Monday, July 14, 2008

"This one time, at Band Camp..."

There were no hi-jinx at Darling Daughter's Band Camp last week. It was taught by the high school band teacher. It was held at our old Town Hall, which was built in 1870.

What I didn't realize was that at the end of Band Camp week, there would be an evening concert, upstairs at the old town hall. It's very historical ,and a pretty interesting building, but of course it was about 900 degrees up there. Here's a few photos taken with my crappy high tech cell phone camera:




Let me point out the finer details....

And look who I was lucky enough to sit next to:


Darling Daughter has been in band since 4th grade. She's had four years of band and let me tell you, the difference between Beginning Band and four years later is HUGE. It actually sounds like music after this many years!

However, this 'camp' was open to band students from 4th through 8th grade. There were five 8th graders (including Darling Daughter) and about eleventy-seven beginning band students. You could tell which songs the kids really liked, because those were the ones they obviously practiced at home, and you could recognize the songs. The one they played the best was the theme song to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I tried to upload to You Tube, but the sound came through really weird and obnoxious. (Are you are thinking, how could I tell the difference?)

Daughter plays clarinet pretty well, she's come a long way and I'm proud of her. This summer, her teacher wanted her to take on playing the bass clarinet, which is a mighty big, heavy instrument. It's so big it sits on the floor. Here's another crappy fine shot with my cell phone camera:



It looks like this:




But it always makes me think of this:

And since I always think of the above instrument, of course I have to make this sound...





Which totally ticks off Darling Daughter. But that's part of the fun.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's what mother's are for...LOL

Susan said...

My son has played clarinet for three years. What a change from the first couple of weeks, when he couldn't get any noise to come out of it, followed by the weeks of high-pitched squeals, to now.

He also plays some other instruments and his sister does music and dance. How many hours do you figure we music/dance moms spend in hot, crowded rooms watching other people's children perform?

I love it, though!

Anonymous said...

I played clarinet from the time I was in third grade all the way through high school. I loved it. I played B flat clarinet until 10th grade and I switched to E flat, which is about half the size of the B flat. DD might want to try the small version on the B flat.

Melisa Wells said...

Ha! I used to do that, too. LOVE the Ricola commercials!

foolery said...

You're so funny. I can just hear you singing the Ricola chant and your daughter yelling, "MO-O-O-OMMMMM! THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

I started on the clarinet, tried other instruments before moving to oboe. It became my main instrument, but I played tenor sax for jazzier numbers (read: non-nerd stuff).

I recommend the sax for jazz or marching band, and consider the oboe? Now much competition for first chair, lots of solos, and very lightweight! The reeds are a b****, however.

Reeeeeeecola . . . :)

As Cape Cod Turns said...

Not musical at all, sadly enough. I would, however, make my kids listen to their sibling play music and take away the game boys. The town hall looks like it has some cool history!

Anonymous said...

I was in the band through college. Band actually paid for a good portion of my higher education.

I play(ed) the flute & piccolo, though I also played the other wind instruments when I got bored.

My parents were crazy enough to let me travel away to band camp. I was in high school, though. I truly had a great time, though I desperately try not to start any stories with One Time? At Band Camp?