Welcome back!
No I haven't gone crazy and started rambling about various literary works of art. The title of today's blog refers to one powerhouse weekend we spent with the grade 2 band, Jake Watson (Peel), and John Fisher (Spirit of Scotland).
What a great and educational experience!
Friday night Wes and I poured over material with these fellas getting into tunes, expression, and tempos. This set us up perfectly for the 9 am rehearsal saturday morning with the whole grade 2 band.
We were at the elmwood legion. In the basement. Not a big place but comfortable. John and I immediately took the drummers into the back room to start lighting into the music and I don't think I surfaced until 11:30.
Keep in mind this was the first weekend we've seen the whole band.
I walked out of a room with 8 sides in it to find about 21 or 22 pipers crammed around tables on the dancefloor of the legion. What a sight!
I've never played in a band this big, and I was starting to grow concerned about the logistics of controlling this many people. After lunch my worries were put to rest. Thirty people sat around the table and made the first rumblings of music together saturday afternoon. It was as clean and controlled as ever.
I think everyone was as worried about the size of this band as I was. It's very easy for one good joke or something to break it into a great party, we all get along so well. Everyone remained focused though. Then we made some noise.
Now, I've been to the big contests, I saw the Frasers play 30, I've seen corps of 12 and 25 pipers. But saturday we put a huge band together in 50 minutes. Tuned and ready. 21 pipers, we were missing a couple due to colds, 8 sides, 4 tenors, and 1 bass.
What a powerful sound.
It just kept getting better. What an energy to this band. I know Wes and I were so pleased.
It's kind of like a choose your own adventure book. At some point somewhere we chose to jump to a certain page, and here we are today. The little blue band on the prairies with a huge grade 2 band, a wonderful little grade 3 band, a brand spankin new Juvenile band, membership in the 70 to 80's, and years of memories with many more to come.
The grade 2 band is flourishing and I think it's the direction. We know where we're going and what our goals are. People respect that. It gives a purpose to tuesday nights.
We worked so hard this weekend almost everyone was sick tuesday! John led the drum corp and I on a rollercoaster ride to ensemble and exciting, emotional drumming. Jake gave the pipe corp a breathe of air, a new voice, and a wakeup call that we're all in it together, we're all growing together.
We're all going back to basics. Who cares what you can play if you can't hit an attack or nail a cut off? If the tuning slacks harmonies are a killer instead of a treat. We're focused again. Deadly focused.
It's going to be an incredible season. I can feel it. Together there's nothing that can stop us. We've got our work cut out for us, but we're miles ahead of last year. And let's face it, come January in Winnipeg, we might as well practice. It creates warmth.
Sean
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