Band is a club that requires you to play one or more instruments for sports games, plays, and even more. It can sometimes be stressful when you are playing in a big crowd, which is why I interviewed James Mastin (a freshman) and Semuel Tung (a freshman) about their opinion on band and what worries them.
Currently, James plays the trombone but with an “F” attachment. He further explained that this is like a regular trombone, but with a trigger that allows him to play certain notes in different slide positions. When I asked if he would play a different instrument if he could, he said no because it would take too much time to learn. Right now, the plane assignment is stressing James out the most. The plane assignment is where the teacher selects a chunk of music for them to play with any instrument. Then, whichever instrument they play the best with, that is their instrument for however long they want. James is still not confused on anything yet, except on the high notes on the staff with a bass clef, but it seems like he was not worried by his tone. However, what James is worried about is switching from his 4th block to a bigger class since it has older people. James said, “I think I’ll get used to the classes after a while.” Lastly, I asked him if there is anything that frightens him if he plays his instrument in a big audience. He replied, “Whenever I mess up the notes that only my instrument can play, it kinda scares me.’’
Next, Semuel Tung said that band is going good so far. He said, “I like the pieces for my instrument, how it sounds, and overall, how most of the time it isn’t difficult.” Semuel plays the clarinet, and when I asked if he would change his instrument, he replied, “I would change it into a trumpet because it’s the most similar to the clarinet.” Since band can be very complex, even for experienced people, Semuel said that the notes and rhythm can sometimes be confusing. “However, through repetition, I can ace those problems,” Semuel said. Something that Semuel mentioned is that the people in his class can sometimes be pretty scary. Nevertheless, when I asked him what was scary about playing in a big audience, Semuel sighed and addressed, “In my opinion, I need to be careful of how much air to put into the instrument since it can mess up the sound a lot and squeak.”
Overall, band is a club that requires you to play one or more instruments for events. Both Semuel and James admit that band can be stressful at times; however, they have also learned ways to overcome those issues and to be better for themselves.
