SCIA Banquet 2023 – Stage Band Performance

This was a cool event at a nice venue, one of the nicest venues in our area. While the stage band performed this event for a few years now, it was my first time playing for it. Overall, it was a success and I always seem to learn a little more each time I perform with this group.

Even though I have a few events under my belt now, I still find myself getting a little nervous before these shows. I know the music “mostly” so there’s still some areas that I either never fully worked out or just haven’t played in a long time. The band leader will call whatever he wants up next so it’s difficult to plan or practice for a show such as this. Thankfully for this show we were warned that we were starting at the back of our set list, so I felt a bit more prepared this time than previous shows.

My intonation with the group is getting better but I still have a lot of work to do there. I warm up with a tuner but during a show I try not to use it as we attempt to tune up as a group. I find it’s better if we are all a little off instead of one person being out of place. I’m still improving on my alternate positions which is adding a bit of flexibility to my playing. Learning that not all positions are absolute is something I should’ve learned and practiced a long time ago.

The band was not the star of this event. Most people were here for the speakers and to socialize with others around them. The band was positioned in the front of the room but off to the side. Even though each event is treated the same, it does remove a bit of pressure when the band isn’t the focus. Those that wanted to listen were able to enjoy and those that didn’t were able to tune us out. It’s always a good feeling though to spot someone just listening and enjoying.

Playing as lead trombone, I’m still trying to get comfortable with solos. There was only one solo I played for this event and while it was one of the easier ones, I felt I did fairly well. For now, I’m still only playing written solos and nothing adlib. I’m hoping to start reaching out more and at least find embellishments on these written solos to start adding my own flavor to them.

Our next major event is not until October unless something else comes up before. I have a lot of time to work on fundamentals during this time. I’m hoping to start going through the Arban’s book again and just playing more etudes and exercises. I need to lock in my scales and focus more on basics at this point to just overall improve my music sense and tone. My upper range is starting to come around but I’m still struggling on tone in that range. Alas, always something to improve on.