Band

The Art of Music

Have you ever stopped to dance, sing, or listen to the music at half-time of a football or basketball game? The song sounds great. Right? Well, have you ever stopped to think about all the hard work and time put into perfecting the music? Not only do the band members have a lot of work to do with a song, but so does the teacher.

After eight years of teaching at Nemaha Valley, Mr. Dirk Colgrove resigned and Mrs. Susan Gartner began teaching in his place. Not only did she have to get used to the school system and the students, but the students had to get used to her. At the beginning of bad class, they do the ward up routine. If there is an upcoming concert, the band students work on the music for it. They get critiqued and work on the different parts of the song that needs working on. If there aren’t any upcoming concerts, they work on music for pep band, the music enjoyed by all at games.

“Mrs. Gartner picked out a lot of new songs that I like. Even though they are harder than usual, I enjoy playing them,” said Roseanna, jr.

Besides working with the band. Mrs. Gartner teaches vocal class. Vocal students also do a warm up at the beginning of class. During class, the students work on songs in upcoming concerts and performances. The most important performance the students do is at the end of the year. They practice hard and learn new songs hoping to do well at regionals.

“Regionals is the most important performance we do all year. That is where we work to earn a one rating,” said Lacy, jr.

If you have wanted to be a member in a group and ever play the music everyone is singing and dancing to or show off your voice by singing, join the band or vocal group.

-Janelle

Front Row: Coila, Amy, Stacy, Joni, Anne, Jena, Emily, Kristin, Roseanna. Second Row: Julie, Julie, Josh, Justin, Amber, Dannielle, Lori, Lacy, Chad, Ronda, Ashley, Renee, Amy, Alicia, Megan, Stacy, Ashley. Third Row: Maranda, Michelle, Jamie, Josh, Eric, Dustin, Craig, Sam, A.J., Travis, Phil, Annie, Leah, Lori, Julie, Nikki, Jenifer, Mark, Jared, Jeremy. Fourth Row: Susan, Todd, Phil, Tom, Ryan, Darin, Anthony