Trials and Tribulations of a Band Parent

Yes, I know that James has only been in the band for less than six months, but I am not sure if I am cut out to be a band parent.

These six months have been wonderful for James, as he has truly enjoyed playing the saxophone. For me, on the other hand, it has been a stressful experience, and it has nothing to do with the home practice sessions of the budding musician.

We started out trying to save some money to make sure that James would like playing the saxophone, by having him use my brother Dave's old one. In hindsite that may have been a mistake. After numerous visits to the music store to get the proper song book and reeds, the maintenance aspect of using an older instrument kicked in.

For a period of time it seemed that something new was wrong with the saxophone every single day. As fast as I could repair one item, a new issue popped up the next day. Finally a large piece broke off that I had to take to work to get the maintenance department to reattach.

Finally James declared that his teacher told him that he needed a new saxophone.

Fortunately the school has lent him a tenor saxophone to use for the rest of the year. Low and behold, soon after it breaks down also and goes into the music shop. There is sat and sat and sat as the Winter Concert approached. On the day of the concert after many nervous emails (from Michelle) to the teacher, his saxophone was repaired and returned.

On the much happier side, his Winter Concert was wonderful and the 6th grade band was very impressive. James could not have been any happier. He looked pretty sharp in his suit also.

He certainly has enjoyed the band experience far more that I ever would have guessed. He has made great progress and he likes playing the saxophone and he likes his teacher.

Check out the video clips of his concert, in the video section of the page. They did a great job.

...now if being a band parent wasn't so difficult...