Annual Band Comments

[Rekdiver]

Band looked sharp...numbers looked good....cant hear them at all in 204. My biggest gripe now is song choice.I'm 66 and know Westside Story........but come on...something other than show tunes please? Totally lost on the overflow student section

[GregPercussion]

The band, is, and has been good for quite a while. This year's show selection was done by the previous director to be simple. Hard music, yet easy to teach.
The band is the best it will be at the level and resources it currently has. Peach is a friend of mine and he will take care of them for the rest of the season and get them ready for a new director next year.

[Rekdiver]

The band, is, and has been good for quite a while. This year's show selection was done by the previous director to be simple. Hard music, yet easy to teach.
The band is the best it will be at the level and resources it currently has. Peach is a friend of mine and he will take care of them for the rest of the season and get them ready for a new director next year.

What prevents the Band from practicing more that a couple hours a week? Just curious. And a band like Troy?
What do they have we dont?

[GregPercussion]

The band, is, and has been good for quite a while. This year's show selection was done by the previous director to be simple. Hard music, yet easy to teach.
The band is the best it will be at the level and resources it currently has. Peach is a friend of mine and he will take care of them for the rest of the season and get them ready for a new director next year.

What prevents the Band from practicing more that a couple hours a week? Just curious. And a band like Troy?
What do they have we dont?

It is a class. Mostly made up of music education majors who have to take it for 2 years and usually quit after that.
Us vs Troy? http://www.soundofthesouth.org/Staff/index.htm we don't have any staff. And I'm sure they have more than's just listed. Sometimes one that works with percussion. the people that end up doing some of this are pulling double or triple duty like the associate dean for the HSOM, is the announcer and basically runs all the logistics and helps at rehearsals.

Sections like the drumline practice at least 2 times outside of practice each week. Our band was created to be an educational tool rather than just a show band. I would like to see us go in a more show-corps style direction, but it's just what the roots have always been.

[NO.2]

Still not a big fan of the half time show but I am really loving the House of the Rising Sun.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

Still not a big fan of the half time show but I am really loving the House of the Rising Sun.

You get a thumbs up just for staying until halftime.

[MountaineerChemist10]

I watched the West Side Story halftime show during the GW game. Can't say I was a big fan, but still thought they were fantastic. Especially the drumline. Still wish Dr. Tobias was still around (had him during '04-'07; still the man).

[asualum78]

Troy and Jacksonville State have very similar bands. My son went to Jax State and marched with the Southerners. 4 weeks band camp in the summer for rookies, 2 for vets, 2 hour practices a day, attends every game, 10 charter buses and 2 transfer trucks to transport 550 members and their equipment, each member gets money for food while attending away games, lots of members are on scholarship, practice is ran like drum corp practice(no goofing off), many,many more stand tunes and no one is allowed music on the field or in the stands. Dr. Bodiford has an amazing staff of both other professors and graduate assistants. When the Southerners buses pull in anywhere, its like Elvis has entered the stadium with screaming teenagers. Jax State football has fans thanks to their band. More people came to see the band than football team for years but that is changing. After every game, the football team joins The Southernets, locking arms, to sing I'll Fly Away, The Southerners traditional song.

[NO.2]

Still not a big fan of the half time show but I am really loving the House of the Rising Sun.

You get a thumbs up just for staying until halftime.

Shiiiiiiet 204 holds it down till the double 0's.

[BTK2000]

It’s as Greg percussion said and I’ll reiterate something I’ve said before. A show that you see on average gets approximately 4 weeks of class to learn and set. That’s on average 3 hours of rehearsal a week or about 12 hours of full rehearsal before a live performance. With time out of that to do stands tunes and tweak pregame. Also the lack of staff is real. The only full time faculty is the director.

[Rekdiver]

I had no idea band was required for 2 years then most quit. That is incredibly disappointing. So there are few Upperclass leaders....

[MountaineerChemist10]

I had no idea band was required for 2 years then most quit. That is incredibly disappointing. So there are few Upperclass leaders....

Right, it's required for any students majoring in music education (instrumental). I wouldn't say there are only a FEW upperclassmen, just much less compared to lowerclassmen. The upperclassmen to continue to participate are hardcore.