I want to take a minute (well, two whole posts, really...) to focus on each of them and describe how both have, perhaps surprisingly, stuck with me. This post is dedicated to the highlight of my Thursday nights - the Mid America Freedom Band!
To set the scene, I knew from age 10 that I wanted to play flute (that's 14 and three-quarters years ago, for those keeping score at home). From watching my older brother play in our school's band, I figured out that a) I wanted to play that, and b) I wanted to be good at it. When it was finally my turn I immediately chose the flute. (I dabbled in French Horn territory, but that was mainly to appease my mother who was skeptical that I had chosen my path in less than 10 minutes. I tend to be indecisive...)
I sat first chair from 6th-8th grade (not that that reeeally counts for much... we had boys making cow sounds through the trumpet mouthpieces at concerts...) and then paid my dues through high school. I was the quintessential band nerd! I marched to music in department stores (much like this xkcd comic), took private lessons, went on the band bus on the band trips, and yes, went to band camp and heard all of the jokes (admitting to playing flute at band camp was different after that movie...) and LOVED every band-y part of it.
In college I switched to drums for marching band (read: there are older, college boys who think drummer girls are hot!). The trouble was, I wasn't a music major and the band ate up hours out of the week that I had to devote to other schoolwork. After 2 seasons I had to bow out.
All that was to try to explain my excitement when, last summer, a friend and I started talking about how we miss playing in a band and then wound up IN one a month later!
The MAFB is Kansas City's GLBT (+allies!) community band which happens to be made up of a very welcoming group of talented individuals who truly want to enjoy making good music together. And they are FUN - our first concert ("OUT in Space" ... get it??) we wore costumes and crazy makeup for the second half. One of the directors wore a Luke Skywalker outfit.
MAFB has helped me see how much I can grow and how much better I can be when I really work at something. Take tonight for example: instead of sitting down and watching tv while doing my laundry, I whipped out my music and actually (gasp!) practiced!
I have this sense of pride in our work. I don't want to let the group down or be the weakest link. It's powerful to me that no one has to be there, and yet everyone cares so much about the success and image of the band. The other flute player is also very good and therefore provides a mental challenge for me to improve.
So, thanks to a little number on my little list, my Thursday nights are dedicated to me actually DOING something with my time. I'm developing myself and my skills. I'm being productive!
Oh, and btw, we have a concert this Saturday!
It's gonna be a good one!
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