Some are born to be sports champions and pop stars, cowboys and supermodels. Some were destined for greatness.
Some were born to be in marching band.
The band nerd is a strange, elusive creature. Often traveling in packs about campus, propelled jerkily forward by the weight of bulky instrument cases. If you're not musically inclined, don't even try to understand their humor. Jokes about fermatas and embouchure techniques are better off unexplained.
In the Winter, they're pale from long hours in practice rooms, poring over complex manuscripts of hastily-scribbled notations. In the Summer, they willingly wrap their skin the the suffocating embrace of wool coats and double-lines pants, sticking a bundle of feathers in their leather hats and calling it tradition. They readily submit to fashion faux-pas (i.e. white shoes, black socks, purple pants) for the sake of a social scene quite separate from convention. Sock tans and neck-strap tans are legit.
Not to memtion that in every band rehersal, there's a string of perfect "That's what she said" moments waiting the conductor's excited instructions to play harder, faster, and louder.
They're a zany bunch. They make beautiful, sweet music together. And in case I forgot to mention, spend way too much time doing so.
My best memories from middle school to high school were from the concert and marching bands, and the people who shared my passion for music. I can look at a musician and often guess their instrument based on their personality and mannerisms. I conduct to pop music while waiting at red lights, I roll my heels when carrying heavy loads. From the Golden Band in the fall to Bengal Brass in the spring, band has defined my first-year experience in college. I was even initiated into the LSU band service fraternity this past Thursday. As I've come this far, my memories and experiences have been bound to this sole, substantial truth:
There's no friend like a band friend.
And no matter how bad the times get, I have my music and my French horn to turn to.
The first time my friends called me a band nerd, I cried. In 6th grade, that kind of peer pressure makes life rough for the socially awkward. Now, I have a blue-ribbon, big-band smile waiting. I've come to terms with my my quirky affinity for band kids. It has made me who I am today.
At 19, I'm no longer riding out the stereotype of the band nerd-- I'm embracing it.
Some were born to be in marching band.
The band nerd is a strange, elusive creature. Often traveling in packs about campus, propelled jerkily forward by the weight of bulky instrument cases. If you're not musically inclined, don't even try to understand their humor. Jokes about fermatas and embouchure techniques are better off unexplained.
In the Winter, they're pale from long hours in practice rooms, poring over complex manuscripts of hastily-scribbled notations. In the Summer, they willingly wrap their skin the the suffocating embrace of wool coats and double-lines pants, sticking a bundle of feathers in their leather hats and calling it tradition. They readily submit to fashion faux-pas (i.e. white shoes, black socks, purple pants) for the sake of a social scene quite separate from convention. Sock tans and neck-strap tans are legit.
Not to memtion that in every band rehersal, there's a string of perfect "That's what she said" moments waiting the conductor's excited instructions to play harder, faster, and louder.
They're a zany bunch. They make beautiful, sweet music together. And in case I forgot to mention, spend way too much time doing so.
My best memories from middle school to high school were from the concert and marching bands, and the people who shared my passion for music. I can look at a musician and often guess their instrument based on their personality and mannerisms. I conduct to pop music while waiting at red lights, I roll my heels when carrying heavy loads. From the Golden Band in the fall to Bengal Brass in the spring, band has defined my first-year experience in college. I was even initiated into the LSU band service fraternity this past Thursday. As I've come this far, my memories and experiences have been bound to this sole, substantial truth:
There's no friend like a band friend.
And no matter how bad the times get, I have my music and my French horn to turn to.
The first time my friends called me a band nerd, I cried. In 6th grade, that kind of peer pressure makes life rough for the socially awkward. Now, I have a blue-ribbon, big-band smile waiting. I've come to terms with my my quirky affinity for band kids. It has made me who I am today.
At 19, I'm no longer riding out the stereotype of the band nerd-- I'm embracing it.
Marching bands have been in existence since 3000 BCE. The military invented the marching band to train military precision, teach team work, and to entertain. We can speculate the Babylonians or the Romans would make fun of the marching band members, calling them nerds, but I don't think this is the case. I believe that the term 'band nerd' is a recent invention by insecure under achievers who attempt to dominate through the belittlement of others. Musicians are a friendly, social, intelligent, and talented group of achievers who get along best with others like themselves, but are also tolerant of 'nonband nerds'. I was a band nerd 30 years ago and have raised two wonderful band nerd children and one choir nerd. If someone were to do a study of former band nerds 20 years later, I think they would find them to be happy and successful family oriented citizens.
ReplyDelete