My Life as a Junior High Band Member

During my seventh grade year of Junior High School, the school made it mandatory students had to join either choir or the newly-formed Junior High band. Having no desire to stand and yodel with my classmates, I quickly signed up for the band. Little did I know what I was getting myself into, although the experiences I had certainly were memorable and may be useful for others.

First off, I had to choose an instrument to play for the band. I wanted to play the drums really, really badly. However, the parental unit was not about to allow me to practice drumming in the house all day, as they feared walls and ear drums could collapse after such bouts. Instead, they suggested I play the trumpet. For some reason (I still do not know why), I went along with it.

We were required to practice 30 minutes a day. Now, looking back on it, 30 minutes is really not bad. But, for a Junior High School student who is used to running free once school gets out, 30 minutes is a nightmare of horrific proportions. Thus, I began to hate band more and more during these practice sessions, staring out the window with longing for the minutes to tick by faster.

I never could follow notes or read music very well. This was perhaps the single most troublesome part of band, as I learned to play the wrong way from the start. Having very little (if any) education on the part of musical-ness as a child, aside from a brief time with the recorder, I memorized the fingering for each note displayed on the page. However, I could not simply play a "C" if someone asked me to, I had to first look at the page, see what note represented a "C", then remember in my head what the fingering for a "C" was. I blame myself for this mostly, but I think I also needed some help in learning these very basic parts of music from the start.

Our band instructor was alright, as far as such individuals go, but even she lost her patience with our incredibly awful performances. Once, she through her band books on the ground in anger at our unsynchronized playing. I was used to teachers who stood stoically in front of the class and read out our spelling words like they were some sort of chant, so seeing a teacher actually display emotion scared the notes right out of me.

For some reason, our instructor loved to make us watch the most bizarre movies. Most of them were cartoons, designed by some foreign studio, about little children playing with notes and getting warped into musical worlds. I'm sure they were decent movies, but at the time they confused and puzzled me, eventually causing me to lose all interest whatsoever. Now, had the movies mixed music with WWII battles or Alien Invasions, I might have been hooked. Instead, I came to dread whenever we had to watch movies, a phenomena I did not display in any other class.

Band was an experience, to say the least. I do not play the trumpet anymore, although I still have the one I used to play in Junior High. A better musical foundation would have helped me overcome much of the trouble I had in band, so bear that in mind if you (or your children) or considering trying to join Junior High band.