As covid restrictions continue to ease, we can now reduce the procedures we have had in place since the start of the pandemic. Additional spacing requirements for instruments have been removed as is the need to clean everything before and after rehearsal, however two parts remain; the need to sign in is still required and the vigilance/self determination associated with any symptoms of covid…if you feel ill…. stay home, get tested and be sure you are ok, it only takes one slip up and we will once again be locked down and unable to function.
Our ensemble time last night was a few brave souls revisiting our marching band. I had hoped to meet outside as this is probably our last chance under daylight savings conditions but inclement weather stopped that. Despite not having any marches in the near future, I think it’s important that we don’t lose the skills we have acquired and last night was a good opportunity to iron out confusion over commands and work towards improving our on parade skills. Remember, marching band is open to all. If you can’t take your instrument on parade for any reason, we will find a suitable alternative for you.
The state test pieces have been published and we are looking forward to a return to live performances this year. I will be working with Harold to select the most suitable works for us and then we can get stuck into developing our performance. It is noticeable, we are missing the ends of phrases far too often, by that I mean the release of notes on time, there are always a few stragglers holding the phrase a little longer and that gives us a ragged release….. ensuring we count through the phrase is vital and in slower works, subdividing the beat by thinking..1 and 2 and etc will help keep the release together. Dynamics will always be an issue to work on, it’s great to see in many cases we are observing the changes, but, often we don’t make the changes obvious enough, in other words the sorts need to be softer and the crescendos need to grow more…. good bands can play soft…great bands can play soft, loud and seamlessly change between the two.
Murray