Christian College
Concert
Flinders, Chairo, Hillcrest
By Nathanael Duffy
Gr 4
The Songs and Conductors
The band was three schools joined together to create one big band. These
schools were Chairo Christian School, Hillcrest Christian College along with
our school. Our school conductor chose the songs; Skeleton Dance and Rolling
in The Deep. The conductor from Cairo chose the songs; Pixar Movie Magic
(which was an assortment of music pieces from Pixar movies) and Les
Miserables which has at least five songs from the film. The last conductor
chose the songs; A Knights Tale and The Song of the Blacksmith. I thought
that the most difficult piece was The Song of the Blacksmith because at the
end of it, there was a sign which was fff which means REALLY, REALLY LOUD in
musical terms.
The Aspect of Playing in a Band
While playing in a band, I find that it is more enjoyable to play an instrument
rather than watch in an audience as you find that hearing other instruments
is easier. While playing in a band may be more fun, it can also be different for
unexperienced players as you need to keep your timing in the song or you will
get lost throughout the piece and might miss out an important part that you
are required to play. Dynamics are also important (they are the louds and
softs in music) by cause of the effect they add in pieces. These effects usually
stop the audience getting bored of the item of music being played.
Delicious Food
At Hillcrest we got some small breaks in between our practice time and
delicious food was supplied. These foods were an assortment of different
fruits, things made out of pastry and other random stuff like wedges and
chicken nuggets. I liked to have the chicken nuggets and wedges the best just
because I thought they tasted good for no particular reason at all, but the
fruit tasted pretty good too. I had to be careful not too eat to much so that I
didn’t blow any of the food I ate into my clarinet.
The Concert
After the duration of about 10 hours over two days the band sounded really
good because of all of the practice that we had done. The order that we
played the songs in was first Skeleton Dance, Rolling in the Deep, Les
Miserables, Pixar Movie Magic, then A Knights Tale and finally The Song of the
Blacksmith. I think that overall, the most well played song was Pixar Movie
Magic because the dynamics (mentioned in slide 3) were adequately played
and I thought that the audience would’ve found it impressive because it was a
long piece of music.
A Friendly Community
I think that participating in this band along with other schools was good for
all of the students, as it showed a great opportunity to make some friends
and improve our social skills. Making friends was the best part for me
because I like to meet new people. For some reason I seem to be able to
make music with others only if I knew who I was playing my instrument with.
Next year, if we get another opportunity to go to Hillcrest, I will encourage
others to come along to play in the band because it is a very enriching
experience.