I Hate You So Much, Bryan Croce

Despite the deceiving title, this is just a normal post about band concerts. I promise.

Yet again, it was concert week. First off, Little Big Band had a dress rehearsal. Then there was a
two-night band concert for jazz and classical. On the night of the Little Big Band concert, quite the surprising thing happened. It was all within one week that I had to learn over fifteen pieces of music, and improv in front of lots of people just when I recovered from being stupid.

Just look at how saucy this costume ensemble is

Thanks to Electrika

If you haven't noticed before, Little Big Band     wears the stupidest costumes ever. First off, we have to wear dress shoes, which are a killer to the stylish-in-sneakers people. Secondly, we have to wear black gangster fedoras. You might think that those hats are cool, but when it's so big it falls past your glasses... ugh. Thirdly.... no. Just- don't even- can't- no.

Yeah, that is one stylish potato sack, don't you think? Me, being the smallest in the band dressed like a masculine gangster with a slight sense of style, just didn't help my pride and dignity. Despite the fact that I just dissed my entire band's sense of style, I can't help the fact that I still have to wear it. However, I love wearing it. It's just a few nights every month that I sacrifice my tiny ego and barely-there sanity so I can put this on and become a jazz enthusiast with my bandmates without judgement, because let's face it, we all love people who perform in stupid costumes doing what they love and having the time of their lives while performing. The Zoot Suit is the best costume I've had to wear, and I enjoy every second even when I break my face tripping over the too-big pants.

During the dress rehearsal, we rehearsed the songs we would play at the concert. We ran through the music after fixing minor details like tuning and holes in the sound. Despite the fact that it was a dress rehearsal, it had to be perfect. We had less than a week for our performance, which wasn't unusual, but we were preforming new pieces. Croce had talked about how we should be prepared for this, but we were too excited to worry. 

Until. Croce. Ruined. It. After we played through everything, the director went through some hubjub with the rhythm section. I heard my name being called, but because of my hat, I couldn't see who was calling me. I decided that I was hallucinating, fixed my hat, and waited to play. It turns out I wasn't hallucinating, because Croce (bet you didn't see that coming) was calling my name. I gave him a puzzled face.

"Take a solo," He said. I shook my head and hat stubbornly.

"Do it," Came with a stern face. I gave him puppy eyes.

"Take a solo right now," I swear he was gonna kill me. 

So I raised my hand, very, very reluctantly, and asked for a solo. Of course, because the universe decided not to be on my side that day, the director gave me a solo. You know, soloing doesn't suck, except for that I suck at soloing. Jeez, you have to keep track of the the key changes, what scale you're supposed to play in, what notes you're not supposed to play, and time. Oh, and did I mention you actually have to play?

I hate you so much, Bryan Croce. I had to freaking struggle through a solo, thanks to you. And I was in a clown costume. So much for people taking me seriously. 

I actually don't hate you, I just want to have something to blame my poor solo on. Clown costumes are actually really cool, as shown above.

After the dress rehearsal came the school band concerts.  We had two nights of both classical and jazz music. Both concerts were pretty good, but I was as busy as an A student on finals week.  First off, the entire band played with other bands, only for one piece. Christmas Decloration was pretty good, but loud with everyone on the stage. Then, I rushed to another stage right after to preform some jazz. Satin Doll was up first, then Feliz Navidad. The lead alto pulled a pretty great solo on Feliz Navidad. After, the trombone quintet was up. We did. We played. No one died. Lastly, the band came back together for our concert pieces. We rocked Faeries and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Those pieces and more took place within two hours.

On the night of the Little Big Band concert I was called in to play with another band. I was filling in for the lead horn. No,  I didn't know the music, and it sucked. But even worse was the solo. The usual lead horn, who was absent, had a nice little 96 bar solo that he didn't tell me about. So I had to go play for what seemed like forever right in front of my directer who probably hates me now. Luckily, he liked the solo. 

