I guess it was just one of those days. Or rather, it is one of those days, seeing as the day hasn't ended yet. First off, I woke up early to get to jazz. It was cold in the house, but I still dragged myself out. Normally, I have no problem with this. But I ended up having to wait for my mom to get out of bed, get dressed, have her morning coffee, read the papers, check her email, yadda yadda yadda until we were finally in the car and on our way to rehearsal.
For the rest of the day, the sky was seriously overcast- not a stream of sunlight to be seen. It was a dark, grey day, and it didn't help my mood at all. To top it all off, I'm still rather sleep-deprived, making me grumpy and short-tempered, although I tried to hide that as much as possible.
What really bothered me today was the way our school's ensembles behaved in rehearsals. (WARNING: major rant coming up.)
Let's start with the Wind Ensemble. Sure, we might have a good sound... when we're focused. Sure, we might be able to learn music quickly... if only we used that ability. But you know what? None of that matters when we haven't an ounce of good musicianship in our ensembly bones. People talked before playing, between songs, even during pieces, which I found most disrespectful. And when conducted to stop, it took about a minute or two before everyone finally put down their instruments. Yet after that, people continued to talk. It was a rehearsal where nothing got done. It's obvious that almost no one has been practising (and I mean REALLY practising, not just blowing hot air towards their practise logs.) It was a complete waste of my time.
What disturbed me most about Wind Ensemble was- and it really kills to say this- the percussion section. My own section. Usually, I pride myself on having the best-behaved and the closest-knit section in the school. We usually have all of our music printed and learned, we have sectionals, we have our fun moments, and we even have cookie days sometimes. But this year? This year, people are slacking. Music isn't getting learned- it isn't even getting printed! Percussionists are getting lazy as well. No, you don't sit down during the rests between the notes you play, you're a percussionist- stand up and play like you mean it. And NO, you most DEFINITELY do NOT play while sitting down. WATCH the conductor. LISTEN to the ensemble. BALANCE your sound. AND SO ON.
I realize that I'm being unreasonably tough on the section, but this isn't what the Bayview Music Department senior percussion section is like. Over the years, I've become accustomed to the high level of performance and musicianship between the section. This year is a total let-down. I've come to expect excellence- and I still do.
After Wind Ensemble was Jazz Choir rehearsal. Every week since it has started, I've left Jazz Choir rehearsal wanting to shoot myself. The Jazz Choir has always been the elite choir of the school. It's always been composed of the seniors, and it's the group that inspires. This year, the same group is struggling with simple rhythms, jazz feels, and even keeping in tune and in time. (Have you ever heard the joke about singers not needing to tune? THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE TO!) The singers are new- grade 10s and 11s without singing background or experience, students who aren't at the level expected of the usual Jazz Choir. Worse yet, the teacher in charge this year has no experience in jazz at all. The music choices aren't good, the accompanists have no clue what they're doing, and frankly, neither does the conductor. Like with Wind Ensemble, we are getting nowhere.
I was literally THISCLOSE to just walking out on both ensembles today. Those of you who know me will know how big of a deal that is. But really, with the level that the ensembles are at and at the rate we're progressing, this is all just a waste of my time.
ttyl. :)
P.S- It's more like D:< today. I apologize for ranting, and being so hard on the ensembles, but really? We could be so much better. This level of performance and musicianship disgusts me. (For those individuals who really do practice and work hard, please realize that I mean the ensembles in general. Not you guys.)
It's okay to rant, no need to apologize. We all need to sometime or another. I feel that you're right. Although I've only been in the senior ensemble for two years, at this time, it seems that the ensemble we had last year was more focused. This year, people don't practice, don't pay attention, don't stay quite, don't even show up. Sure, we might be more talented now, but I think we've gotten cocky. Perhaps it's because Mr. Horner told us multiple times that we're the best ensemble this school's ever seen, but that should be no reason for people to slack off. If anything, we should be working harder than ever to keep being the best and not simply raise the bar, but destroy it. Perhaps what we need to do now is lead. Not the whole band, but our own section. If the people that actually are passionate and know what they're doing stand up, soon the group will as well. As for those that are in band to just get Cas hours or just another credit, they'll have to either pull themselves together or get out of the band all together, because they won't be able to stand everyone sounding so much better than them. I think the band is better than this and knows better than this. We need to get back to the top.
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