Young At Heart Music Choir

                     The Young at Heart Choir is pretty much what it sounds like, it’s a choir. But there is something very unique about this group. Every person in this group is over the age of 70. They are independent and share a passion for music. After watching the documentary “Young at Heat, You’re never too old to rock” I was inspired to write about them.

                     Throughout the film the group faces a lot of difficulties. Such as the death of two members in the group. Even with everything they face, they are still working hard to out on the best show they can in loving memory of the two lost group members.

                     Many people in the Young at Heart Choir have been in this group for quite a long time, for example Eileen Hall was in the choir for over 20 years, until she passed away at the age of 93.

                     Everyone in this choir is so inspirational. They don’t allow their age or their health get in the way of doing what they love to do, sing. Just like Fred Knitle, who originally left the group due to a decline in his health but he still came back to sing for one more concert.

Band kids

With as much time band kids have to spend together, you would think we would get sick of each other and with some people that is the case, but most of the time spending all this time with everyone it just makes us all that much closer.

During marching band we are always together, we have marching band every day during 1^st hour plus every Monday night from 6-9 pm, then competitions on Saturdays and the bus rides there and back, and even rehearsal before leaving school or when we get back. Plus don’t forget football games.

During concert band season we are still always together, every day we still have band and after school rehearsals for Jazz Band, plus there is Combo in the evenings. There is always something going on. Especially once basketball season kicks up, then we have pep band for all the home games.

Sometimes we all get tired of some people but we just have to bite our tongue and deal with each other because we are always together, there’s no getting rid of us. There are rarely ever any problems between people in band because we all know much time we have to spend together and how awkward the tension gets, and we are all there for the same reason. We just want to play our instruments and become better players.

Transitioning from middle to high school

The transition from middle school to high school, from 8^th to 9^th grade, is rough for everyone, switching schools, more people, harder classes, not knowing people, getting separated from longtime friends, everyone knows how this goes. For band kids it’s a little different.

Yeah we are still all starting at a new school with new people and not knowing many people or where our classes are. But band kids start the second week of August with band camp so if you don’t know anyone at that point you will meet new people which helps at the start of the school year.

If you meet upper class men and stick with them they will help you so much, from helping with homework, to showing you where your class is if you forget where it is and get lost. Many times if band kids see another band kid lost and not able to find a class we help them try to find it because that’s what “family” does.

Even band is a lot different, it’s a lot stricter than middle school and you get a lot more work done in a less amount of time. There's really nothing to worry about, as long as you know how to play your instrument and you are willing to get better and put work in you will be perfectly fine.

Balancing time

Sometimes it is pretty difficult to balance band and all of the other activities that people and students are involved in and out of school. But most of the time it’s pretty easy if you don’t over book your schedule and you know how to manage your time.

People in band are in a lot of activities, from show choir to Spanish club. Most of the time clubs are during SMART lunch which helps with time management but sometimes we have band rehearsal during lunch if we need extra practice. But many times we just use class time to get work done.

Many times kids are in AP classes which means a lot more homework, which means even more of a struggle to balance time, many times AP classes give out homework every night plus nightly readings for some classes if you have to read a textbook.

Time Management is a great skill to learn if you haven’t already, especially if you have a lot of classes and extra-curricular activities.

Fun Times in the band room

Sometimes the things that happen in the band room at times are questionable. When band kids get together it’s interesting. Since most people in band have no life outside of band we are all crazy when we are together. We are all like a huge family of 140 something of us.

Many times whether it be during marching band camp or just during SMART lunch, you can find many band kids in the band room or in the band locker room. Some people play stupid little card games, others work on homework or practice music.

No matter what the case there is almost always something going on in the band room, even during class. Since there is so many of us there is usually at least two if not more of us that have release the same hour so we all go to the band hallway or the locker room and mess around.

Although the band might seem very strict and uptight, we aren’t, many times during rehearsal people are cracking jokes or nicely making fun of other sections. There is always something to do in the band room.

Different instruments

There are so many different instruments out there, sometimes it’s hard to find the perfect one for you or maybe it was easy but finding a new one to try is hard. Just pick one and try, sometimes you might hate it and never want to play that instrument again but sometimes you might love it and want to play that one full time.

There are many kinds to try for example there are orchestra instruments and then there are the band instruments, which include wood winds, brass and percussion. If you don’t have rhythm I would suggest not percussion, maybe a wood wind instrument?

To name a few winds there are a lot with reeds such as: Clarient, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax and Bari Sax, then there are double reeds like the Oboe and the only wood wind without a reed, the Flute. Then there are a lot of brass such as: Tuba, Baritone/ Euphonium, Trombone, and French Horn.

There are a lot of other band instruments but those are the “basics” so if you already play a wood wind instrument maybe try to learn a brass and vise vera. You are bound to find at least one that you like.

Cedar Rapids Municipal Band

The Cedar Rapids Municipal Band is full of a lot of very good and experienced musicians. Some of the people who are in the band give out private lessons while others are just long time musicians who are very good.

They have many concerts during the summer from June to August at various parks around Cedar Rapids. For information on their schedule check out their website http://www.crmuniband.org/

June of 1951 was the first concert played by the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band and since then they have been playing concerts all the time. It is such a great experience to go and see them play especially if you are an inspiring musician.