Junior Band Reformed!

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Junior Band Reformed!

In early July 2011, 17 learners were accepted into BBJ's newly reconstituted junior band after they passed an internal examination.

In early July 2011, 17 learners were accepted into BBJ's newly reconstituted junior band after they passed an internal examination. It was an important milestone. Before that, BBJ had not had a junior band for about two years. This was because – after accepting the entire membership of the previous junior band into BBJ – we had been focussing on raising standards internally.

But with a new group of learners nearing the end of their training in the middle of 2011, it was time to get things moving once again. The learners, who had been practicing hard while BBJ was on tour in Nias, gathered outside BBJ's music studio on the morning of July 5 for their exam. They were tested one by one (ABRSM style) by a group of three judges – myself, Danias (BBJ bandmaster) and Dedi (their trainer).

The learners had both a practical and a theory test.

The practical exam involved:

Playing three technical exercises in the Salvation Army's “Studies for Band Training”. Nos 1, 3, and 7.
Holding a note in the middle range of their chosen instrument (concert F or B-flat) for 10 seconds without wavering in pitch. This was tested with an electronic tuner.
Playing the part for their chosen instrument (cornet, horn, baritone, tuba) for the following numbers of the Salvation Army's Band Tune Book – 16, 199, 364.
Scales in the following major keys: C, G, F, B-flat, E-flat and A-flat.
Drummers did not have to play scales, but they did have to play a drum roll for 10 seconds.

The Theory exam involved:

Ability to name all the lines and spaces on the treble clef and give the correct fingering or slide positions for each.
Ability to identify and explain the meaning of the following: time signature, key signature, note names and values.
Explain the meaning of m, mp, mf, f, ff, as well as crescendo and decrescendo.

After an initial meeting, at which I explained the format of the exam to them, we started work. BBJ tuba player Lasnointer Marbun – a former band trainer who has recently been accepted by the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta to study music – ushered in the candidates one by one.

BBJ has always drawn its membership from the residents of the Salvation Army's William Booth Boys Home in Medan. But this time around, we were also testing learners whose parents were regular members of the corps (church). Among them were five girls.

I didn't realise how seriously they all took the examination until around lunchtime, when we had tested about half of them. One of the girls (about 15 years old) had made several mistakes. Thinking she was going to fail, she was fighting back tears as she left the music studio.

That evening we called all of the learners together to announce the results. The exam had also given me a good overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the group as a whole. With the exception of the drummers and one trombone player, their understanding of music theory was quite strong. Most were also able to hold a steady note using the tuner. But the drummers still struggle to produce a good roll on the snare drum – as do their counterparts in the senior band!

There was a wide range of abilities. Using 50% as the pass mark, I graded the lowest at 52% and the highest at 96%. The highest mark was awarded to Tema, a young cornet player. Here he is with Dedi, his proud teacher.

Dedi has now been appointed leader of our newly reconstituted junior band. Another group of beginners start lessons in August. Their teacher is BBJ cornet player Ganda.

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Many people believe that musicians are more moody and prone to suicide than other professionals, and that - as a result - a greater percentage of them end their lives in mental institutions or are fated to live emotionally tempestuous lives. Musicians are also commonly suspected of being over sensitive to criticism, having delusions of grandeur and other neurotic traits.

The statistics fail to bear this out, although it is possible to find enough examples to make the case in front of those unfamiliar with Western musical history. Like actors, politicians and others obliged to face the public on a regular basis, musicians probably have their fair share of emotional problems. However, such problems do not constitute evidence of neuroticism.

Musicians probably have their fair share of emotional problems.

Beethoven was known for his moodiness, but this was probably closely related to his growing frustration as he began to go deaf. Among the famous composers, only Schumann and MacDowell ended up in mental institutions. Musicians probably have no more suicidal impulses than the rest of the population. But should a prominent musician decide to take his life, it is likely to get a good deal of publicity.

Perhaps the most morbid suicide was planned by the pianist Alexander Kelberine, who arranged his last concert programme to consist only of works dealing with death. He then went home and took an overdose of sleeping pills. Schumann jumped into the Rhine, only to be rescued by a fisherman. Rezso Seress composed Gloomy Sunday, a work that was once banned in Europe because it triggered a wave of suicides by young people on Sundays. Seress himself committed suicide by jumping out of a window. The vast majority of musicians, however, die of causes that reflect the state of medical knowledge in the particular historical period in which they live.

Some musicians certainly had sad lives. Mozart, perhaps the greatest of the composers in the Classical Period of music, died a pauper. The pianist Chopin, a Polish nationalist and tormented lover, was terrified of large audiences. He died of tuberculosis when he was 39. Bizet, a French composer who died when he was 36, was beset by crises of self-confidence and emotional upheaval. Unlike Chopin, his works only achieved widespread recognition after his death.

Wagner had the emotional maturity of a spoilt child.

George Gershwin only had a short life, but it was a good one. He died of a brain tumor when he was 39 after a rags to riches story that made him one of the most well known composers of popular music in the United States.

Others lived long and had much success, despite treating others abominably, including many of their friends. Wagner considered himself a genius as a playwright, poet, stage director, and philosopher as well as a composer, and was not shy about letting others know it! Although not particularly handsome, his personal magnetism was such that he had numerous affairs, usually with married women, despite the fact that he was married himself. His biographers describe him as having the emotional maturity of a spoilt child, complete with tantrums if he could not get his way. He died at the age of 70, widely acclaimed as one of the greatest composers of his time.

The pianist Franz Liszt's dashing good looks enabled him to have numerous affairs with many woman. He died of pneumonia at the age of 75. Contrast this with the fate of Schubert, who was short, fat, bespectacled and naturally shy. He died of syphilis at the age of 31 after his friends encouraged him to visit a brothel. Those who knew him well described him as having a warm and friendly nature. Somehow, it doesn't sound fair.

The life of J.S. Bach must have been very boring.

The majority of musicians now and in the past lead fairly quiet lives. Edward Elgar, a largely self-taught musician, rose from humble origins to become the first English composer in 200 years to gain international acclaim. He had a stable marriage, and was regarded by many as a typical English gentleman. He died at the age of 77. Sergei Rachmaninov, the Russian composer, also had a good life despite being out of step with his country's politics and music. He died at the age of 70.

The life of J.S. Bach must have been the most boring of all. He spent almost his entire life in the same small region of Germany where he was born. And nobody took much notice of him either. It was not until about 80 years after his death that his works attracted the attention they deserved.

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