The Little Big Band  concert went quite well, I must say.  We played tunes like Mr. Zoot Suit, of which my solo was on. It was a really great concert, which everyone in the room seemed to enjoy. I'm glad I've joined this band, because I know it will be a great experience for me musically and socially. Not to mention that it's really fun! 

Hey look, I'm not soloing on this one!

Little Big Band

Yes, Little Big Band is a small band. It also is a big band. Confused? If you don't know jazz, you might be.

Big band is a term for the type of band. A big band is a typical setup for a jazz ensemble. The "little" in Little Big Band is used as an adjective. We are little for we are are only high school students. Little we may be, but we make up for it with all-star quality. On a typical day, you might not see a big band just jamming around outside somewhere. This band, however, plays often. In the summer, we spend more time preforming than we do eating.

A big band setup consists of six saxophones, five trombones, and four trumpets. Added with the rhythm section of a drum set, bass, piano vibes,  guitar, and the occasional kongo. The point of the rhythm section is to, well, keep the rhythm. All of the instruments work together to create the swing, which are hits on beats 2 and 4.

To get into this band, you need to audition. Luckily, I did not go through the nerve-wracking,
gut-wrenching, mind-boggling chaos of playing by myself in front of other people who were assigned to judge me by everything I do wrong. Auditioning is good experience to have as a musician, but if they didn't want me in the band, without it I would be lacking the musical experience I need to audition for other opportunities. Besides, if you do get into a band that is audition-only, gloating rights forever.

Stylin', aren't they?

Courtesy of Green Light Booking

It's absolutely great to be in a band like this. In an environment where everyone takes music seriously, the musicians are able to thrive and grow with their talent as they're being pushed to the max with challenging charts. Plus, it's a great way to have fun when you know the ensemble is always performing at a top-notch level.

Also, the  contribution you're making to the ensemble makes it even more worth it! To know that the sound you make supports a band like this- wow! It's unfathomable to know all of the knowledge of music and the entire profession I could gain just from a band like this. I may sound stupid to you right now, but with all of the opportunities that have come so far from this band, my dreams might just come true.

Little Big Band was actually an opportunity within itself for me. I don't even know how I heard about it. One day, my mother and I were discussing extracurricular activities and she suggested a band, so I immediately told her about the Caleb Chapman Music Program. She told me to get more info, and that's exactly what I did.  I asked my friend Croce about the band, and he told me the ensemble wanted one more trombone.

Courtesy of Caleb Chapman Music (duh)

I knew, no matter what my parents said, that I was going to join that band. How often is it that you find something fits like a puzzle piece? I wanted a place, and they had one open, just for me. Driving an hour away to the SoundHouse every week after school has been completely worth it.

Plus, the band is going on a tour, which includes a nice little fourteen hour bus ride with other high school kids and a stop at DisneyLand. Yay! (I don't know I'm being sarcastic or not yet.)

The Almost-Best Moment Ever

Finding something that makes you an individual is a great thing. We all want to aspire to be the person we ourselves define as perfect. To me, that means music. I can see myself in a symphony and a few big bands in the future. I'm trying everything I can to get myself there; it's my dream. It takes dedication to be good at something, and a life to be great at it. Having to share my dream with my twin brother, however, absolutely sucks.

One day, my brother had to go to another town for a night. My father was taking him, so I figured I could go along instead of spending my Friday night alone in my bed with a bag of Cheetos to comfort my sad, introverted, and depressed feelings. We dropped my brother off at his destination (otherwise known as nerd-landia), and my dad asked if I wanted to go anywhere. Naturally, I asked to go to Summerhays (otherwise known as music-nerd-landia), and my dad drove me immediately there.

In my mind, I developed a plan. I needed new strings for my guitar, so I planned at looking at and buying a pack of those. However, I forgot about one measly detail. It was the semi-annual instrument sale! As soon as I walked in, they had a whole table filled with trombones. In case you didn't know, new instruments are about as shiny as looking into a pool of gold and metal spoons. I immediately went over and picked up one of my metal soul mates. Most of the horns were tenor with f attachments, and a few were bass. My dad was looking at model numbers while I was playing with the slides.

