Slide to the left, slide to the right.

First off, I would like to correct a previous post I made.
It was brought to my attention today during our break. Yesterday, the drill down was considered a tie. Jeremy and Bobby were both considered winners.

We had the same situation today. People were slowly picked of, including me. I got out on one of the first commands.
I'm not very good at drill downs.

Any who, two people were left standing. Nick, a trumpet, and Dylan, our resident french horn, had toughed it out until the end. After an insane, literally, amount of commands both of them stood standing. They truly deserved the title of drill down champions.

Mr. Bailey has now introduced rewards for drill downs.
THAT'S RIGHT, YOU CAN WIN FABULOUS PRIZES.
Okay, maybe not fabulous, but nice.

You have your choice of a free scale pass-off, or a free bus ride for away games.
Personally, I'd choose the free scale.
It'll just make the burden a little easier.
Especially if there is one scale, you just can't play right.


On to today's curriculum:
It consisted of review and a new marching fundamental called the 'Slide.'

A slide is much like a flank, but your upper body remains facing forward.
While it may seem uncomfortable and unnecessary compared to the flank, but it serves a much bigger purpose.
While flanked, your instrument is facing away from the audience in the stands, which means that they won't hear it as well as they should.
A slide solves this problem by allowing a marcher to move in a different direction, while simultaneously facing the audience the entire set.



This is the last time I will state this in the blog, because I feel I'm wasting my keystrokes on this subject.
The talking has to cease. It's a matter of respect. By talking while a Band Leader is talking, you are blantantly disrespecting them. Basically, to their face.
I'm sick of it, Luke is sick of it, Mr. Bailey is sick of it, Mrs. Smith is sick of it, and anyone who cares about the wellbeing of the band is sick of it.
Just stop it.


Specially' requested by Tyler,
we have a RANDOM MUSICAL FACT OF THE DAY about trombones:

Did you know that the longest musical piece written for the Trombone is, "Mahler's Third?" It contains the longest trombone solo in musical literature. How long is this solo, you might ask?

32 MINUTES LONG. That's right.
Over half an hour.
So next time you complain about the Nightmare Before Christmas, imagine memorizing a 32 minute long solo.
Jack Skellington won't seem so scary after that.