What Students Are Saying About Band – Excerpts From Our Scholarship Applications
Have you gotten tired of always hearing bad news from our media? Looking for something to give you hope that things are all not that bad? Well, here it is! Read these selected statements from St. Louis area band students! In the application process of our The Bill Nottelmann Memorial Music Camp Scholarships, students are to submit a short essay on their choice of one of three topics. Most of our recent applicants wrote on “Why I Love Band” and here are some highlights. NOTE: Since the primary reason for the essay was to assess student attitudes, we overlooked the grammar aspect. For this posting, we’ve implemented some “editorial license” to improve sentence structure and punctuation!
“I would encourage all musicians, beginners and professionals, to listen to music and to strive to be the best musician they can be. Music is my passion. I intend to keep working hard to pursue this as a major in college, and eventually a career.”
“I love playing in band because of the opportunity to make great music, because of our amazingly supportive community, and because of my passion, desire, talent, and drive for making music.”
“Jazz happens to be my favorite type of music. Being able to play in the jazz band has been a real treat, as I can play an active part in the songs I listen to at home and contribute to the sound and community of my favorite music genre.”
“I love playing in band because I’ve never really found people that have similar interests until I joined.”
“I am not one of the most active and social people, but band has changed me a lot by allowing me to meet new people.”
“My favorite saxophone player, Charlie Parker once said, “They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art”. This quote means a lot to me because I’m learning in jazz band that when it comes to soloing, there are no rules in expressing music through your instrument.”
“I like playing music. I concentrate so hard, and I’m thinking nothing else matters except playing what I’m practicing. In my mind everything else goes away, all of my worries and stress go away.”
“My trumpet is a silver Getzen Severinsen model that belonged to my uncle before me and my grandpa before him. This gives me even more of a reason to try to prove that I can be the next good trumpet player in my family.”
“My family members are big Disney fans. For Christmas, my mom was so excited that she found a book of Disney music specific to the alto sax and she gave it to me as one of my presents.”
“I would love to attend band camp because I want to further discover how to develop my musical ability. I would love to improve, so that I may develop the tiny seed which is my music.”
“I love how band and music can make a bad day turn into a celebration.”
“I love to listen to the radio, and now that I am part of my school band, I hear music in a new way. Music is a big part of my life and band has helped me realize how each piece has a lot more than just a melody. Now that I am in band, I can’t imagine listening to music any other way.”
“Music is truly an amazing gift and a chance to get better means a lot to me. I really do want to be a good musician, and I think a band camp could help me learn to play better.”
“Playing in a band is better than playing alone because you get to hear other instruments as you play together. When their sound is combined, it sounds wonderful.”