Last night I went to a band rehearsal for the first time in 18 years -
if you don't count my short stint in Stanford Band, (which I don't).
I don't have a clarinet yet, although I played for 8 years (5th thru
12th grade) in VC. So it was sight reading and "air clarinet" last
night. (this is a link to a music store they recommended, I'm also checking out a used horn on Friday).
It was the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, which meets at Lowell High
School in SF. My new friend Claudia told me about this on Saturday -
she plays flute and piccolo and really enjoys the band and loves the
director.(and like me, she is "straight but not narrow" and married).
I was surprised at how homey it all felt from the years I spent
sitting in the clarinet section all through school.
The band room, while a bit more deluxe than VCHS', still felt the
same: similar layout with storage for instruments and rooms to
practice lining the walls, podium for the conductor, etc.
Clarinets sitting in the same place - to the conductor's left. Almost
as numerous as the VCHS horde of clarinets- at least 10 I counted just
at this one rehearsal.
I first sat in the section leader's chair while I waited for him to
show up, and then moved to the row behind, and eventually sat in a
chair behind the back row and looked over people's shoulders as more
clarinets showed up.
The music seemed doable and the fingering came back to me as I sight
read, except for some of the sharps and flats. (the high b flat? The
really low e flat? ???)
Some of the songs were easier than others, but the band themselves
were still working the hard ones out so I did not feel weird.
Jadine, the director, seems really awesome. I love Mr. Bowen, but this
is obviously a level above, even just on the basic level that we are
all adults who are voluntarily here to play music (and hopefully get
better).
Very impressed by her direction in dynamics (piano vs forte, etc) and
in trying to get the group to listen to each other as a live band.
In high school somehow I never thought of us as playing off each other
and changing our style to fit the live performance like a jazz band.
I just thought we all had our parts, and if we all play in the right
time, it would sound ok.
There's a whole other level here - for example: she tells two sections
playing a syncopation in response: "just listen to each other - don't
try to count it."
She also had 7 instruments play a part of a song where they all come
in a beat after the last, and asked the group to listen and try to
count the voices.
Afterward she said that it was not as important what she asked us to
listen for, the important thing was that we generally listen better
when listening for something.
I briefly felt like I was in a Glee episode when I first got to the
school and 3 cheerleader/yell team types were hanging out outside. One
was wearing red which reminded me of the Cheerios!
I had some trouble getting in before I called Claudia, because the
front doors were locked. It turns out there is a side door that they
use- she came out and got me (and nicely dropped me off at San Bruno
Bart afterwards).