The manager came over and watched us. Pretty soon, he offered to let me play a few. I looked at my father with my big puppy eyes, and he gave the dude a nod. Mr. Manager picked up a few horns and carried them to a practice room. I played two horns, both Xenos. Xenos are the Ferraris of trombones, only because they cost about as much as a Ferrari or, you know, ten.

I contently played licks I memorized, a few from Mr. P.C. and Come Out Swingin'.  After a few minutes on each, my quality of play on the horns was definitely noticeable. The model I sounded best on was the Yamaha YSL 882OR with lacquer finish. The worst part, though, was the fact that we couldn't afford two new horns for my brother and I (Anyone have $3,329 to lend me?). When we decided which model was better, I got my strings and left.

My future soul mate courtesy of Amazon

The best thing ever to happen was when I was eating dinner with my family the night after. Since my brother was gone awing at geeky things at nerd-land-tacular and didn't know what happened, my father explained it to him. I was zoning out until I heard the words, "Emily first,". WHAATTT? OMIGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH Eh, my dad was only explaining to him that since we were needing two horns I would be the first to get a new one.

Sometimes, being an obsessive freak over something has its advantages.

ASDFGHJKL;

OKAY, SO ORIGINALLY I WASN'T PLANNING ON BEING SO EXCITED THAT I WOULD FALL OUT OF A CHAIR... BUT I AM THAT EXCITED. I HONESTLY NEVER THOUGHT I COULD BE SO EXCITED THAT MY ENTIRE BODY WOULD TREMBLE, CAUSED BY A SIMPLE QUESTION.  MY BODY TREMBLED AND MY HANDS DRIPPED SWEAT FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT. MY JAW CLACKED AGAINST MY TEETH AND MY FINGERS COULDN'T STOP MOVING. AS A MEASLY TEENAGE GIRL I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME, LET ALONE IT EVER HAPPENING AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.

Drum roll please.....

TODAY I GOT ASKED TO GUEST CONDUCT THE UTAH WIND SYMPHONY!

Yeah, sorry about the overuse of capitol letters, but my excitement needed the emphasis. Seriously though, how many times does a small and unimportant teenage girl get asked to do something that big? Assuming you don't know what it means to conduct, it's when the person at the front of the stage starts waving that stick thing until the music stops. A meager teenage girl worth less than nothing has the honor of doing that.  Conducting is like getting to lead a group of people through a maze of notes and rhythms.

The Amazing Utah Wind Symphony

Today I was sitting in the band room all humpty-dumpty because the Utah Wind Symphony was holding a rehearsal in our school. The students of the band program were allowed to sit in and watch because that's the deal the band director made in return for hosting them. Me, an overly emotionally expressive girl who just happens to be obsessed with pretty sounds, was fangirling over every chord and unison pattern that came floating out of all the instruments in that room. At one point, the ensemble played a march that I''m pretty sure had the trombones sliding all over an assemblage of sixty-fourth notes. Just letting you know, it sounded gosh darn amazing and so professional. After the piece was over, the conductor told me it sounded sloppy. Ha, no.

The Utah Wind Symphony is a great thing to experience in concert. They are one of the best bands in America. They all are exceptionally great at performing, all because of their talent. Every person in that band knows the music they play. The members have told me that they do it because they love it, they would do it even if they had another job.

During one point in rehearsal, they took a ten minute break. One piccolo player said that we, the six students that sat in during rehearsal, were the best audience ever. I was first greeted by a trumpet player. Apparently my facial expressions I made when I was fangirling had made her day. She said it had made the forty-three years she spent playing trumpet worthwhile. Then another trumpeter came up to me and told me he watched us while we were listening. My expression when the march was being played had cracked him up. Dang, do I really show that much emotion?

Well, if you need me, I'll be falling out of a chair practicing my conducting.

What most people think of conductors, courtesy of Swing's The Thing