My OperaDrill...Charts?!
Sunday, November 25, 2007 7:52:17 PM
There was something about the marching band that I had, before this point, never realized. That was that in order to learn the places to be at the times to be there, you needed a guide of some sort. I thought we would use a map or something in the shape of a football field with little dots on it. I didn't know that it was all summarized on a 4 inch by 6 inch sheet of paper with words on it; words and numbers that somehow just told you where to be and when to be there. Yes, at first it was a very confusing matter.
Then came memorization. Memorization was in itself is the trickiest task a marcher experiences. Sure, you can use little markers, such as an oil stain or gum stuck on the ground, to get where your going on the parking lot. You just have to remember how many steps it took to get there, how big or little the steps were, how fast the tempo was (or, of course, how slow), your posture as you marched, your roll steps, facing the sideline at all times, and the music. You could never forget the music.
But the most important thing any marcher had to remember was this: You can't always rely on the oil stains and the gum on the ground to get where you were going because sooner or later you will be marching on a regular football field, and you will be so nervous that you may indeed forget everything you had learned. But what you did on that parking lot didn't matter. You either memorized everything on the lot and did 100% perfect on the field or you used those oil stains, and you used those dried pieces of gum in order to find your place on that parking lot...
In which you forgot everything on the field. And that's exactly what I did at that first football game...
to be continued...
Then came memorization. Memorization was in itself is the trickiest task a marcher experiences. Sure, you can use little markers, such as an oil stain or gum stuck on the ground, to get where your going on the parking lot. You just have to remember how many steps it took to get there, how big or little the steps were, how fast the tempo was (or, of course, how slow), your posture as you marched, your roll steps, facing the sideline at all times, and the music. You could never forget the music.
But the most important thing any marcher had to remember was this: You can't always rely on the oil stains and the gum on the ground to get where you were going because sooner or later you will be marching on a regular football field, and you will be so nervous that you may indeed forget everything you had learned. But what you did on that parking lot didn't matter. You either memorized everything on the lot and did 100% perfect on the field or you used those oil stains, and you used those dried pieces of gum in order to find your place on that parking lot...
In which you forgot everything on the field. And that's exactly what I did at that first football game...
to be continued...
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