Go Doss Go!
I don't have the time that I need to elaborate adequately on this story, but I have to tell you how proud I am of my band kids.
I love, love, LOVE to see kids get excited about music. Excited about performance. I love seeing a 6th grader grin from ear to ear when he plays Hot Cross Buns for the first time and I love watching a HS student "get it" as he learns to make the music turn into more than just notes on a page. Today, the Doss High School Dragon Band ruled the school. They were superstars.
Background - Doss has not had a competing program for almost 20 years now. They have not had performing group (other than the obligatory Christmas and Spring concerts) for 6 years. The seniors at Doss have never seen a marching band.
Today is Homecoming. All academic activities were halted today as the entire school participated in a parade, pep rally, and about 4 other activities scheduled throughout the day. Last week I found out about all of this and asked if the band could perform at an event. Of course they said yes so I had 5 days to throw something together. We learned and memorized 4 of the cheesiest pep songs in the entire world. I did a rush job to get us some t-shirts and by the grace of God a percussion instructor just fell in my lap. He came to school for three days during class and fixed our drums, tuned our drums and taught my four percussionist a groovy cadence. (one bass, one snare, one tenor, one cymbal) Only one of them had ever played a marching drum before. Today as the parade completed its route in the front parking lot our kids played cheesy pep songs for the crowd. When we got the signal for the student body to enter the building and go to the gym for the pep rally, the band led the way playing more cheesy pep music in the lobby and hallways. Have you ever heard a marching band with drumline play inside an entrance lobby? It is loud. Luckily, if you are a HS student then loud = good. And very loud = superstar. We were superstars. Kids yelling, clapping, dancing. My kids puffed out like little peacocks. Have you ever seen the movie Drumline? My little drum boys playing that cadence thought they could have taken down Grambling State. I had no less than 15 teachers and administrators tell us how wonderful the performance was. Musically the performance was....well....thrown together. But sometimes it's about more than music.
3 comments:
oh, i am so excited about this! and reading the blog is much easier than the cell-phone-drive-and-talk-in-traffic. this is a great moment. our high school marching band had never been to state, and my freshman year we made it and came in next to last, and my senior year we won state... yeah, i'm a band geek. but it's about so much more than the music. way to go! when do i get to come to halftime of a football game and cheer on your marching dragons?
Boy does that take me back! I bet you were so proud of them and their skills. Isn't it amazing how even the most mundane cadence can put a little pep in your step?
Way to go Mrs. Barham!!Those kids will always remember that.
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