Parent FAQ'S

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE BAND CLASSES AT VALLEY VIEW?

Detailed information about each band class can be found at the following links:

• Beginning Band (7th grade and/or 1st year players)

• Junior Concert Band (8th grade and/or 2nd+ year players)

• Senior Concert Band (9th - 12th grades)

• Senior Jazz Band (any band student in the 9th - 12th grades may participate)

• Blazer Marching Band (9th - 12th grades)

CAN I GET ALL THE CLASSES I NEED AND STILL BE IN BAND?

Yes. You can be in band and get all the classes you need to graduate! Your participation in other activities may sometimes conflict, but we can work around most conflicts with proper planning and advance notice.

HOW MUCH TIME DOES BAND TAKE?

There is some extra time required for rehearsals and performances. However, it is not nearly the time commitment some people make it out to be. In fact, if you compare it to other band programs or other types of school activities, you will be surprised at how little extra time is actually required. Marching season for the high school generally runs 13-14 weeks out of the 36-week school year. A few extra rehearsals are called during concert season for all bands. Many band members continue private lessons outside of school time, but this is optional, although highly recommended. Band does require some extra commitment, but as with anything worthwhile, the more you invest, the more you get out of the program. Remember that anything done well takes an investment of time.

HOW OFTEN DOES THE BAND PERFORM?

All bands will perform on the Winter and Spring concerts. The Junior and Senior Bands will perform at Concert Assessment in the spring. The Blazer Marching Band will perform at all home football games and 2-4 competitions or other events. Other potential group performances include basketball pep band, parades, pep rallies, and more! Students also have the opportunity to perform individually in honor bands such as All Region, All-State, and Solo and Ensemble Contest.

HOW MUCH TIME DO PARENTS INVEST IN BAND?

This comes down to how much you have to invest, and how involved you want to be. We have many things you can do, from assisting with uniforms, meals, and equipment to chaperoning on trips for football games, contests, and overnight trips. Yes, you may also devote time to transporting your child to and from rehearsals and other events, but with a band program as large as ours, carpools can be arranged fairly easily. We even can help you find other band families that live in your neighborhood. Check The Blazer Band Boosters page for more ways to get involved.

HOW DO I HELP MY CHILD BE SUCCESSFUL IN BAND?

First of all, be supportive – very few things can be as destructive to a child’s success in the program, and thereby jeopardize the success of the entire program, as a parent who does not support what a child is doing. Now that doesn’t mean you have to necessarily be at every performance cheering the band on (although you may find following the band is addictive and will become a highlight of your week if you just try it), but by all means don’t take a negative approach to your child attending rehearsals and performances. Yes, having a child in band may mean making some sacrifices – just as it does if they are taking dance, or karate, or piano lessons, or tennis lessons, or riding lessons, or playing a sport, or just about anything else. But they won’t be children long, and the time they have to do these things that will enrich their lives will quickly go away. Don’t become an enabler – if they want to miss a practice or (even worse!) a performance, make sure you don’t make it easy for them to bail out on the commitment they have made. Once we start, it gets easier and easier to let our responsibilities slide, and this is definitely not a road we want our children headed down.

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CHILD MISSES A REHEARSAL?

SENIOR HIGH MARCHING BAND: When one person is missing during marching practice, the problem is amplified many times over. It is simply impossible to learn to march a show if there are "holes" instead of bodies on the practice field. Those students who are at practice can't figure out where to go because the people their drill relates to are missing and the people who are missing don't know where to go when they return. Everybody loses.

CONCERT BANDS: The purpose of concert band rehearsals is to learn everyone else’s part and to fit them together for a true ensemble experience. If your child is missing, we cannot fit all of the parts together. If your student MUST miss rehearsal or part of a rehearsal, you need to explain this to a director as soon as possible. This does not automatically excuse the student from the rehearsal. We will deal with these on an individual basis.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "THE SHOW"?

Halftime/Contest Show: The contest show is the performance the marching band spends hours and hours perfecting for marching competitions and halftime performances at football games. The contest show is around 7-9 minutes and consists of several different segments. Often there will be a concept or thematic thread that will run through the contest show that will be “played out” on the field as the show unfolds. At any given time, there may be flags, rifles, sabers and dancers, in addition to the horn line, drum line and front ensemble! Occasionally we will use "props" in our production, if the concept calls for it, but more often we try to make the show come to life with music and movement alone.

The show comes together a little at a time, week by week. During rehearsals at the beginning of the season the band learns several new "pages" or "sets" each day. Pages are designed by the drill writer with a computer, which then prints out charts and a “coordinate sheet” for each band member. Band members are required to bring their charts and coordinate sheets to each rehearsal, in the notebook provided to them at the beginning of summer marching camp. They use a string, strap, piece of yarn, etc. to make it possible to wear their notebook over their shoulder to keep it handy during rehearsal. The coordinate sheets tell each student where they should be standing at certain points in the music and how many steps it will take them to get to that point from the last point. A "set" is made when band students form up as indicated on their "coordinate sheets".

You can see now why it is SO important not to miss a marching practice! The show is made up of many chunks (different parts of the show). It is nothing short of awesome to watch our kids put it all together on the field.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARCHING CONTESTS?

