a serious part of rehearsal at least, but the first oboe was smiling at her, and then AD2 leaned over and sternly said, there will be no laughing, and then a moment later broke into a grin and got back to work. She does like to have fun, at least. We've got to be able to laugh at ourselves.
Band was sparsely populated when I arrived, though both directors were there, and ADB let me know he enjoyed my concert on Thursday. Aha! I hadn't mentioned it, but I thought I saw him sneaking out of the balcony as the concert ended--nobody else was moving, but a familiar figure was heading out the door. Since the high school group had performed a song we'd done last season, I brought up how nice it was with the harp, and he said, oh yeah, especially when it's *harpist*; turns out she's in the local orchestra with him and he's stood next to her for years. Who knew. This local music community is very intertwined.
I also got a visit from a particular band member--the one who'd taken ill a couple weeks back, and who had remoted in last week. She thanked me for my role in her getting better. I must have had a weird look on my face because she was like, don't look at me like that! Honestly, she does look pretty good (and I realize I'm giving away her gender, though anyone who was in band last week will know who this person is) and I'm glad she is doing better. She also acknowledged that I must have walked into a mess in the bathroom. I think I was just dumbfounded that she got told I was the one who discovered the issue, but I'm just relieved she's okay. We didn't discuss what her issue was, and it doesn't matter; I'm just glad she received assistance and is well enough to rejoin us. That's the important part.
Our concert is coming up quickly and we got right down to work on our pieces. One wasn't scheduled to start until 9:10, ugh. But we're working hard, just not hard enough on some things. The city song, AD1 said she'd done that three times previously. Two of the times were great. The third, the group lost the groove and sort of plodded along. Once we find our groove, we're golden. And then we recorded the piece and...song, 1; band, 0. That was actually her pronouncement. And, truthfully, the second flute soloist at the end of the song must not have realized AD1 was essentially conducting in 2 and came in late with the solo. She wasn't listening to the first flute part, which was on time. That's...not good. She's a good flute player--it's flute S--but she gets lost part of the time. When you're the soloist, you need to know your part. This is why I was glad that in the symphony, ADB took it upon himself to reorder the solos. He's not shy about giving parts to the people who can play them best, or re-seating people as necessary.
I don't remember too much from the rehearsal, only that we worked really hard and I kept yawning throughout. Mondays are so long for me, especially when rehearsal extends beyond 9 o'clock. Also, despite wearing a sweater and an undershirt, I still put on my extra sweater on top because it's so cold in the room. It wasn't ideal. After leaving rehearsal, sax R came up to me and asked if I was bored playing this music after being in Fancy Band. No, no; if you saw me yawning, it's only because I'm exhausted, not bored! And really, right now the Fancy Band music is pretty accessible for me, and I appreciate that, plus with AD2 and ADB at the helm here, the level of the band is being raised. They are working very hard at that, even with basic essentials, because those were ignored for the longest time. Complacency is the enemy. Bring out the best in us, and hopefully the band will rise to the challenge.
As for the laughing bit in the title, at one point our second oboe ended up having a giggling fit, and it wasn't during a serious part of rehearsal at least, but the first oboe was smiling at her, and then AD2 leaned over and sternly said, there will be no laughing, and then a moment later broke into a grin and got back to work. She does like to have fun, at least. We've got to be able to laugh at ourselves.