Time for me to step up i guess...

Well it's the end of the year and sr.'s are leaveing and its crossover for us the jr.'s. Meaning my section my section leader/cousin is "passing down the mouth piece" and I'm the up comming section leader and I could use some tips on how to get my section right any help would be nice...

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  • What does your section need to work on?

    Do you have a Co-Section Leader or Asst Section Leader to help you?
  • idk yet cause i havent heard any of em yet and from the looks of it im not goning to have any upperclassmen

    MarchingbandGURU said:
    What does your section need to work on?

    Do you have a Co-Section Leader or Asst Section Leader to help you?
    Time for me to step up i guess...
    Well it's the end of the year and sr.'s are leaveing and its crossover for us the jr.'s. Meaning my section my section leader/cousin is passing down…
  • Get them physically and mentally ready for the upcoming season. Meaning situps, 6inches, crunches or what ever you want to call them, pushups to make sure their arms have the strength to hold on up their horn.
    Mentally, have them run their scales, and practice long tones. It may seem like a dragging process but it will help out the section as well as the band itsself. and actually all sections of the band should do this. For drummers, its their rudiments.

    Good luck to your leadership success and to your program in this upcoming season!!
  • thank you for your comments and tips

    SG862 said:
    Get them physically and mentally ready for the upcoming season. Meaning situps, 6inches, crunches or what ever you want to call them, pushups to make sure their arms have the strength to hold on up their horn.
    Mentally, have them run their scales, and practice long tones. It may seem like a dragging process but it will help out the section as well as the band itsself. and actually all sections of the band should do this. For drummers, its their rudiments.

    Good luck to your leadership success and to your program in this upcoming season!!
    Time for me to step up i guess...
    Well it's the end of the year and sr.'s are leaveing and its crossover for us the jr.'s. Meaning my section my section leader/cousin is passing down…
  • Okay...this may sound kinda rookie-ish of me.

    Okay, I understand the point of running, and other cardiovascular workouts that get your heart pumping and you breathing. But I never got the point of the six inches and sit-ups deal. How do they help your technique? I thought sound and power came from proper embrochure placement and proper breathing and posture, and things like that.

    So how do sit-ups and six inches help a musician sound better? Help the lowly saxophone player out...
  • My advice to you on getting your section right:

    1. Make sure YOU are on YOUR stuff...and continue to improve on YOUR skill (The idea here is that at the end of the day, you want your entire section to be as good as you are). If you are no good at your skill, it would be like the blind leading the blind. You don't want that.

    2. Assert your authority as the section leader...but don't let the position get to your head. If you do the latter, your section will NOT respect you, and yall will get nothing accomplished.

    Both points are equally important and will determine your success as a section leader. Good luck...
  • The new generation doesn't know how to do things, they speculate so much and that's when people sue the band/school and hazing allegations began: they don't know that just working on the basic fundamentals such as scales, long tones, reading exercises, articulation drills, proper breathing, phrasing etc. will do wonders for the section as a whole and the individuals within the section. Music should be first always, when it's not that's when the sound get's focked up, trust me i know first hand about priorities in the wrong place, have been through it.

    PVSax99 said:
    Okay...this may sound kinda rookie-ish of me.
    Okay, I understand the point of running, and other cardiovascular workouts that get your heart pumping and you breathing. But I never got the point of the six inches and sit-ups deal. How do they help your technique? I thought sound and power came from proper embrochure placement and proper breathing and posture, and things like that. So how do sit-ups and six inches help a musician sound better? Help the lowly saxophone player out...
    Time for me to step up i guess...
    Well it's the end of the year and sr.'s are leaveing and its crossover for us the jr.'s. Meaning my section my section leader/cousin is passing down…
  • Exactly my point. I've been section leader of my sax section for 3 years...my co-section leader does not know his fundementals. my sophmore year i had a death in the family and was also out for a knee injury, i didn't march for a month during football season...while i was gone, he pretty told them to do whatever they wanted and not to listen to me**note i am the only white male in my section, let alone my band** and simplely told the crabs that I had no idea how to run a section nor knew what I was doing. Then when i came back, all hell broke loose because he failed out and I was in charge again, NEVER again will i leave something up to him because he makes everything go absolutly wrong...he says fundemetrals are TRASH and they DON'T make you better. Though thats all I do and being my 7th year on saxophone this summer, I am still section leader and the only one who will make myself better.

