mean band director!!!

[Flutie_chick]

I'm 4th chair flute at my school and being a sophomore, that's pretty good, seeing as the ones who beat me are 2 seniors and one junior. Well, anyway the junior plays trumpet during marching/pep band and one senior is a basketball cheerleader. The other senior happened to be away during pep band this week so picc was open. Being next in line, I asked to play. I got a "haha no." THAT IS MEAN!! I can play!! What's worse is that the director, not to be named, let 5th chair and offered 8th chair to play it!! Now, do you agree that the person with the higher level of ability should play the more difficult instrument? grrr.....

[Kendall]

Have they played piccolo for him/her before? Piccolo and flute are very different instruments. Some flute players aren't as good at piccolo as other flute players that may not play flute as well. It depends on the circumstance i guess.

[Kim]

Now, do you agree that the person with the higher level of ability should play the more difficult instrument? grrr.....

Yeah, one would think that it should work that way. Did you ask the band director why he chose a person seated behind you ? My daughter has 3 band directors that she is in class with at different times..one of them seems to have issues just like your band director but luckily the other 2 band directors don't seem to have those issues. I guess I would approach the band director calmly and ask him why he didn't offer you the piccolo part. Maybe you could approach him with a question/statement such as "I really would have like to play the piccolo...I was wondering what I you think I need to work on in order to be able to play it".

[Flutie_chick]

This girl has never played picc in her entire life. I have played it for a while, not under any instruction, mind you. I think this man has something against me. The girl who he let play it is his neighbor. That is a major factor that I neglected to mention. She was very sharp and could barely get notes out. I heard him ask her if she'd play next week as well. I am so confused. I am a pretty good picc player, he has just never given me the chance to prove myself to him. It's so frustrating!!!

[PiccChic06]

Maybe you're band director wants to give the other girls a chance? Maybe he feels you'd be good for it but that the other people deserve a chance? I don't know, that's what my mom always tells me. lol I don't always agree with this, but it might be the case.

[MeLizzard]

Sounds irritating ...sometimes, we gotta just do our best, act polite, and bide our time--things usually have a way of working themselves out. If a person is truly incompetent, eventually, this will become apparent. Geesh, if I were the director, I wouldn't want my band sounding less-than-good. Some directors, however, want to spread opportunities through the section. Some just have unusual priorities. One of my students last year, as a ninth-grader, was simply kicking major a** in her junior high school. She was whipping through Trevor Wye technique and scale exercises to D4, playing with gorgeous, fluid tone, and performing Bloch's Suite Modale for contest. She sounded like a million bucks! Her band director, ironically a flutist, issued endless taped tests, which she used as criterion for changing the players' chairs. After beginning the year in first chair, followed by countless "tests", my student wound up with third and then second chair, despite obviously outplaying her peers. We decided the "tests" must have been administered until the 'right' person got first chair. Even beyond technique, the general musical maturity difference was staggering. The first-chair player asked this girl fingerings and such information throughout the remainder of the school year. Finally, the student simply came to terms with the 'life's not fair' philosophy, and the knowledge that there's musical life outside of school band. Her revenge came this summer, when she was named piccolo section leader for her new high school band, as a sophomore , after my other student (senior) at that school was selected to be field commander. Hahahahaha! So, keep practicing, hang in there, and keep us posted.

[Flutie_chick]

Thanks, guys. It's so frustrating to have someone well, truthfully, beneath me play the instrument that I so badly wish to play. You've helped me realize that I probably will eventually get to do it. Thanks again!!

[powayflute01]

Perhaps the director saw potential in the other players? It probably wasn't meant as an insult to you...but if he had wanted to give the other players a chance, he probably should have gone about it a little more nicely. I've had some nasty band directors like that too. I was playing a flute solo with the school orchestra at a spring concert and the director had made a cut in my music that I really was not very fond of and I didn't think it sounded good at all. My flute teacher and I found a different section of the music to cut, and when I approached him and asked if he would change it, he responded with, "Well, how about we just cut your piece completely from the program? Then we won't have this problem at all" and walked away. Eventually we comprimised a cut, but it is SO awful to have a rude band director and I can totally relate to your experience.
Good luck!

[Leedthomson]

It's always hard to have a band director like that, believe me I know. You just have to stay calm. You might as others have said want to approach him and ask him calmly ! It's not good to get in a fight with him or her on account of it could affect your grade, even though it shouldn't.

[biggzh]

Band director of the person I got my 1st flute from would literally BANG their instruments on stands....