I’m finally on my last year of middle school. The last two years have brought so many wonderful things and people to me, from skills to events to friends to teachers. But, even before 8th grade, I new everything would change.. Some things I would be able to control, and others not…all in the end effecting my high school life and beyond.
To understand what you are about to read, you need to understand some of my initial thoughts from 5th-6th grade.
In 5th grade, I auditioned for the school play. Despite there being plenty of avalible avalible spots, I unfortunetely did not make the cast. I did find utmost success in Stage Production, where I designed sets and posters, but it simply wasn’t the same. I wanted to be a part of the production itself, and that opportunity had passed by.
Months later, while choosing my middle-school electives, I was torn between choosing band and theatre. Band would be my third instrument and came with lots of shows. Theatre would give me another chance to experience the production I missed out on in 5th grade. So, I chose theatre. And, honestly, it was fun; I got 300 lines in 6th grade, made so many friends in 7th, and really improved my speaking and acting skills. It became something I enjoyed and felt comfortable in.
And then, my whole world changed. My theatre teacher announced her plans to retire. I suddenly had 2 choices. The first choice was to continue to Theatre C with a teacher I had never met.Theatre C would consist of 2 shows (one being a musical), Theatre UIL, and friends. It was risk-free, and the only major change would be a new teacher. This was clearly the safer choice; it was familiar, comfortable, and guaranteed to be enjoyable.
But, one thing stuck in my head; regret. If I chose theatre, I would be happy. But I would then always wonder what would’ve happened if I chose band instead. I only live once, and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering about the opportunities I was too afraid to take. So I took the risk. I chose band.
Of course, it wasn’t that simple. An 8th grader in beginner band is extremely uncommon, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. So, I emailed the band director, met them, and got fitted to play the clarinet; a long woodwind with an expansive range of pitches and beautiful melodic potential. I got my clarinet months later in May, and began my private lessons outside of school, while taking theatre in school. I vividly remember the first time brought my clarinet to school and played “Are You Sleeping” in the band hall, ligature upside down, reed too low, squeaks every 2 notes, and so flat that F sounded like E. As I played, the band kids hyped me up and were so excited. I felt so invited, and more excited tfor band next year.
Through the summer, I took my private lessons for 45 minutes every week. My teacher was very strict, especially about my embrouchure. I couldn’t quite get it for a long while. She kept pushing me to practice for 10 hours every day… to find the spark. I wanted to get better, of course; that was one of the promises I made when I started my instrument 2 years late. I could practice for an hour or a bit more, but I got tired, and it was really hard. But I stayed consistant. In 3 months, I learned 8 scales and got faster at identifing the notes from paper to instrument. But I still wasn’t good enough. In August, band camp was set to take place. From Monday to Friday, I would play for 3 hours and have a concert on Friday. I attended; and was absolutely mesmorized from the first note the band played as a whole. So many instruments in perfect pitch and sync with each other. And then there was me; couldn’t play any of the songs and had to pretend to know them.
That afternoon, I locked in and learned all the songs so that I wouldn’t be clueless the next day. And in the end, I wasn’t clueless; I actually understood all the music and was able to catch on during sectionals. Following that day, I practiced the clarinet for 2 hours every day. I saw significant improvments; my tone got better, sight reading faster, and clearer scales. I was really happy about this, because this was the spark I needed. I needed to hear the level of the other clarinets, and the spark would come by trying to match their level.
Fast forward to 8th grade, I was placed in symphonic band, the second-best. Even though all my friends were in honor winds, I was okay with that, because of course they were better than me. I continued to practice the band songs and scales, and became first chair in symphonic band. But the hurdles didn’t stop at band camp; it was time for All-City auditions. All symphonic and honor winds members had to audition for this prestigious band in my city. Clarinets had 2 songs, a lyrical etude and technical etude. You should’ve seen the way my eyes dilated the moment I saw the music, I was horrified to the bone.
The lyrical was a very pretty, medium paced song that focused on how the player uses dynamics. It wasn’t too hard to learn and was nice to play. The scary one was the technical, though. All fast 16th notes, different articulations in each measure, and alternate fingerings I honestly never even knew about until learning this etude. I didn’t even think I would ever be able to get through the first line! Even though measures 1-19 took a very long time, I managed to persevere through, and honestly, I actually began to love it more than the lyrical. It was a challenge, and I proved to myself that with hard work, anything can be acheived. I continued my intense practicing and got through the full song.
On the day of tryouts, I wasn’t scared, I was excited. Even though I didn’t think I would make it, I was more proud of the process of immense preparation and how much it improved my playing. In the room, I was told to play the clarinet E, E flat, and chromatic scale. I panicked on the E flat scale, and the high-G didn’t sound on the chromatic scale. But it was okay, because I still had a technical and lyrical etude to play. Both went well, though I did not expect the other players from the other schools to be so good. It was nice to hear their levels, considering we would all be in the same band the next year. At the end of auditions, I didn’t not make All-City and ended up getting 22nd chair. I was surprised that I beat all of my school’s symphonic players and two honor winds players.
Reflecting on these unexpected events that happened in the last few months, I don’t regret a second of it. I was able to experience 2 electives that both taught me important skills, make many friends along the way, get inspired by many more, and prove that anything can be achieved through consistant practice.