    So pretty much what I'm saying, if you know what your doing as a leader, do not let others tell you that you can't do something, like PVsax99 said, better yourself before you better your section. and don''t let your assistent turn the whole section against you....because i ended up losing 3/4 of my section at the end of the year because I supposably didn't know what I was doing when i take direct orders from my BD who is a saxophone player!! PVsax99, you might know him. MAtter of fact, both of my BD's they are graduates of PV.

    Take good tips and stay on top of the section, don't haze because that is the mentallity of my assistent...wishing he would go to mellophone like he said he would lol.
    and one more thing, DO NOT throw fanfares or sectional pieces at your section when they do not know the main music. That comes later on. Once again, good luck and hope you having a better chance of making yourself a good leader unlike my case.

    RJ1919 said:
    The new generation doesn't know how to do things, they speculate so much and that's when people sue the band/school and hazing allegations began: they don't know that just working on the basic fundamentals such as scales, long tones, reading exercises, articulation drills, proper breathing, phrasing etc. will do wonders for the section as a whole and the individuals within the section. Music should be first always, when it's not that's when the sound get's focked up, trust me i know first hand about priorities in the wrong place, have been through it.

    PVSax99 said:
    Okay...this may sound kinda rookie-ish of me.
    Okay, I understand the point of running, and other cardiovascular workouts that get your heart pumping and you breathing. But I never got the point of the six inches and sit-ups deal. How do they help your technique? I thought sound and power came from proper embrochure placement and proper breathing and posture, and things like that. So how do sit-ups and six inches help a musician sound better? Help the lowly saxophone player out...
  • If one focuses strictly on hazing, problems will definitely arise, mental hazing is worse than physical to me, he-l you can have them play each scale 20 times and they will feel like their being hazing but it's also helping them, that's what hazing is all about making one better/stronger, not hurting them physically to do bodily harm and to your buddy who says fundamentals aren't nadda, i feel for a person like that and he wouldn't be in my band with an attitude like that because any fo-l can blow whole, half, quarter and dotted half notes loud a-s he-l, my little nephew can do that. It's all about priorities in the right place.

    SG862 said:
    Exactly my point. I've been section leader of my sax section for 3 years...my co-section leader does not know his fundementals. my sophmore year i had a death in the family and was also out for a knee injury, i didn't march for a month during football season...while i was gone, he pretty told them to do whatever they wanted and not to listen to me**note i am the only white male in my section, let alone my band** and simplely told the crabs that I had no idea how to run a section nor knew what I was doing. Then when i came back, all hell broke loose because he failed out and I was in charge again, NEVER again will i leave something up to him because he makes everything go absolutly wrong...he says fundemetrals are TRASH and they DON'T make you better. Though thats all I do and being my 7th year on saxophone this summer, I am still section leader and the only one who will make myself better.
    So pretty much what I'm saying, if you know what your doing as a leader, do not let others tell you that you can't do something, like PVsax99 said, better yourself before you better your section. and don''t let your assistent turn the whole section against you....because i ended up losing 3/4 of my section at the end of the year because I supposably didn't know what I was doing when i take direct orders from my BD who is a saxophone player!! PVsax99, you might know him. MAtter of fact, both of my BD's they are graduates of PV.Take good tips and stay on top of the section, don't haze because that is the mentallity of my assistent...wishing he would go to mellophone like he said he would lol.
    and one more thing, DO NOT throw fanfares or sectional pieces at your section when they do not know the main music. That comes later on. Once again, good luck and hope you having a better chance of making yourself a good leader unlike my case.

    RJ1919 said:
    The new generation doesn't know how to do things, they speculate so much and that's when people sue the band/school and hazing allegations began: they don't know that just working on the basic fundamentals such as scales, long tones, reading exercises, articulation drills, proper breathing, phrasing etc. will do wonders for the section as a whole and the individuals within the section. Music should be first always, when it's not that's when the sound get's focked up, trust me i know first hand about priorities in the wrong place, have been through it.

