What do you play?

The meat flute

The trumpet. I'll be having a rough time....

How much of that are you actually playing? I mean, oboes don't march, so those sections will be cut. 25 minutes is also far too long. I don't know what the rules are where you live, or even if your band competes, but in New York, we had 12 minutes max to play music, and I believe 15 minutes from the moment we stepped on the field to be done.

Also, if you do compete, don't expect high scores. My band tried doing music like this. We did Armenian Dances, but the judges didn't buy it

^^and I played trumpet too. DM and section leader for 2 years

what kind of horn do you have?

You are posting too frequently, please slow down.

No I am not. shuttup

@goldfinger: We have an arrangement that the Drum Major wrote and it's about 19 minutes long. I don't know what the limit is, but I assume it's below it....we actually have a group of very talented musicians in our class, so we should expect a
"Superior" rating at the All VA High School band Competition. Which is fairly difficult to get, but if we can learn the actual marching part a little better, we might get a high score. We might not...

Just a regular horn for a Bb Trumpet...I also would like to say that I'm pretty awesome...Fourth Chair in freshman year....

What our all-time competitors will be playing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oSTyWYGJ6E

Oh, well you're pretty close to me then. I'm in DC at the moment. I play a Shilke B2. Great horn. I mean, it depends on how you play, but the Stradivariouses didn't do anything for me.

And it depends on your school and the players in it. My trumpet section freshman year was 28 people, and the top 4 all got perfect scores on their all-state solos. I mean, congrats on being 4th, but keep context in mind. Kinda like you could be #1 in your class, but it doesn't really mean all that much if your graduate with 80 ppl compared to, say 500 people.

Best of luck with you marching season. Become a DM, its an amazing experience

I didn't march, as marching was for the mediocre players (and I wasn't about to take a professional Bach trombone on a marching field), but these are a few pieces we played in Jazz Band (I was lead 'bone Junior and Senior years).

Kenton's Chiapas (awesome 'bone solo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBeCf1AkcXw

Kenton's MacArthur Park (another great lead 'bone part (not really a solo though))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA0Iat3AdN8

Kenton's Malaguena (yet another great lead 'bone solo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiJDUi3hdrQ

Kenton's Malaga (the last of the Kenton pieces with a lead 'bone solo we played)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEt13RIL0ko

Ferguson's Chameleon (just f'ing fun)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SYDO3YE2AI

Ferguson's version of Weather Report's Birdland (also f'ing fun (and a great 'bone line))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idGvKFbYgI4

Yeah, I didn't march with my Shilke, I had a crappy Conn that I used.

Malaguena, Chameleon and birdland are all classics, I approve haha. I was terrible at soloing, but alright as lead. I don't quite have the range for it, so I guess I'm really built to be 3rd trumpet in jazz haha

lol ah yes i was a section leader in marching band as well. we were pretty intense... it was kind of like the army or something lol

I did "pep band" for basketball games (more casual and fun after school only), symphonic band (played 1st chair French Horn cause there were no other French Horn's my senior year :) and played Bass Trombone Soph and Junior year because, well, I owned one...), was first chair in Concert band all but Sophomore year (had a really good Senior who was lead in all the bands on 'bone my Soph year), did lead or second 'bone all 4 of the spring musicals, and of course Jazz Ensemble.

The only time I marched was Freshman year because the music program had a "Freshman band" and it was the only class-based band Freshmen were allowed in. It marched (unfortunately) at all the frosh football games. I was the third best (of almost a dozen) trombonist (only one senior and the junior who was a senior my soph year ahead of me) in the school my frosh year, but those tools didn't make exceptions for anybody. So all I got to do outside that band was the spring musical where I played my bass trombone.

was opposite for us draug if you sucked you couldnt march - takes a lot of musical skill to be able to put playing in the back burner like that while you concentrate on marching, and visa versa.

football season was marching season, spring was concert season - "sit-down band"

Yeah, it was viewed the same way (fall marching, spring concert) in our school. It was just a few of us who opted to not take marching band in the fall and we liked to pick on the marching band as being second rate. They were actually pretty good, going to an invite only Battle of the Bands in Florida along with us in the Jazz Ensemble (HughesStation was our band's name). But they didn't take State all three years like HughesStation did my Soph through Senior years. We accompanied the drill team all three years and only had one competition in the three years that we *didn't* win outright. I miss playing with that band. That would be the *only* reason I would ever go back and relive high school.

I, too, was a Trumpet player, and damn good (turned down an awfully good music school to pursue engineering). I had no adlib abilities in jazz band, but marching band solo's were always pre-written, and I had impressive range. Senior year, we played the james bond theme, all of which was above the bar, up to a double G, I think because I was able to pull it off (standing still... I couldn't get up there while trying to march). Did it all with a B-flat (Bach Strad). Also have a 4 valve B-flat and A (interchangeable) piccolo trumpet, and in college marching band, we occasionally played herald trumpets for the traditional intro fanfare to pregame at UC.
Never did get a C horn, because I learned how to transpose in the symphonies on my B-flat, so trying to relearn transposing on a C would be another learning curve I didn't want to take.

Draug, where'd you go to school?

ack, nevermind. Thought you went up to school around here, not fl draug...

Marching was mandatory if you wanted to play in the orchestra and jazz band where I went to high school. I was thrown out of both for not marching at halftime of football games, even though I was on the football team.

went to school in Indiana. marched for the top marching band in the nation. played all low brass instruments, but primary was trombone. marching was mandatory if you wanted to be in the top wind ensemble, but there were ways to get around it lol.

@goldfinger: Perfect score at all District, but didn't quite make all VA. There are twelve trumpets in the Symphonic band and about fourty in the concert band. I'm first chair in Concert band, but we only have two remotely good players, so that doesn't add to much.

@Fortknox - I did go to school up here. Lakota High in West Chester, Class of 84. The Battle of the Bands was a national invite, not some local thing. There were bands from all over the states there.

And yeah, technically, Marching band was a requirement, but if you didn't want to and had the skills... Let's just say the band director had final say and could override that rule at his discretion.

Atom: For my senior year competition, I played Arban's "Carnival of Venice". Try it. With a lot of practice you'll at least learn some fantastic technique (like good double tonguing and triple tonguing). Don't freak out on the last movement, play it at half (or even less) speed and work up to full speed.

@Draug: You are a ton older than I ;)
I went to pickerington (columbus) for frosh/sophomore year and turpin junior/senior year. Graduated in 95, though.

Yeah, I'm, 45 to your 34. And my wife is 56. She graduated from Sycamore (Blue Ash) in '73. I have a nephew your age. My wife's nephew, but still...