I used to be in a band
I used to be a member of a virtual family. A school band. There were about 60 of us from different age grow groups and when we left school we left that band behind. But not our skills. We were trained to do something that others would love to know how to do. Follow those funny little marks on the page and make music. Just because I could reach out to some former band comrades. I found two of them which is not a large percentage. Of that small number, one of them was still making music but the other had given it up years ago. Not exactly great continuity from the point of a band director. If I put my own experience on the table I have not forgotten anything that I learned but the access to those expensive interests of playing in a band go away. Have you checked the price of a tuba recently? I still have a number of other instruments around the house but even those rarely get a chance to exercise with their friends as the saying goes there are no other people within a stone’s throw that played traditional band music. Even in my own family were three of us received training only one still plays. In keeping with what everyone else does with the skills they learn in school. Music is not alone. Ask yourself the last time you solved a quadratic equation. Do you even remember what that means? So if bands continue it is because of the new people that come in each year. My old school is gone but others in the area have taken up the flame and they can find recorded concerts online. I may not know any of the band members personally but I feel a certain comradeship because we have all been there waiting for our chance to perform. All the while counting the beats and the measures and trying to remember what to do next.
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