Our Concert Band Winter Olympics has come to an end. What are the concert band olympics? It's been a fun three weeks of instrument section competition. I broke the instruments into 3 countries - Windia (Woodwinds), Brassghanistan (Brass), and Percussia (Percussion). The countries would work as a group each class period to earn the gold medal for...
- Good rehearsal etiquette
- Practicing challenging passages when given time before/between pieces
- Ideal posture
- Continued musical improvement from day to day
- High rate of lesson attendance
- Musical excellence
- cleaning up surrounding area after rehearsal (equipment, tuners, stands, chairs, etc.)
Choosing the champion of the Olympic Games came down to the final rehearsal. Everyone was in a dead tie and the 54 minutes on Friday decided the winners of the gold medal, which I hand made from yellow card stock and an alto saxophone neck strap ha. It was by far our BEST rehearsal of the year, and possibly the best of my 3 years at Mainland. All the musical sections that we worked tirelessly came together in "Chorale & Shaker Dance II". When we released the final notes, we all had chills down our spines and smiles on our faces from what we had just accomplished as a band. It was our first shared experience of a truly significant musical moment. It was GREAT!
Needless to say, I think the competition of winning the gold medal was a driving force in every students' focus for the period. I will be buying lunch for the Windian people, but since I was so impressed with the work from Percussia and Brassghanistan, I made sure I announced that I will be buying them breakfast as a result of their hard work.
Here is the final reveal of the standings from my perspective using Google Glass. Great job Concert Band!
