Sorry. I had to title the chapter that. This chapter is about band. Obviously. Not anything sexual-related. Dunno why you would ever think that.
Didn’t you ever hear someone say the line ‘Hey, wanna have sax?’ We said it a lot around this part of the year. More on why in a second.
There’s more to that saying. Stuff about bones and horns. Band stuff. Not sexual stuff. Just a normal line, ‘wanna have sax’, which just means you wanna do stuff with sax… ophones. Completely normal. I really need you to understand right now.
So, what’s up with all this talk about sax? Cause, again, this is a band chapter. You know, band? Not like the rubber, like the music. Not a ‘marching’ band. Or a ‘jazz’ or ‘rock’ band. A music band. You know, the saxophones, the trombones and the french horns. And the other instruments. Of course they matter, I just wanted to say two of my favorite instruments and my second least favorite instrument. I’m not gonna say which one is my second least favorite, but just by their names… I think you can figure out which one (hint: it’s the one from france).
So, band. It’s gonna become a big part of my middle and high school years later. That’s not important yet, though. Nonetheless, this chapter is basically the introduction for my band career (if you can call it that) as this chapter’s main highlight is… instrument tryouts!
*claps slowly*
Fine. There’s gonna still be girls in this chapter.
*thunderus applause, cheering, screaming, maybe toppling over the other audience members*
But yeah, this is a big chapter. Huge influences on future parts. Just cause of a simple decision. I’ll hold off on what that decision is for now, cause… I’ve got bigger fush to fruy.
“So, Becky, what’re you gonna try out for?”
I was walking towards the area where we were going to try out our instruments, and Caitlyn walked up to me. I put my arms in a crossed position and said the next part proudly.
“The flute.”
“Really? You’d probably… play the tuba.”
The tuba?
Well, that’s the really big, fat instrument for really… I’m not gonna say it. Uh, it’s basically an insult, telling someone that they fit for the tuba. At least it was in 5th grade.
“I- ha ha, so funny. I wasn’t even planning on trying out for it. You’d fit for… the saxophone.”
We get to try out for a lot of instruments- or at least as many as we can in the time slot we were given. So, as I just said, I was not previously planning on trying out for the tuba.
“That’s actually what I was gonna try out for first.”
DAMMIT IM TOO SMART
“Well, it’s not like you’ll even be able to make a sound!”
“Uh, yeah, I will, I bet you won’t make a sound on any instrument!”
You literally can’t not make a sound on a percussion in- never mind. We continued arguing through the hallway until we made it to the area. Well, when I say ‘the area’, I just mean the cafeteria. That’s the largest area in our school that has tables, so… it makes sense. We walked in the room, and it seemed like an entirely new room. First off, a ton of instruments had invaded the room. There were adults standing or sitting next to the instruments as well, who looked… very official. We were told by the teachers that these adults were professionals and they were here to see if us kids had the potential to play the instrument we tried out for. Basically, we would be blowing air through the mouthpiece or doing whatever to play the instrument. It looked scary. It was.
One thing that was a major point that they talked about was the points system. The teachers would rate us based on what they thought of how we used our air (what does that even mean) or whatever, with a score from 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest.
So, each teacher introduced themselves and we got to hear them all play a part of their music. I really liked how the flute sounded, of course, it was my favorite instrument up to that point. No reason why, just… I liked how it was quieter than the gold instruments. You know, the metal ones? Oh they’re called brass. Speaking of… I also liked how the brass instruments sounded. I hated the trumpet, because, well, it was loud as hell, but when I heard the tuba… No, I’m not gonna say it sounded good. I mean, it sounded gross. It was super low and sounded like a dying animal, but I could hear that it still sounded very… melodic? Not like I knew what that word went.
We were able to try out for whatever instrument we wanted, and I knew which ones I was gonna try out for. The flute, obviously. The silver pipe that has a ton of buttons, in case I forgot to explain or you forgot what it was.
I was also gonna try out for the clarinet. It looks like the flute, but it’s black and thicker. I heard from a friend that a lot of people were gonna try out for both of these instruments, so I would have to manage my time well. Like I said, we didn’t have an unlimited amount of time to try out for these instruments.
I was also planning on trying out for some of the brass instruments, such as the trombone (the one with the cool slide- that’s really the only reason why. Oh, it kinda sounds like a car driving, if you think about it, which is kinda cool) and the tuba, because, well, why not? No, not because Caitlyn told me to. It’s just cause it stuck out to me.
