[musictlk] Marching band in high school

[Dancing Dots]

Hi, Bonnie,

That's exciting news about your daughter joining the marching band.  I did
it myself over 30 years ago.  I did not join until the summer before my
junior year.  Or maybe it was my senior year.  I had been in our concert
band since freshman year but, until joining marching band, had not
participated in football games and parades until that time.  

Our marching instructor and our band director worked with me over the summer
before, during or after group practices to measure my steps.  I think it was
8 strides per 5 yards but it was a long time ago!

I memorized the steps for our drill and listened to the trumpet players on
either side of me as we moved through the drill.  There were certain times
when we found that I needed to touch elbows with the players to my right and
my left but generally I just did my own thing.

It was definitely stressful at times.  But I really wanted to be part of it
all and, in the fall football season, being in the band meant being in the
marching band.  I had only one spectacular accident when I marched right
into a goal post one day but that was at practice!   

My marching band career ended after our final competition in my senior year.
We took second place in the small band division just a tenth of a point
behind the first-place winner.  It was our small high school's very first
marching band competition and we were all happy to have done so well.  

It was not until after the competition that our band director told me that
she had told the judges that there was a blind student in the band.  She did
not tell them who or even what instrument the student played.  After the
show, the judges asked her: "So who was it?"  That made me feel great!

If you have not yet joined the Music Education Network for the Visually
Impaired, I recommend that you do so.  See www.menvi.org for application.  I
am a charter member and one of the MENVI advisors.  Membership is free and
the group does host a listserv and send out periodic newsletters and member
rosters.  The subject of participation in marching band has come up before
and others have related their own experiences including some techniques I
did not use like using very thin cords to attach the blind marcher to the
person on either side of him during a parade. 
 
I'll contact you off-list about the possibilities of incorporating the use
of GOODFEEL into Aubrie's studies.

Regards,
Bill 

Bill McCann 
Founder and President of Dancing Dots since 1992
www.DancingDots.com
Tel: [001] 610-783-6692

-----Original Message-----
From: musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Bonnie Lucas
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 9:11 AM
To: musictlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [musictlk] Marching band in high school

Hello all you Marching Band enthusiists,

Aubrie has decided that she will participate in Marching Band next year when
she starts high school. It will be a great experience as the Centinial High
School Band from Roswell, GA will be performing at the White House in
October. I would like to get as many hints and tips as possible for marching
and playing an instrument at the same time. So, if any parents, teachers or
students have suggestions, I'd love to hear what they are. We have already
spoken with the band director and he seems excited to have her in the Band.
He has been invited to her IEP. I have talked with him about the Goodfeel
music translator and he is willing to try to come up with a grant for that
as well. 
thanks for your help.

Bonnie Lucas
770-992-0484
Cell: 678-480-0864
lucas.bonnie at gmail.com
Bonnie Lucas
770-992-0484
Cell: 678-480-0864
lucas.bonnie at gmail.com
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