A Survey for HS Band Members

Are you the ideal band member??

Do you show up early?

Do you have all the things you're supposed to? (music, lyre, flip, drill, etc.)

Do you bring a cooperative attitude to rehearsal?

Do you do your best to make the band the best it can be?

Do you follow the rules, procedures and instructions of the directors?

Do you strive for musical excellence? (That's fancy talk for do you practice!)

These questions can't be answered yes by any of us every day, but the vast majority of days the answers should be yes in order for us to be our very best.

Band is a creature all its own. The successful and ideal band member puts the good of the group ahead of himself. The ideal band member works hard to do right all the time. The ideal band member is an individual who transforms into a unified member of the body when the group is together for rehearsal or performance.

The band is not a collective, but a single functioning, living, breathing creature all unto itself unique. In order for it to be its very best every member must, for the time we're together, act, look and perform just like every other member. Remember in Star Wars Attack of the Clones, where the clone army marches and you can't tell the difference in one and the other?? Have you ever seen on TV or in person the guards at Buckingham Palace, or a group of American Soldiers? They look, act, speak and dress alike when they're on their mission. That is an integral part of their success. That is the tradition from which marching bands were born.

When you're on your own.......celebrate your individuality! Enjoy!! When we're in band.............we must look, act, speak and perform as one in order to be our very best. That's the standard. Keep reaching for the prize!! You're awesome.

c