When it comes to high school groups, there are none quite as infamous as band kids. Even though we’ve been labeled as “geeks,” our presence is just as prominent as jocks and cheerleaders. Here are 12 things every band kid can relate to in some way or another.
1. Whenever you hear music in public, you have to make sure you’re walking on beat with your left foot on the first beat.
And if the song is in anything but 2/4 or 4/4 time… good luck.
2. Roll stepping saves lives, and boy, don’t you know it.
How many spills have been prevented because of roll stepping? How much time clomping around has been depleted because of roll stepping? Go ahead and majestically glide across the floor, you’ll never falter by doing so.
3. You have a moment of silence whenever you see a marching band in a parade.
You’ve been in that uniform. You know how hot the sun can get. You know how much your body aches during it. You know how those few miles feel like an eternity. And you pity those poor souls who have to march and play while you are nothing but a spectator…and then laugh a little because you’re glad it’s finally not you.
4. Football games are nothing more than an opening act.
If the football games were about football, they wouldn’t put bands in the middle with an extravagant show and attention grabbing music now, would they?
5. Instrument bias.
We all have that one instrument we irrationally hate and that one instrument we unconditionally love solely because of the people who played it. Feelings may vary with every year that passes.
6. The term “district auditions” strikes fear into your soul like no other.
It haunts you forever. Sometimes at night, you can still hear the music, you can still finger along desperately, but it’s no use...
7. Performance nightmares.
How many times has this happened: you wake up, panicking, because you’re late and you forgot your instrument and your music only to discover you’re at home in bed with nothing going on the next day? The good news is you’re not alone. The bad news is that those dreams never stop.
8. Pep band ruined a number of songs for you forever.
Yes, I am, in fact, going off the rails if I hear “Crazy Train” one more time.
9. Sometimes a musician hits a note that makes you want to cry.
Sometimes you want to know what sort of witchcraft went into hitting that double high G. Other times you want to know why some people have never heard of a tuner.
10. Band camp jokes annoy you.
No, nothing happened at band camp besides continuous wishes for death. We all know the real fun happens on band trips anyway.
11. You dread graduation season… because of the music.
Is saying goodbye to the seniors really worth the unending misery that is “Pomp and Circumstance”? Are they really worth it?
12. It defines you for the rest of your life.
No matter how far away you are, no matter how long you’ve been away, there will always be something out there that inevitably will make you think of band, whether you loved it or not. It’s inescapable. Once a band kid, always a band kid.
