Dedication and Commitment

The fall semester is always fascinating to me as a Canadian living in the USA.  Growing up, we never heard of marching bands and never understood the scope and breadth of the shows that are part of the traditions here. 

I feel privileged to teach many wonderful students that participate in marching bands every year, and I value several skills that they learn. Their dedication, camaraderie, teamwork and commitment is something to be admired and recognized.  These students are pulling 16+ hour days on the weekends and working hard during the week. They are sick, overloaded, exhausted, but they still come in every lesson with great attitudes, smiles on their faces and a laudable work ethic. 

I have mixed feelings about marching bands for serious horn players - while many great skills translate, at other times the different instruments, mouthpieces, fingerings and time on the field can make their horn work suffer. However, when I see such dedication and self worth coming off that field into lessons, I know that they have made great decisions being part of such incredible teams. 

Congrats to all my students who participated in Marching Band this season, including
Avon High School mellophone Section 2014 Class A State Champions, 3rd place at Bands of America Grand Nationals
Natalie at Greenwood High School Class B State Champions
Ben Davis mellophones, strong showings all year
and my former students at Centre Grove High School mellophones, Class A 5th Place at State.

My question for all of you is: what are you dedicated to? When you commit, do you go all the way? Being a strong part of a team can give you more rewards than you can ever imagine!