What chair are you/honer bands.

[Lauren]

What chair is everybody? ...and is anybody in any honer bands? I'm actually in a 3-way tie for 1st chair, so I don't know yet...not untill Tues. (there is 13 flutes in my band). I don't know if I'm in honer band though...I just auditioned (SP)...I did SO bad. I seriously dought I made it. I'll have to wait 'till next Thursday...about when my letter should come. :(:(:(:( This really sux I wanted to make iT SOOOOOOOOOOOO bad! I don't even wanna see the letter. I could of made it though....I hope everyone messed up. WAH!!!!!

[monkey]

well we don't have chairs but me band director alwasy says I am the best flute and won't let me switch to the basson(SP??), oboe(sp??), or the french horn!! we have two band teachers and the other techer wanted me to switch to any of those he even talked to my parents but my otehr band teacher (the head one) won't let me because bassicly this is what he said "the flute section would suck without you" and im not trying to brag it acctuly makes me mad because none of the flutes practice so they all suck and I want to play something else and he won't let me cause they don't practice!! ugg
~Vanessa~

[fluttiegurl]

I really hope this does not offend anyone, as that is not my intention. Some of my students who visit here had a few comments on this, but were afraid to address them, so I am speaking on their behalf.
It is a wonderful thing to sit in first chair. It is an honor at any level and in any size band. You should be very proud if you have that honor (which I hope you have worked hard for). My concern is those players who, for whatever reason, may not have that opportunity. Every band program has a different standard for seating. Some band programs also have as many as 35 flutes. I even know of programs where seating changes weekly according to a student's progress in one week. What I am saying is flute players are often too concerned with chair placement. What chair you sit in band does not really say a great deal about who you are or what you have accomplished, or even how "good" you really are. It merely means this is how you compared to other players in your section at a given moment in time.
I entered college as a player who sat in first chair from the very beginning. When I had my first chair audition, I was devistated that I only made fourth in my freshman class. What I didn't consider was that all of the other players in my section were first chair in school as well. Needless to say, I learned a great deal about being humble that first year.
Wether you are first or last, I hope everyone here plays for the love of music. And by the way, congrats to all of those section leaders out there, and keep playing for the sake of MUSIC!

[Fluteoholic]

I'm first chair in my band at school and i made first chair at all-district honor band.

[Lauren]

I got 1st chair! ...and I'm only 16 min. away from my goal of 1000min on my practice log (we get one every 1/4). There is 5 days left so I think i'll probably go over.

...and fluttiegirl, thanks for raining on our parades, lol.

Everybody on here says they are first chair...I have a feeling that not everybody is telling the truth....

[fluttiegurl]

I didn't mean to "rain on your parade". I simply wanted to let those that are not in first chair that they are important too.
By the way, congratulations to both Lauren and Fluteoholic. I hope you both go very far with your playing.

[Kim]

<<Everybody on here says they are first chair...I have a feeling that not everybody is telling the truth>>

Lauren,
Why do you have the feeling that not everybody is telling the truth ?
There are a lot of flute players here and they are all in different bands..there are a lot of 1st chairs out there LOL

I agree with the other poster that mentioned that chairs are not always important. Songs just wouldn't sound the same if everyone was playing the same part. It takes many players to make a band sound good.
My daughter plays in a band with 14 flutes and she sits 1st chair but the band director mixes things up and everybody gets a chance to play all the parts...so the 1st chair may be play 4th flute on one song and the 7th chair may play 1st flute on another song.


Congrats by the way on reaching your goal.

Kim

[juneroses]

I will say that I am not a first chair... and don't mind because I'm working hard towards it and its only my second year

[powayflute01]

Everybody on here says they are first chair...I have a feeling that not everybody is telling the truth....

Well, did you ever think that maybe the people who are most interested in playing the flute and practicing hard are first chair? Because the majority of the people on this message board are very dedicated to their playing and spend a considerable amount of time practicing and actually care about their flute playing (unlike the kids in band who are only there because their parents make them join and the ones who like flute but aren't really motivated.)

[fluttiegurl]

That does make some sense, but only when you are in a band where you are the ONLY one who tries. I have three students who are in the same band at school. They all try very hard, but one has been playing a year longer and she sits in first chair. Does that mean the reast are not dedicated? I don't believe it does. Given the opportunity to play against flutists who had been playing the same amount of time, they would obviously sit higher, but even then, only one could be in first chair. That does not mean they try any less nor does that mean they are any less talented. It is just a fact that everyone cannot be in first chair. When you are in a very competitive playing situation where several flute players who take lessons and practice hard, someone has to sit second, third, etc. Unfortunately, many flute players are never in that situation, and most do not truly understand the concept of EVERYONE being important to their sections.

[powayflute01]

I don't know if I'd say that many flute players aren't in the position where they don't sit first chair...heck, someone has to be second chair through howmanyever chairs there are. However, I do agree with your point that most aspiring flutists don't really understand the concept that playing a second flute part on a song is not the end of the world and that in many cases, is critical to how the piece sounds.
I sat first chair in the highest level band at my university last semester (not trying to brag about that--I'm dropping out of band this semester anyway...) and most of the second flutes were very quiet players. We had a song where the second part was pretty critical, so I ended up asking the third chair player to play the second part just for a passage of maybe 15-20 bars and she started CRYING and was very offended about it. I would have understood had we been in the sixth grade or something...but this was a college freshman. Heck, I would have switched parts myself...but I didn't feel confident that the second & third chairs together would be loud enough on the first part, so I felt that it would have sounded the best with the third chair on the second part. (This was all done with the directors permission, in case anyone was wondering. It is generally not a good idea to boss the other players around and act surperior just because you did better on a test than the others.)
Anyway, back to the point...I played second tenor parts in various jazz ensembles for years in high school and I have to say, it really helped me understand just how critical other parts in the music can be. It is unfortunate that many flutists will never get an experience like that so they can appreciate the other parts in the music.

[Lauren]

• I was sorta thinking maybe only dedicated players were on here...well anyway I made it into honer band

[Burke]

Lauren,

Everyone is displaying some level of dedication just by being here. The members are at varying levels of musical acheivement, that's all.

At any rate, it seems to me that part of the moral responsibility in holding a position such as first chair includes being supportive of those of lesser qualification. I'm sure you want to see others do well.

[pandagirl11]

Hmm...my school doesn't have Honours Band. Instead, we have...Concert Band and Jazz Band...I believe the Concert Band is Band 12 Advanced. =) But yes, I got accepted there. I don't even know if they have chairs or not. =P

[Kim]

• I was sorta thinking maybe only dedicated players were on here...well anyway I made it into honer band

Lauren,

First you said that you didn't think that all the people that said they are 1st chair were being truthful and now you are implying that not everyone here is dedicated. Just in the school district we live in there are 6 -1st chair positions, (6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble). Things are set up similar in many school districts so that would mean there are a lot of 1st chair players out there. How can you assume that the people here that say they are 1st chair are not being truthful ?

Determining how dedicated a person is really isn't something that we should pass judgement on. How do you decide if someone is dedicated or not on the internet? You can't possibly know how much they practice or if they have private lessons or what they can do skill wise.

Kim