Lastly, I wanted to try out percussion. I somehow heard that Anna was going to try out for it, and I got interested. I obviously wanted to do better than her. You know, get a higher score than her. Competition. Adore that.
I would play the drums when our family played Rock Band sometimes, so, yeah. I think I could do it.
I wasn’t sure I could do the other stuff. See, problem with all of this is I don’t know how to play piano. Yeah. I’m a cool kid, but sometimes not the coolest kid. Sorry, I know you’re sad.
Sure, not being able to play the piano doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about the music. Sure, I have no musical knowledge, but I know… music sounded pretty cool. Uh. Yeah. Okay. Never mind.
“Becky, you better get a 9 on flute.”
“You better get a 9 on the saxophone, then.”
“Alright, bet.”
“We’re betting?”
“No, that’s just what you- never mind, Becky.”
We split up. I walked over to the high woodwinds. There were more people at the clarinet line, so might as well go to flute now.
When it was my turn, I looked to my left. Caitlyn was in the clarinet line, looking at me. She already finished her tryout? How’d she do? Doesn’t matter. Time to flex my… tryout… ability.
“So, Becky, how’d you do?”
“...how’d you do?”
“I got a 9.”
Dang, she’s so saxy- I mean what?
“Wow, good job. I got a… 3.”
She snorted. Yeah. Expected that.
“Shut up! I’ll get a higher score than you on clarinet.”
“Sure you will, Becky.”
Caitlyn was up first, and I got to hear her play. She sounded pretty bad (as expected- we’ve literally never touched the instruments), but the woman said she had a lot of potential as a woodwind. She then said she’d fit better as a saxophone.
“Good thing I already tried out for it, huh, Becky?”
She turned around and looked up at me. I scowled back at her.
After Caitlyn’s tryout was over, she stood up and I sat down. When I sat down and started pushing air through the clarinet, the woman looked very surprised.
‘Wow! You’ve really got the hang of that!’
I smiled and looked back. Caitlyn had an unsatisfied look.
I stood up and started boasting.
“So, what’d you get on the clarinet?”
“I got a… 6.”
She was lying.
“Wow, great job. I got a 9.”
“You’re lying.”
“Here, look.”
We were given cards that said what score we got on the tryout. A big black sharpied ‘9’ was written in a box.
“Can I see yours?”
“No, Becky.”
“That’s what I thought.”
We just stood there for a second and no one talked. Yikes.
“Did you really get a 9 on the saxophone?”
“Yeah, course I did. See?”
Ugh. She did. Anyway, the two of us walked over to the percussion area. We saw the line (and were disgusted by how long it was) and stood in it.
“Oh my god, Anna’s almost up.”
“That’s literally super cool.”
Sarcasm.
“I know, Becky. Let’s watch her perform.”
As Anna went up and did her little tryout thing, everyone in the line suddenly had a change in their mood. A little burst of emotion.
We all thought the same thing.
Wow.
She’s pretty good.
The teacher was like
‘Wow! You’ve never done percussion before?’
and she goes like
“Nope”
and I’m like
“She’s lying”
and Caitlyn’s like
“No”
Yeah. Anna was surprisingly good at… trying out for the… drum.
Yeah, she’s not ‘good at percussion’. She was just able to play the drum well. Hmm. I don’t know how to explain it. Uh, she got a 9, obviously. Did she tell me? No, but you can figure things like that out.
“Becky, who do you think is better at percussion? You, or me?”
“Me.”
“Me.”
“Why’d you even ask the question, then?”
“Dunno.”
Ugh, of course. Anna finished her tryout and walked over to us.
“Anna, you were great!”
“Eh.”
“Becky, be nice.”
“Wow, good job, Anna.”
“Thanks, Becky.”
She ran off to go do whatever. Alright, cool.
Caitlyn went up. She didn’t do nearly as well as Anna.
“Heh, nice job.”
“Shut up.”
“What’d you get?”
“A 3.”
“That’s pretty funny, Caitlyn.”
“Alright, you do better.”
“Easy.”
No. No, it wasn’t easy. I couldn’t get the rhythms he was using, and it was all just a mess. I didn’t… do… good.
“Wow, Becky, you’re so good at percussion.”
“Shut up.”
“What’d you get?”
“...a 3.”
She just smiled at me. Not cool. Not cool at all.
“So, Becky, you gonna go try out for the tuba now?”
“The tuba? Why would I do that?”
