This year is the first year that every child in my band program has only known me as the head band director. I have been looking forward to this for a while for two reasons. First, all my students know the way I teach, my quick pacing, how to read when I am angry, and the kind of quiz grader I am. Since the students are so familiar with me, it just makes everything run that much more efficiently. The second reason is that my current 8th grade class has always been very strong. We were very excited about them as 5th graders because the group was just so natural and large.
However, this year did not begin with the focused musical achievement I was expecting. I was worried about our concert last Thursday night. The kids, however, morphed into the outstanding young musicians I knew them to be. Last Thursday was really one of the strongest concerts we have ever given. A few of the kids said, “I have never seen you smile so much while conducting.” We played a wonderful arrangement of Children’s March, Country Wildflowers, and Fanfare and Flourishes 2. I hate it when a band just barely gets through a piece and then they are too ignorant to know they didn’t make any music. I was so afraid we were just going to get through the music. That could not have been further from the truth. My kids were so sensitive to the style of Children’s March, the phrasing of Country Wildflowers, and the dynamic changes in all three of the tunes that I was blown away. Now how do I get my kids to be as focused as they were at our concert all the time? This truly is my mission, although I do understand I am a little crazy for thinking I can achieve this.
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