Pep Band Reflection This year I went to all of the required games, and two of the optional games. I was going to go to a third optional game, but I had already been at the school all day and I just did not want to stay any longer. I believe that I earned an A for pep band. I went to all of the required games, plus some of the optional, and I was always early and played my best. Even when I had a game on the same night, I still would run and play with pep band.
Pep band is a fun element to the basketball games. I think they definitely add to the exciting atmosphere in a game and, let's face it, our student section needs all the help it can get in cheering on the team. Pep band sounds really cool when we all play together and fast and it makes the games more exciting to watch. When we go to other schools and their pep bands sound really horrible, it makes me feel proud that we can play so much better. The parents also really like the pep band, I think, because it allows them to listen to their kids play in a more relaxed setting.
I love to play Lady Gaga, Wipe out, and Crazy Train. These are our best songs, and they're so much fun to play. I love it when Michael goes crazy on the beginning of Crazy Train and plays the chords really loud. It sounds so cool, and the guitar is exactly the sound I think of when I hear pep band. I like Lady Gaga and Wipe out, because it's just really fun for the clarinets to play the runs. I don't like All I do is Win, Don't Stop Believing, and Party Rock Anthem. They are so boring for the clarinets to play. I still think they sound kind of good and are perfect for games, but they are so annoying. Almost all of the measures are just repeating quarter notes. They are not fun to play, and are actually kind of tedious.
I improved my playing on Wipe Out. There's no single place that I really improved, because I went from not playing it at all to playing the whole song. If I had to choose though, I probably improved the most in measures 9-22. I really liked that we added in the trumpet parts and play the eighth note runs in the beginning. I think that it sounds better, and with more people playing, it supported the beginning and made it stronger. It's also just really a fun song to play. It's fast and it sounds really cool. The drums are really exciting in the beginning and set the stage for the rest of us, as long as they play fast enough.
I would like to play, The Final Countdown by Europe.