I know that I said I wanted to try out for it before, but that was simply just because it was the funny big instrument. I wasn’t dead serious on it. Yet.
“You’d be super good at it.”
“You’re just gonna make fun of me when I get a 2 on it.”
“Yeah, and?”
“That’s- alright, sure.”
“What?”
“I’m gonna go try out for the tuba.”
“Ha, really?”
“Sure, why not.”
I proudly walked over to the man sitting with the large, golden instrument. I sat down with a courageous face on my smile, and I was ready to see how I did.
I started by blowing air through the mouthpiece just like he asked me to. It made a funny sound, kinda like a… baby dying cow. It was just really, really weird sounding.
I plugged the mouthpiece into the tuba like he asked me to, and saw him play it. He made a sound that sounded like a… sound. Yeah, it sounded good, he was a professional after all. But the tuba, it’s just, it’s so low that it’s sometimes hard to comprehend. I think.
He then said it was my turn. I took the tuba and set it onto my face. It strangely seemed a bit comfortable to reside there.
I took in a deep breath, and,
I played a note. Which one? I don’t know, I didn’t have any sense of melody back then. It probably sounded so bad that it didn’t even sound recognizable. Whatever. When I looked back at the teacher, he looked astounded.
‘Wow! You are like, fit for this instrument!’
what
“Really?”
“Really?”
Caitlyn (who was still standing there, mind you) had agreed with me. She didn’t say it to the adult, cause she was whispering it to herself, but she said it loud enough for me to hear her.
What was he talking about? He confirmed that he wasn’t out of his mind and proceeded to give me a 9. What just happened. all I played was a single note on the big instrument and suddenly I’m praised for being the best tuba player ever-
It wasn’t that drastic. You get the point.
“So… Becky, what’d you get?”
“Somehow a 9.”
Yeah. I got a 9. And I wasn’t even that moved.
You wanna try out for the tuba?”
“No, the tuba’s boring.”
“And how is the saxophone better?”
“You know that song? The one where it goes-”
She proceeded to ‘hum’ the melody of Careless Whisper. You know, the one that goes dah duh dah duh, dah duh duh, dah duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh duh dah dah dah doh
You know that one? Never mind, look it up. It’s that one that’s like super saxophone related. Did you just listen to it? Yeah, you know what it is. Anyway, Caitlyn hummed the tune of it and I recognized it.
“Is that why you wanted to try out for saxophone? So you could play that song?”
“I mean, it’d be funny. That’s why Jaidon and Karoline tried out for it, too.”
Of course they did. It seemed like everyone wanted to try out for the saxophone in my school. Or maybe that’s just how I saw it.
Anyway, as the tryouts were ending, we got in line to submit our results. The instrument we liked best would be chosen as the instrument of our main pick- so basically, if we liked playing an instrument, we would get to play it. Unless you’re me and got a 3 on the flute. We don’t talk about that, though.
“Caitlyn, are you gonna submit saxophone?”
“Yeah, Becky. What’re you gonna submit?”
“I’m not sure…”
“You should do tuba.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, it’s super… cool.”
“Liar.”
“Yeah, that’s right. What else are you gonna play, the clarinet?”
“Y-yeah? I got a 9 on it?”
“Sure, Becky.”
But I did? Never mind.
“So… you actually think I should be a tuba?”
“Totally, Becky.”
“That sounds like a lie.”
“I wonder why?”
“What does that mean?”
She smiled and moved up in the line. I followed her.
“I’d like to play the saxophone, please.”
As expected, Caroline submitted and became a saxophone. I walked up to the line right after her, still a bit worried about what I wanted to be. Tuba, or clarinet? Which would you choose?
You’d probably choose neither. The tuba doesn’t get to play the melody, and the clarinet can sound annoying (not as annoying as the oboe- I’ll talk about this later). Hard decision, huh?
Well… I made my decision.
I was reading at recess and out of no where, a scream was audible right next to me.
“BECKY!”
“Jesus-what, Anna?”
“You’re a tuba?”
“Not yet, that’s just what I decided on.”
“So you’re a tuba?”
“I mean, yeah? You’re a percussionist, right?”
“How’d you know?”
“I wonder.”
“Uh… okay.”
She ran off. Thank god.
So, I decided on the tuba. Did Caitlyn help me decide? No! Not at all!
I just… really liked the tuba.
Uh.
Yeah…
Uh…….. ahem. Yeah… what was I talking about?123Please respect copyright.PENANAG9rk7veXOC