#Also!!! I am going to start playing the oboe as a secondary instrument

[n0b0dyukn0w]

hhhh mate I was just informed that I can join the winter marching band wind ensemble in like a month I'm so exciteddddd

[katatak21]

@taylorswift Music used to mean everything to me when I was a kid. I started playing the clarinet when I was in 7th grade. Half way through the 7th grade I asked our band director if I could challenge into the 8th grade band. He said yes. He gave the last chair and me the same sheet music and a week to practice. I won and took that chair. It fueled my passion to be better, to learn more, so I challenged all the way through the 8th grade band, to the 9th grade band, and made it all the way up to 6th chair overall. I lettered all 3 years in Jr High. I learned to play the piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, saxophone, xylophone, and was taught how to show how to play a correct note on the French horn, trumpet, tuba, and trombone. The 3 - 2nd places I won were playing with a small group I never practiced with or even knew the music we were going in to play, and was asked two minutes before to fill in for someone that was missing. So, I went from playing my clarinet one minute, to playing the bass clarinet the next. I won’t ever forget how hard it was for my mouth to adjust so quick.

Going in to 9th grade marching band, I knew I wanted to be a drum major, but I also had a secondary plan that if I didn’t make it as a drum major, I was going to try out for flags. As a captain. I had never even been on a flag line before. My older sister was the captain two years before me. She would not help me practice, and she wouldn’t help me with my captain routine. Well, I made a routine myself and tried out for the flag line first, and made it. Then I tried out for captain, and since I had never been on th flag line, they assigned me as the co-captain. But I wanted to be the drum major. I wanted to lead the band. A week later they held the clinics and then tryouts were that Friday. We had to do various drills, marching, show correct notes on various instruments, and write an essay. I was selected as a drum major, alongside another, male, drum major. Yes, he’s still my friend.

That summer we were all sebt to, yes, band camp. We were put through drum major clinics and at the end of that week, all drum majors were to compete against everyone in the state to see who was the best overall drum major. My co-drum major chickened out right before our turn. At first I was freaked out, and then I decided I could win it on my own. All of the other schools had two drum majors. The judges were shocked that I wanted to still compete. The gym was packed with people, and the other teams, and I walked out to the center, by myself, and waited for them to tell me to start the drills. I did every single drill, to include a routine I made up myself. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but I am not a quitter. I won best overall. I gave my trophy to the band directors as a reminder that even if everyone else is afraid, that one person alone can still rise above!

I wound up leaving band at the end of my sophomore year in high school. The band director and I did not get along. She was not a very nice person. I still have my clarinet. Sometimes I take it out and play a bit, and then put it away again. I miss the part of creating music and feeling the beat become part of your body.

I suppose that’s one of the reasons I love your songs so much. I can close my eyes and think of those moments in life that feel like the heartbeat of music. Well, plus you can sing like no one else!

I attached a picture of my plaque that’s pretty beat up. Maybe one day I’ll really play again...