Concerts

           Concerts they're the things that you work towards. They are the things that not only show your talents, but they show your flaws. Last night I had a concert with Park City's Symphonic Band and their were definitely some flaws show. The percussion I believe, did really well I didn't hear them do anything wrong. The Percussion owned the night, the rest of the ensemble did relatively well, what I depend on to know what the conductor thinks of the band is just to look at his face. Whether it's during the song or right after you will get a visual confirmation of what he thinks. Right after the last song we played was called Earth Dance he mouth the word "awesome" this is a link to what it sounds like on Youtube. Of course we were not as good as that ensemble, but we tried. I think that out of all the pieces that we played that one went the best. It was a pretty easy song in a rhythmic sense, but the real feat was maintaining tone quality and energy throughout the entire song. I'm sure it would of sounded better if we had more than three rehearsals to look at it, but we didn't have the time.
       
          So, I was not 100% happy with our performance, but the Wind Ensemble did an amazing job last night. The music was incredibly challenging and they maintained tone quality and note definition throughout their performance. Although there were some parts I could tell were extremely hard for them they powered through and made the night enjoyable. So, when preparing for a concert you have to make sure that you can play everything in the piece. If you can't then identify what's giving you trouble and work on that part, it seems pretty self explanatory, but there are lots of people that don't know how to practice and get better at their instrument.  Also It's nice to know what the piece sounds like or even have an accompaniment, so it's good to find the music that you are currently playing with your music group and match the playing of the people playing in the video or mp3 you find. If that's not the sound that the group wants then you can amend that sound to fit what your group wants.

            Also If you do base your playing off another group make sure that you fit into your group and don't over and under play, because the point of an ensemble is to make music as a group and not to be an outlier when you're making music. For example you don't want to recreate the sound exact sound of a band like this...

Dallas Millennial Choir and Orchestra 

                                                 
                                                        If you are in a band like this

Navy Band Brass Quintet

         So, find the sound that you want for your band and make sure that it matches the size and the style that the group wants. Make sure that you know your part and have it down and after all of this you can be ready for the concert.