Yesterday was a day filled with new beginnings. As many of you know, my “day job” is to be the marching band director at UMass Amherst. It’s not the only thing I do, but it’s definitely the most public. And, without question, it is what I am identified as, aka, “The Marching Band Guy.” That is all well and fine. Since this past Tuesday, we’ve been in the build-up to starting our 2015 season. Tuesday was when our student workers, the “Ad Staff”, arrived. Thursday evening, we had our Field Staff, the students who teach marching and music to their peers, come to campus for two days of leadership training. Friday was the arrival of the color guard and percussionists. As anyone who knows the UMass Band is aware, the percussion section here is top of the line. Prof. Thomas P. Hannum and his dedicated team of alumni, who were trained and inspired by him, really have set an awesome standard which is absolutely achievable by the students. It’s pretty amazing to watch how that section is built each year; a testament to dedication, inspiration, and clarity of informed instruction. The Color Guard is also off to a great start. The students are showing remarkable spirit; it will be exciting to see where that takes them. Attitude is wonderful at the beginning; the challenge in any marching band (or really, most any endeavor in life) is keeping that enthusiasm when the thrill of newness wears off. From what I’ve seen, though, these students and their staff are ready to take on whatever comes their way.
And so we come to Saturday. This is always an exciting day, for it is when the new wind players arrive. Sure, we’ve had new students the day before, but between the percussion and the color guard, that’s probably around 30 (tops) new members. Saturday is when the new clarinets, trumpets, trombones, mellophones…you name it, those new students are here. I think it was just over 130. And so, for the first time this Band Camp, we have this overwhelming rush of new blood infused into the organization. We typically graduate 80 – 90 students from the band each year. On top of that, there are numerous who, for various reasons (class schedule, work/research opportunities, other interests), choose not to march after a season or two (or three). So, we need a healthy group of new members every year to maintain the band at the previous level.
For those new members, it must be an emotional rush. So many different feelings coming their way…and a boatload of information. Our student leaders give them a tour of campus; they come to the Band Building where they are taught our history, or policies and our expectations; and then it’s off to the practice fields to learn the basics of our marching style. Some new members come from high-powered high school marching bands, so the term “8 to 5” is old hat (though probably not a boater…had to get an obligatory boater reference in somewhere!). Some may have come from a high school that did not march, so all is new. There are a few who may never have played an instrument, but being in the UMMB sounded like a fun opportunity. Prof. Parks famously said, “Band is for everyone” and if our organization believes that, then there are no cuts, no auditions; everyone, regardless of previous experience, playing/marching abilities, are welcomed.
So you can imagine the wide range of emotions these students must be feeling. I see some who are boiling over with enthusiasm and energy. There is one young man from Springfield who has been waiting for this day for several years. His high school band director is an alum of the band and is incredibly inspiring in the work he is doing. That student is all about being here. There are many like them. For some, it’s tough; the start of Band Camp is the beginning of college. They’re living apart from their families for the first time. Some of our new members are here with friends from high schools; others don’t know a soul. Our student leaders are bubbling with positivity, but they also have to be aware of any new member who may not be “feeling it.” This can be overwhelming…and if band is truly for everyone, it’s not restricted to the new members who are jumping at the gun to be “all in” on college marching band.
Today we will work more with our new students, and then tonight all of our returning members re-join us. That’s when we get that glorious first sound of all our winds together. I have no idea how long I will do this job (since this is my tenure-decision year, it’s not exactly in my hands), but not matter how long that is, I hope I never lose the thrill of just what that first note sounds like. It’s just a concert F, on a chromatic tuning exercise. But the coming together of new students, old students, 18 year olds to 22 year olds, all majors, from all across Massachusetts and beyond….that first “F”…I ask…did Beethoven in all his might, ever write such a glorious sound? And why, you might be asking (if you’ve read this far…for which I salute you!) does a concert F, which, in all honesty, is probably not in tune, sound like the sweetest music this side of Symphony Hall? Because that concert F is filled with possibilities. You all know the cliche of “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. In this case, a band of a thousand notes, countless marching steps, of 6 half-time shows, 2 exhibitions, and varied performances here and there…it’s all in that concert F.
And it’s more than just the performances. I speak to the parents of the new students before each Band Camp begins. They maybe more anxious than their children, and with good reason. I have no children of my own, but I cannot doubt that dropping a son/daughter off to college, letting them take that first step on their own…that can’t be easy. So when I talk to the new band parents, I assure them how their son/daughter is about to make lifelong friends (and sometimes even meet their future spouse…though no guarantees on that) in our band. It’s just inevitable when you have such a large group of people, around the same age, with a common interest, spending a large amount of time together. And that too is contained in that first concert F. It’s the siren’s call of new friendships, the possibilities of wonderful new experiences, the broadening of horizons through this thing we call band.
Am I over-dramatizing things? I really don’t think so. I need look no further than my own experience. I grew up outside Sacramento, CA, but I went to the University of Iowa. I didn’t know anyone in the Hawkeye State…nor, really, the Midwest. What attracted me was the idea of being a writer. I knew all about Iowa’s famed Writers Workshop, and I had visions of training to become America’s next great literary voice. I also wanted to be in band. I had only played in band my senior year of high school. Thanks to Harry Connick Jr., I had discovered the glory of big band music. Of all those big bands, it was Glenn Miller’s that I was head over heels in love with. That’s for a later day, but suffice it to say, a picture of Glenn, in a tuxedo, holding a trombone…that was all it took for this impressionable 17 year old to realize he was missing something! So I took a few lessons, joined the high school band for one year, and then it was off to college.
Obviously…I was terrible. Iowa has some great high school band programs, and we all know about those powerhouse Chicago suburb high school bands, where many U of Iowa students come from. Prof. David Woodley, for reasons I may never know but am eternally grateful for, took this kid who had no idea of how to march (my one year in high school band, we ran around on the field to different pictures, and then stood there and played) and really couldn’t play. And as Robert Frost said, “That has made all the difference.” I still remember that first music rehearsal of the 1991 Hawkeye Marching Band, in the now defunct Voxman Music Building. That sound, the band playing “Hey Jude”, trombone players standing on chairs, swaying back and forth. My Lord. I doubt the residents of Jericho ever received a more sonic awakening. And down came my walls. I was no longer going to be a writer. The imagination flowed. What if you could make a living doing this? And the rest is….well, it’s not as simple as that….but you can fill in the blanks! It makes for a better story when you use your imagination. Am I right?
[In a sidenote, maybe its all full circle, as these ramblings inspired by my hat is sort of re-igniting my dreams of writing. That you all can follow…just stay tuned!]
There will be many more notes than just a concert F played tonight. The school songs of the University of Massachusetts will ring out. I will do my customary speech of why everyone should be proud to play their school’s alma mater. Nothing they will play throughout their college careers should be more important. We’ll read the show music for the year and in its sight-reading it will be…..well, it will be great by performance time! All that will be well and good, and Band Camp will run its natural course. But first is that first note. That concert F. Out of tune, out of balance, late entrances, varying horn angles, discrepancies in tone quality…all of that will occur. But something else will be heard. The sound of untold possibilities.
A band’s journey begins with a single note.
guyinaboater 