Playing in the Middle School Band helps you become a better team player because everyone has a specific job to do in band. The director down to the oboe player all has a role. Let’s examine the parts of a band to better understand why you have to be part of a team.
Percussion, The Beat Of A Bands Heart
Your heart is a very important part of your body and without it, you wouldn’t be alive. Percussion has the same function within the band. If you are new to band, percussion means drums. The percussion section keeps the beat helping ensure the middle school band stays on the beat!
The Players
Most percussionist start out on Snare Drum and Bells. The bells are a percussion instrument played with metal, wood, or plastic mallets. The Snare drum has a loud “crack” and is usually played with traditional drum sticks. Later students learn base drum, crash cymbals, timpani, marimba, and much more.
Turn Up The Bass
Photo © Eric Washburn Photography
Lower Brass Instruments make up the bulk of bass (low sounds) of the band. Brass instruments don’t do all the work but it’s what our ears here a lot of in Middle School Band. Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, and Baritone Saxophone also do their share. They are woodwind instruments. The low brass that play are Tuba, Baritone, Euphonium and Trombone.
If your child is considering a Bass instrument they ought to be content to realize how important they are to the overall harmony of a piece. They typically don’t sing out over the other parts but without a bass role, there is no harmonic balance.
Middle and Higher Pitched Instruments
In Middle School Band there are a lot of instruments that have the melody when they play, these instruments also fill in parts of the harmony when they are not playing the melody. Needless to say these instruments are usually the most poplar with the exception of the French Horn and Oboe which are also in the group.
Woodwind Instruments
Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, and Oboe make up the woodwind instruments in this group. The Saxophone, Flute and Clarinet are very popular choices. They are single reed instruments and easy to get started on. The Oboe is a double reed instrument, it has a very expressive sound and is a little more fragile to get started on but 6th graders can do it with lots of success.
Brass Instruments
Trumpet and French horn round out this group (See Tuba, Trombone, and Baritone in “turn up the bass). The trumpet is often seen as the band leader with it’s bright tone. Wile learning to play it’s hard to play soft but they eventually get it. The French Horn is another delicate instrument to start on. It has a soft rich tone when played correctly.
The Middle School Band Is Lined Up And Ready!
All the groups above are part of a bigger team. Every instrument has a part in Middle School Band. Make the most out of your band experience, you never know where it will lead. Just like any team sport, in band you’ll make life long friends and memories.