Strike up the band; local band open to all musicians
By DOYLE T. NEUWILLER Galveston Island will begin a new chapter in its musical history Sept. 1 with the first meeting of the Galveston Community Band. The band will be open to all musicians ages 15 and older, and I will be the director. I am inviting all of my friends and former students — and everyone else who would like to dust off their old horn, to come and play with us. The band will use traditional band instruments (which you need to supply on your own): Flutes, oboes, bassoons, clarinets, bass clarinets, alto saxes, tenor saxes and baritone Saxes, trumpets, French horns, trombones, baritones TC and BC, tubas, string bass and percussion (orchestral strings and electric guitars will not be a part of the band at this time — sorry guys). “But, I haven’t played since high school.” That is OK. Dust off the horn, get some new reeds, some valve oil, a music stand and a pencil. Make sure everything works and come on out. Go to our Facebook page for instructions on how to download the music that you will need to bring with you. Yes, you should be able to read music, at least to a small degree, but we will work on those skills, and they will come back to you quickly. Do not worry if you feel inadequate in this area. It will be my task to reacquaint you with playing your instrument and reading your parts. Music will initially range in difficulty from very easy to moderately challenging. The philosophy will be to play as many notes as you can and leave the difficult parts to the better players. The objective will be to enjoy doing it. I will take great care to keep rehearsals stress free and to make sure that no one is singled out for being unable to play the parts. Otherwise, it will not be enjoyable. We will have a great deal of fun working on parts and fitting them together into a piece of music that is both challenging to play and fun to listen to. We will try not to laugh too loudly at the really bad parts. Come join us from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 1 and subsequent Thursdays at First Baptist Church, 822 Sealy Ave., in Galveston. We may not sound great at first, but I guarantee that the endeavor will be time well spent. Check out our Facebook page: Galveston Community Band. Come, let’s make some music together. Doyle T. Neuwiller is a former band director of the Galveston Independent School District and lives in Galveston. Comments are closed.
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June 2020
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