[musictlk] Marching Band Advice

[Joshua Lester]

Hi, I'm Joshua from AR. My friend Stewart was a blind procussionist in a
marching band. He used the guides like you mentioned. That's a good idea.
Thanks, Joshua

On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:27 AM, <kwakmiso at aol.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
> I'm Miso Kwak.
> I am a blind high school student who plays flute in the school band.
>
> To explain my background,
> I only can see light and things really close to me only when I concentrate,
> and
> I had to transfer school at the second semester of 9th grade.
> In my first high school marching band was mandatory for any student who
> were in in the band program.
> The director was a really nice teacher who knew how to work with a blind
> student,
> however, he was afraid about accidents that might happen if I participate
> in marching,
> and was not sure what would be the best way for me to participate.
> Since it was mandatory for everyone, I didn't want to be only student who
> didn't march.
> After searching we started to use ropes which connected me to a person in
> front of me and back of me.
> I would feel when the person in front of me is moving so I could follow.
> As a result, I had a wonderful fall, participating in local parades and
> football pregame fanfares.
> For half time show I stayed with percussionists since moves were too
> complicated.
> I didn't mind it since I wasn't only student who stayed on the sideline.
>
> In my new school, marching band is not a requirement for every band
> student,
> however marching band counts towards PE credit so I signed up to do it.
> The problem is this school's band director is determined to get at least
> 4th place on marching competitions.
> The director says paperworks will cover my needs so the whole band doesn't
> get points off because of me.
>
> Mostly, students would run the rehersals and they are quite strict about
> step sizes, neatness of lines,
> posture, horn angles, ETC.
> Also, uniform for this school is not structured well enough for the ropes
> because it doesn't have belt loops.
>
> I would like to know if there is any solution for me to try for my
> marching.
> I know that Ohio State School for the Blind has a marching band with
> guiders for each student.
> I think I'll try that method as well.
>
> Thank you for reading a long e-mail, and I would appreciate any advice from
> people who have ideas or have done marching with sighted people.
>
> Miso Kwak
>
>
>
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