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Friday:
Today was the first full Drums training day. It was difficult, with an incredible amount to remember immediately, confusing as all get-out, but turned out pretty well. So much for my Drums pivots being okay ("[last name], that was not a Drums pivot!"); I have no objections to fair criticism, but it confuses me when I do something exactly the same and am given wildly divergent feedback.
It took me a while to get used to marching and playing at the same time. By the end of the day, I could play the songs I've got memorized about 50% of the time, i.e. when I'm not counting steps or when the top-octave forked fingerings tax my concentration too much. I *finally* got a "fife tip down!" correction. My usual problem, of course, is that I let the fife "sag"; this is because I have been trained for over a decade to hold the flute forward from the shoulder and at a slight angle downward.
This was the first parade for the three Drums rookies in Company A (i.e. including me). I'm sure lots of subtle stuff was off (e.g. forward dressing, fife angle) but, to my surprise, I made only one big mistake when I started marking time a beat early. But hey--I didn't get called on it afterwards (during what would be called "notes" in the theatre world) so I guess it didn't look too bad. That, or the Drum Serjeant was giving me brownie points for attempting to play the music. It did seem like I got fewer corrections than usual throughout the day when I was playing.
We finished with a humourous "thought for the day" and "it", a really raucous drum piece ending in a yell that is played as they march into the men's locker room.
Saturday:
And today, I felt too ill to eat breakfast and figured I'd better call in sick.
I think I have the smell of smouldering boot polish permanently stuck in my nostrils.
Today was the first full Drums training day. It was difficult, with an incredible amount to remember immediately, confusing as all get-out, but turned out pretty well. So much for my Drums pivots being okay ("[last name], that was not a Drums pivot!"); I have no objections to fair criticism, but it confuses me when I do something exactly the same and am given wildly divergent feedback.
It took me a while to get used to marching and playing at the same time. By the end of the day, I could play the songs I've got memorized about 50% of the time, i.e. when I'm not counting steps or when the top-octave forked fingerings tax my concentration too much. I *finally* got a "fife tip down!" correction. My usual problem, of course, is that I let the fife "sag"; this is because I have been trained for over a decade to hold the flute forward from the shoulder and at a slight angle downward.
This was the first parade for the three Drums rookies in Company A (i.e. including me). I'm sure lots of subtle stuff was off (e.g. forward dressing, fife angle) but, to my surprise, I made only one big mistake when I started marking time a beat early. But hey--I didn't get called on it afterwards (during what would be called "notes" in the theatre world) so I guess it didn't look too bad. That, or the Drum Serjeant was giving me brownie points for attempting to play the music. It did seem like I got fewer corrections than usual throughout the day when I was playing.
We finished with a humourous "thought for the day" and "it", a really raucous drum piece ending in a yell that is played as they march into the men's locker room.
Saturday:
And today, I felt too ill to eat breakfast and figured I'd better call in sick.
I think I have the smell of smouldering boot polish permanently stuck in my nostrils.