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More About My Musical Life and Achievements |
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Fisrt off:
Some people have no idea how hard it is be to be a musician. "Oh you play an instrument and get paid". No. It doesn't work that way. We lean how to play our instrument and then we have to practice to perfect our playing abilities. From there on, your life is a competition. Its always about what group you want to be a part of, whether it be an orchestra to a garage band to a symphony and who is more worthy of that open spot in the group. Unfortunately, there will always be someone better than you, which means we have to practice more. We don't get paid for practicing. Musicians don't have a high paying salary either. Generally we get minimum wage. Minimum wage is not a living wage. Especially out here in California where a hut is worth half a million dollars. My point is, musicians are like teachers: underpaid and underappreciated.
As for the acievement part of the journal; this is what I often look back on when I feel that I'm not prepared or if I'm going through a musical let-down. I'll start from the beginning:
6th Grade:
Fist picked up the flute and cherished it. People called me the assistant director and a prodigy. In March at my first Solo and Ensemble I recieved a superior. At the end of my 6th grade year I was able to play better than most of the 8th graders and I had bought a used saxophone from a co-worker of my moms.
7th Grade:
Officially became the classes warm-up director. 7 minutes into class I'd start the warm up and whoever wasn't ready or was talking got in trouble later. I didn't like having that kind of power, I was afraid that I'd lose trust in my classmates and I'd be feared instead of respected. I also made it into the jazz band (eighteen 8th graders, three 7th graders) and recieved several superiors. At Solo and Ensemble, I participated 3 times. One solo, and was the leader of two trios. Straight superiors across the board. Tried out for the All County Honors Band and became the 7th best flute player in the county. Went to band camp that summer and picked up the piccolo and clarinet and played 4 different instuments in 6 different bands at the concert.
8th Grade:
Still the warm-up director, but also an assistant director. Whenever our director had to take a phone call or grade practice journals I was chosen to direct actual songs and fix mistakes within the band. Became the best flute player in the school and section leader. Put together a before school Wind Ensemble and recieved straight superiors at festival, as did the Symphonic Band. Still in Jazz Band, but now 2nd chair alto sax. Tried out for South-Area Honors Band and recieved 1st chair and had a long solo at the concert. Tried out for the All County Honors Band again and became 5th best in the county. At Solo and Ensemble I had to drop my solo due to my additional 3 ensembles (which all recieved superiors). At band camp I was section leader in their new Wind Ensemble and played piccolo in addition to flute.
9th Grade:
At the beginning of the school year, I was put in our schools Concert Band and Jazz Band, the two lowest standing bands in the music program. But I was performing in both and that made me happy so I wasn't complaining. I had several duets in-class and my friend Kevin and I switched off first and second chair. I became one of 4 representatives of the concert band in the band counsel, and the only remaining one to this day. Then second semester comes along, and my band director moves five freshmen to the senior band, something that has NEVER happened before. I remember when I read the email that our band director emailed the 5 of us, I practically dropped my laptop because I was shaking so much. Once in the Wind Ensemble, we became selected (out of all bands in America) to perform at the pre-show of the 2008 Olympics in Bejing China! I was freaking out and running around my house jumping up and down screaming "I'm going to China!!!" I was an assistant director at football games and helped put together the bake sales there. Also a member of the Guys and Dolls Pit Orchestra for the fall musical and played 4 instruments (that was a pain... but I loved it nonetheless)
10th Grade: (Thats this year!)
5th chair in Wind Ensemble playing flute, 1st chair alto saxophone in both the jazz band and in the pit orchestra for this years musical, "Urinetown". (Yes urine as in pee; there's a water shortage and there are no such things as private toilets anymore. You have to pay to use public restrooms, and the story from what I can tell is pretty much Les Miserables but in the future. There's a rebellion and all of that kind of stuff...) If there aren't any seniors that are going to conduct at the football games, then eventually it'll get to the point when he asks everyone else in the class and who'd like to conduct. I'll probably volunteer ^^; I'm also taking AP Music Theory this year, and its freaking HARD! I've been playing music since elementary school and I don't understand half of the stuff we talk about in class. And get this: we have to SING on our AP exams! We start off every day sight singing out of a book, then we go to our rhythm books, and then dictation and then classwork/checking homework. Our teacher assigned 9 workbook pages last weekend and I was able to do half of 3 of them, and the textbook is a college book and even though I am an advanced reader I'm having trouble understanding it. I'll continue to update this later with more news. 2/9/07-I'm a member of the In-Concert performers, and I'm working in an orchestra now as the only flute player. Therefore, anything I play is a solo xD
 flute.soloist · Fri Jul 07, 2006 @ 10:20pm · 0 Comments |
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