Making all district band by Elizabeth Danco

Last year I decided to try out to district band. Since it was my first year going I didn’t know what to expect. The try outs was at forest middle school one of the best music programs in the district. I was the only 8^th grade clarinet going so I wanted to make my school proud.

Preparing for it was hard because you have 8 scales to memorize, chromatic scale, prepared piece, and a sight reading piece.  You have to be pretty precise on all of the categorizes to get in.  My clarinet teacher Theresa said “As long as you play with great tone and keep going no matter what you will make it.”   That gave me a lot of confidence knowing that she thought I could make it in.

When the day came to go try out I was super nervous. I remember I was shaking so much they could have been mistaken as maracas.   We got on the bus for a two hour drive all the way to Forest Middle School. The bus ride was fun I had a lot of my friends from band going. We played a bunch of games and sang songs until we got there.

Once we got there we had to sign in. Everyone got a number mine was C-57. It was a long waiting process they only called 10 numbers at a time so I knew I was going to be here for a while. Waiting was both fun and nerve racking. We played countless rounds of heads up and tried to play each other’s instruments. I really didn’t get scared of having the possibly of not making it when one of friends brother came back into the waiting room crying.

When they called my number I felt hundreds of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I went through the school which felt like a long maze to get to the warm up room. The warm up room was my last chance to go over anything before seeing the judges. There was four other girls in the room. The sound of the other girl’s clarinets was making me even more nervous and feeling like I wouldn’t have a chance at making it. Finally we all got called out in to the audition hallway.

They had two rooms you had to audition in scales and prepared and sight reading pieces. After waiting for like 10 minutes they finally called my name for the scales room. The person that was judging me happened to be my student teacher from 7^th grade so it was nice to hear a voice that I have heard before. The first scale was B flat scale which was easy felt pretty good. The second scale was the F scale which was another easy scale. The judge said “play you’re final scale the A scale.” As I was playing I felt pretty confident but then I missed a note and it completely messed up the scale. I kept thinking oh no I not going to make it now. Thankfully I redeemed myself with the chromatic scale.

            The prepared piece and sight-reading room was probably the easiest. The prepared piece is about 90 measures and it has rhythms and notes that you need to know to get in. I messed up a little bit in the beginning but the rest of the piece went well. Sight-reading I was worried for since it one of my weak spots in music. When I opened the folder to proofread it for 30 seconds I calmed down a little bit. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Waiting for the results was so long. It felt like I was waiting for months before I would see if I made it. Finally they put up the results. People crowded over it seeing if their name was on the list. When I got up there and saw my name under 10^th concert chair I was so happy and relieved I made it.

Making all district band gave me a confidence that I never had. I don’t regret spending my whole day going to Forest Middle School to go try out. This experience will never be forgotten.