Inner Peace Is For Losers

On Saturday we drove up to Elk Rapids for the district band festival. My daughter plays percussion in her school band. They played 3 pieces, and then went to a separate room for sight reading. They are given two pieces of music, and they get thirty seconds to look at it. Then the band director gets 3 minutes to coach them, and then they play it.

I was pretty amazed. The practiced stuff sounded great, and it's always awesome (in a real sense) to see my kid do something I can't. Couldn't, ever. Probably. It was enlightening to compare her school's band to other schools. But the most amazing thing was the sight reading. They played those pieces like they'd practiced them. In unison, got the notes and the stops and everything right.

All this stuff is scored. I-IV, with I being highest. And they don't just toss around I's to make the kids feel good. Some of those schools got IV's. Ours got straight I's.

And there was not a mention of this in the local paper. I gotta admit, it irritates me. School sports teams, whether outstanding or mediocre, get write-ups regularly. Music programs get zip. The music programs in our town are outstanding, and it's not just me saying so. They've got the scores and awards to prove it.

So, congratulations to the TC bands and orchestras, and good luck at the state festival.