The Blazer Boosters and parents play a large role on competition days. There is so much to be done that there is no way the band performs successfully without tremendous support from The Blazer Boosters and parents. Making certain everything needed gets to the performance, everything set up, students fed at the right time, water made available before and after performances – these and many other tasks are accomplished by very supportive parents. Even if you are not on duty in those ways, a prime responsibility is to take your place in the audience. Every band works hard to achieve their level of excellence, and deserves to be cheered and applauded and to receive a standing ovation from everyone in the audience, because what marching bands do today is nothing short of miraculous. So the expectation is that our parents will give their support to every band that performs. Even though there are some parents from other schools that act as if their support for another band is disloyal to their own child’s band, that is not the stance we want our parents to take.

PLEASE EXPLAIN THE TERMS, "HORN LINE," "DRUM LINE," "FRONT ENSEMBLE," AND "GUARD."

Simply put, the "horn line" is all the students who perform on brass and woodwind instruments in the marching band – the flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, french horns, trombones, baritones (or euphoniums – used interchangeably) and sousaphones (the tuba player’s marching instrument).

The drum line is made up of the percussionists who march, carrying their instruments – snare drums, tenors (five drums - one person) and bass drums. The marching percussion are often referred to as "battery" percussion.

The "front ensemble," or "pit" is made up of the stationary percussion instruments and the students who play them. The front ensemble is a critical element of the band. These instruments form up on the sideline at the 50 yard line facing the audience. Although the pit members don't march, they move from instrument to instrument along the sideline.

The Front Line Crew is made up of parents and student runners who volunteer to help move the pit instruments. The Front Line Crew moves the equipment to the field and helps to position the vast array of instruments along the sideline. They watch the show from the track area and then help to quickly clear the instruments away after the show. We could not function as a band without the help of The Front Line Crew. You are more than welcome to join this awesome group of volunteers.

The "guard," or color guard, are the visual performance ensemble, using dance-type movement and flags to visually portray the music being performed by the band.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN TO PICK MY CHILD UP AFTER AN EVENT?

The staff tries very hard to end rehearsals on schedule, or very nearly so. This is not an exact science, and sometimes it takes a few minutes extra to bring adequate closure to the rehearsal. At any rate, after rehearsal the students have to put away equipment and get their stuff ready to go home, so to make it easy on yourself, allow 10-15 minutes after the announced end of rehearsal before you would expect them to be ready to get in the car. You are also welcome to come a few minutes early to watch the band.

HOW DOES THE WEATHER AFFECT MARCHING REHEARSALS AND PERFORMANCES?

Rehearsals are never canceled due to inclement weather. We will not usually rehearse outdoors in the rain, unless it is just drizzle or intermittent light rain. In the event of steady rain, we will rehearse indoors and go out at the first opportunity. Students should dress for the weather, whether hot or cold. Not having the proper attire is not a satisfactory reason for having a poor rehearsal. Students should wear comfortable shoes (preferably low-topped tennis shoes) and socks for rehearsals. This is important in that the style of marching step we use requires that the foot and ankle be permitted to move freely. Caps and sun block are recommended. There will always be water at rehearsal, and in extreme cases of cold or heat the rehearsal format may be altered, but the rehearsals are never canceled.

Very rarely a marching competition will be canceled due to rain. If it is raining on a competition day, we will still load up and travel to the site unless we are notified that the competition has been canceled. We will then assess the weather and our chances of presenting a creditable performance after arrival. Students will not be asked to stand or sit for lengthy periods in the rain – if we can find no other shelter we will return to the buses. For home football games, a rainy Friday night can be a pain, but we generally wait in the band room to see how the rain is going to develop. If it is possible by half-time to go out and perform and remain for the rest of the game we will – if not, we will decide to dismiss when it becomes apparent that we will not be able to perform. In the event of light rain, we might issue ponchos and try to wait it out in the stadium, leaving the woodwind instruments either in cases or indoors. In the very rare event that we get information that conclusively points to cancelling a performance far enough in advance, announcements will be sent out using a variety of methods including the website, Remind.com messages, and more.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR MY CHILD TO BE IN BAND?

There are no fees to be in the Junior High band program. There is a $50 fee in the Senior High band to help with the high operating costs of that ensemble. We do not have to employ traditional fundraising methods since we operate the concession stands, so students are expected to volunteer time to help keep the concession stands staffed for the many events that occur on campus throughout the year. They will earn points for their student account and any family member that works with them will contribute to those earnings! Learn more about student accounts by following this link.

WHY DOES THE BAND NEED SO MUCH MONEY?

Just like with any family, it takes a lot of money to keep the band "up and running." While the band receives money from the school system, there is still not enough to accommodate and provide for all the needs of the band, especially as we anticipate much upcoming growth. Yes, we could operate a band with only the funds provided from these sources, but it would not be the same band we have come to love and respect - the kind of band opportunity we want for our children -- or the kind of program that could keep pace with other schools in our area. That is why it is so important for students and parents to help with fundraising activities that benefit the band program.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

You’ll have the opportunity to spend quality time with your child and many other outstanding young musicians. The chance to see our young people at their very best may be the number one thing parents get from their child’s involvement in band. Being a part of a system like this is incredibly rewarding and are proven grounds in promoting friendships and memories!