A Peek..

Last year I would sometimes go to the last 1/2 hour of band practice.  This year Scott started doing the same thing.   It is neat to get a peek at what the band is doing and see the stages it takes to the final performance.

This is only part of the band... I could not fit them all in.  

The instruments all lined up so neatly....

and why the instruments are there and not here is because they are working on the marching formation.  They learn the music and steps separately.  Look for Jordan- he is wearing the black SF Giants shirt.  Those who are not pretending to hold instruments are Color Guard.  Others out of formation are instructors.

So Cool!  We love seeing Jordan being so happy... he loves being in the marching band and in our little city this is a "cool" thing to do.   Our two high schools both have great marching bands-- they both compete in different categories-- we compete at field shows and the other competes in parades.   Jordan's band performs at the home football games for practice, hometown spirit and entertainment.  They then have about 5 competitions they compete in, including finals.   Football halftime performances are about a 1/3 of what they do for competition.    

 I explain all that because I was clueless... I thought the band was just for hometown parades and halftime shows.   Oh no... it is so much more then that.  This is a sport that these kids dedicate a season to.  They work really hard physically-- they need to be in shape to be able to endure what they do in hot uniforms.   Quote from WBA competition that I saw on another bands t-shirt.  "If marching band was easy... it would be called football"    We have a few guys who do both marching band and football--- I will have to ask them which is harder?