    PVSax99 said:
    Okay...this may sound kinda rookie-ish of me.
    Okay, I understand the point of running, and other cardiovascular workouts that get your heart pumping and you breathing. But I never got the point of the six inches and sit-ups deal. How do they help your technique? I thought sound and power came from proper embrochure placement and proper breathing and posture, and things like that. So how do sit-ups and six inches help a musician sound better? Help the lowly saxophone player out...
    Time for me to step up i guess...
    Well it's the end of the year and sr.'s are leaveing and its crossover for us the jr.'s. Meaning my section my section leader/cousin is passing down…
  • I know right, and he rather play on a size 4 reed for a loud sound, rather a 3n half for both a good strong sound and good tone...he rather have them learn fanfares but then complain when we battle, half the section dont know the MAIN songs they needed to know. and bout scales, I'd rather have them know several scales rather then as many as I know. I know so many because i want to learn that many. When it comes to more then needed, its all self determination to learn all of that. and other thing bout my buddy....he hates marches, like straight up hates marches. We got Them Basses as 7th graders, and well he chunked it after we started marching band because he got stuck into that mentality that simipler and louder is better....many people on this site have that same mentality.

    RJ1919 said:
    If one focuses strictly on hazing, problems will definitely arise, mental hazing is worse than physical to me, he-l you can have them play each scale 20 times and they will feel like their being hazing but it's also helping them, that's what hazing is all about making one better/stronger, not hurting them physically to do bodily harm and to your buddy who says fundamentals aren't nadda, i feel for a person like that and he wouldn't be in my band with an attitude like that because any fo-l can blow whole, half, quarter and dotted half notes loud a-s he-l, my little nephew can do that. It's all about priorities in the right place.

    SG862 said:
    Exactly my point. I've been section leader of my sax section for 3 years...my co-section leader does not know his fundementals. my sophmore year i had a death in the family and was also out for a knee injury, i didn't march for a month during football season...while i was gone, he pretty told them to do whatever they wanted and not to listen to me**note i am the only white male in my section, let alone my band** and simplely told the crabs that I had no idea how to run a section nor knew what I was doing. Then when i came back, all hell broke loose because he failed out and I was in charge again, NEVER again will i leave something up to him because he makes everything go absolutly wrong...he says fundemetrals are TRASH and they DON'T make you better. Though thats all I do and being my 7th year on saxophone this summer, I am still section leader and the only one who will make myself better.
    So pretty much what I'm saying, if you know what your doing as a leader, do not let others tell you that you can't do something, like PVsax99 said, better yourself before you better your section. and don''t let your assistent turn the whole section against you....because i ended up losing 3/4 of my section at the end of the year because I supposably didn't know what I was doing when i take direct orders from my BD who is a saxophone player!! PVsax99, you might know him. MAtter of fact, both of my BD's they are graduates of PV. Take good tips and stay on top of the section, don't haze because that is the mentallity of my assistent...wishing he would go to mellophone like he said he would lol.
    and one more thing, DO NOT throw fanfares or sectional pieces at your section when they do not know the main music. That comes later on. Once again, good luck and hope you having a better chance of making yourself a good leader unlike my case.

    RJ1919 said:
    The new generation doesn't know how to do things, they speculate so much and that's when people sue the band/school and hazing allegations began: they don't know that just working on the basic fundamentals such as scales, long tones, reading exercises, articulation drills, proper breathing, phrasing etc. will do wonders for the section as a whole and the individuals within the section. Music should be first always, when it's not that's when the sound get's focked up, trust me i know first hand about priorities in the wrong place, have been through it.

    PVSax99 said:
    Okay...this may sound kinda rookie-ish of me.
    Okay, I understand the point of running, and other cardiovascular workouts that get your heart pumping and you breathing. But I never got the point of the six inches and sit-ups deal. How do they help your technique? I thought sound and power came from proper embrochure placement and proper breathing and posture, and things like that. So how do sit-ups and six inches help a musician sound better? Help the lowly saxophone player out...
    Time for me to step up i guess...
    Well it's the end of the year and sr.'s are leaveing and its crossover for us the jr.'s. Meaning my section my section leader/cousin is passing down…
This reply was deleted.