The drummers are outdoors, practicing on their wooden drum
stands under the watchful eye of instructor Rasheem Franklin.
Meanwhile, Inside Cicely Tyson School's Band
Room, the band has assembled for some practice. We will hear how
much they have improved since last week at the end of the
article.
Photo by Elijah Goode
Soon, Mr. Goode pushes back the chairs and shows some lines
which have been stuck to the floor with Gaffer's Tape. He
demonstrates how these will help the marchers with their drill on
the football field. The goal is to train on the lines so that by
the time the summer is over, every band member will be able to
march together with exactly the same distance between each
footstep.
Photo by Elijah Goode
Section by section, the band members all take a
turn until Mr. Goode is certain they know how to practice on the
lines. It looks like fun, but it is serious business. As Mr.
Goode explains to the band, the audience will be watching the
band to see which members do NOT keep in step. If they see the
entire band marching in step without a stand-out "weak
marcher" they will judge the band's perfection on that
basis. He wants no one to stand out as a "weak member."
Outside, the drummers have collected their drums
and are now practicing "for real". The video below
shows how they have made progress since the first day of camp.
Earlier in the morning the drumline worked out
on their wooden practice stands. Now they have their drums and
are putting in some time with "Stick Tricks" and
"Forming the Line" as shown in the above Video, which
is also available on YouTube
HERE.
It is the last hour of Band Camp for this week
and the band has now gathered together all instruments and
players to see what they can put together for the first football
game of the fall season. Compared to last year's Band Camp at the
end of two weeks, this group sounds pretty good, as we'll hear
from the video at the end of the story.
But first, let's look at the entire band
starting on the conductor's left, flutes and trumpets. In the
back row, on the right, is a new alumni from last year's band,
Khalil Welch. He dropped by and wanted to help and ended up being
one half of the trumpet section for the day. We don't know what
happened to the other trumpet players. Maybe it's a special
holiday for trumpet players.
You'll hear a lot of sound coming from the
center section of the band this year. The trombone section is
playing well together and they blend in nicely with the baritones
and tuba.
The tenor saxophones also have a lot to offer
and they also play well together.
Photo by Al-Quadir Marsh
On the conductor's far right are the
mellophones. They get to play the melody today because of the
missing trumpets, but Lloyd Tomlinson, section leader (standing
in the front) always gets a lot of solos.
So give a listen and see if you can predict
whether the band will be ready for the first game on September tenth.
