Marching in Step

Clarinets

Senior Daniel Colebank leads the clarinet section of four seniors, one sophomore, and nine freshmen in a chant before every halftime show: “Blood makes the grass grow, kill kill kill!” They may have stolen it from cross country, but it is becoming their own.

The clarinet section is dominated in numbers by the freshmen, which causes barriers that aren’t prevalent in other sections. Since the freshmen can’t drive and there are no juniors it has been harder for the clarinets to connect.  The freshmen are learning how to march and what it’s like to be in high school, so it is tough for them to really connect and form strong friendships with the seniors in the section.

The clarinet section likes to just have fun, and foreign exchange student senior Christian Otzen has introduced his European style dance, “Pick the Apples.” That isn’t the only dancing the section does. Throughout the games, they will dance to the music, and just enjoy their time having fun with the entire band.

“[With] pretty much everyone in the band, if we have fun, we have fun together,” said Colebank.

Clarinets are a young group that have played together for only a few short months, but they are making their mark on the marching band.

“Next year once they have two sections under their belt  they will have a great sound, and be really strong,” Colebank said.

Drumline

Standing in a cluster before the marching band steps onto the football field, senior Burke Smith leads the drumline in their favorite chant, “Who all’s seen the leprechaun say, yeah!” followed by a resounding, “Yeah!” It not only gets them pumped up to play with the band, but also gets them excited to play together as the core of the band.

The marching band plays and walks off the field.  The boys that come together and shuffle the 20 yards towards the stands of screaming fans rising to their feet form the SME drum line. The band had its turn, but now it’s their time to shine.

The beat, the adrenaline, the screaming from the crowd. The cymbals perform flawlessly- not a single member misses a beat. But most importantly the crowd loves it and the student body is standing up cheering on the 16 boys, one girl, and their drums.

“The adrenaline overwhelms you,” Smith said. “We will rush and get really excited.”

The friends made on drum line are just as important as the beats they make. At band camp they will go out to eat together at Chipotle–they have “team dinners” to bond. Before the Lancer Day parade, they went out on a dinner and entertainment run to US Toy to buy funny hats.

Drumline may be something that everyone knows about or has heard in the hallway, but it is more than just a couple of guys that can hit a drum. It is a section that does more than follow sheet music and play on the correct beat.  They practice once a week out of their normal class, and also recently performed at the Shawnee Mission District Education Foundation breakfast as a highlight of Shawnee Mission East. Drumline is a culture, but more than that, it is a group of friends.

“It’s only four years of my life, it’s really fun with the camaraderie and the group of guys,” Smith said.

Flutes

The flute section of the marching band may be made up of 10 girls and two boys, but their sound is loud and heard as much as the trombones. The flutes take their playing very seriously.

“Flute players are mostly girls who are really competitive about playing the flute,” senior section leader Tyler Cecil said.

According to Cecil, flutes are the closest and most serious group in the whole band. They have frequent flute parties where they get together and just hang out. They have more T-shirts than any other section. Even though they are the tightest they certainly aren’t the craziest out of the group.

This year not only are sophomores learning how to march, but so are the freshmen. The freshmen in the flute section have added a different aspect to the group because they have bonded more than ever before. Cecil attributes bonding to having a great senior class that is dedicated to the band.

“You have to reach out to the freshmen to get to know them better, and, in turn, you reach out to everyone else and the sections are a lot tighter,” Cecil said.

Brass

As the marching band hops onto the bus headed to a home football game, songs from “Wheels on the Bus” to songs from the Disney movie “Mulan” and the band Journey are belted out by the brass section.

Much like their choice of music, the trumpet section is a colorful and diverse group from all parts of the school.

“We have boy scouts, we have farmer type attitudes, we have kids who only hang out with band kids, we have kids who have completely different social lives,” said senior Russell Philpott. “But it’s music that brings us all together.”

The trumpets, like the other sections, think they are superior to the others, which, in turn, leads to some friendly competition.

During the last week of summer, at band camp, Philpott and Tyler Cecil were discussing how the flutes weren’t playing loud enough. That lead to a competition between the flutes and trumpets to see who could play louder.

“It was healthy competition, and it was great,” Philpott said.

Summer camp was a bonding experience for the trumpets, but also for the trombones.

The trombones are more of a mellow section compared to the rest of the band, but they still have fun and connect with their section members. The two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen have bonded over the summer and now get along and play together well. The seniors are friends with the freshmen and vice versa.

“I have a lot of friends in band and really enjoy spending time with them,” said Hung.

For Philpott, it is all about the confidence in marching band, “If you have the confidence to play and you have the confidence to march, it looks good, and it sounds good,” Philpott said.