Reflection Blog

So, this was my first blog that I have ever had. And I have to say, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I don’t think I will continue blogging but it was good while it lasted. If you read my blog, you can probably tell that I love marching band and yoyos and Rubik’s cubing, camping, and tennis. I will continue to do these activities and maybe share what will happen but probably not. If anybody who read my blog is thinking about doing these activities I would really recommend marching band. It is fun and somewhat athletic. And if you don’t know how to play an instrument, learn how because music is something that words cannot explain. There are so many different types to play and it is better to play in marching band because all of the sound on the field comes together into one and blends to make some of the best sounds to hear. I also recommend you do camping if you are the outdoors type. There are so many things to do outside besides camping. There is bike riding, running, or just shooting a basketball or throwing a baseball. For everyone who read my blog, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

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Rubik's Cube

There are so many different types of Rubik's cubes in the world and so many different types of solving each of them. I can solve a 3x3 and a 2x2 Rubik's cube. My best times are for the 3x3: 39seconds and the 2x2:14seconds. Solving these cubes consist of different algorithms. Algorithms is another name for patterns of different turns. It starts out of solving a side and on the picture on the left, how do you tell what color side it is? Well if you look at the center color that square can not move no matter what. That is how you tell what side, then the middle gets solved and then the top and then the corners.

Yoyo

This is another one of my hobbies, it is doing the yoyo. There is so many different things that people don't know about the yoyo. Maybe how long it spins or that you can throw it down and it wont come back up. I have a type of yoyo that does this. It is called the magic T8 and what it is, its an unresponsive yoyo which means you throw it down but it will not come back up without you doing what is called a bind. A bind is where you catching the yoyo on a string and throwing string into the bass of it. Also there is what most people think of yoyo, which is a responsive yoyo which you get at the store where you throw it down and it come back up immediately. This is one of my hobbies because it is really fun when you get good at doing string tricks and it can be a good stretch reliever.

Percussion

Today, I am going to talk to you about the percussion or another name " Battery" in Marching band. First is the most well known instrument, the Snare drum. In one of my previous blog post I told you why the snare was different from a regular snare drum. I will tell you again, it is more of like a gun shot noise, which also means it rings much less, there are strap like things under the drum that are tight.Next is the Bass drum. the bass drum is the bass of the noise especially the one in the pic. the bigger the drum head the deeper the noise will be. Then finally the Tenor drums or the quads. This drum can be most important because it is just like a snare drum but only different sounds because different sizes.

Camping

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Have you ever been camping? No. Well you should try it, it is really fun. You get to go into the outdoors and cook your own food and sleep in a sleeping bag or on a air mattress/cough. Also most of the time, their is Woods or a forest to explore. Also it depends were you are camping at, but there can be lakes, rivers, creeks, and maybe an ocean. I personally like camping by creeks and rivers, because they are really fun to play in or skip rocks. I hope I was able to summarize camping for you so try it.

Tennis

I said I would talk to you guys about marching band and other things, well today I am going to tell you about my favorite sport, Tennis. Tennis is a game that can have 2 to 4 people playing each other. With raquets and a neon green tennis ball. This game is played to 45 points but the score goes up by 15s. Something that people struggle to remember is the deuce and advantage. The score goes up by 15 points till 40 and then if the person has 40 alone and scores again that is game. But if they tie they are at deuce and then they have to win by 2.

how to read music

This is sheet music. Sheet music is different for other instruments. Such as percussion. it has straight notes and like a trumpet. it has patters like FACE. stands notes f a c e. Also empty garbage before dad flips Which stands for the notes e g b d f.How there is 5 lines and 4 spaces inside face is the notes inside and empty garbage before dad flips in the lines.

Horn angle

A horn angle is really important. A big metal bell can reflect where it is suppose to be. Especially with a trumpet, baritone, mellophone and sousaphone. At a competition besides marching and playing. A horn angle needs to be at 90%

Marching technique

It is a rolling type, there is no stomping your feet or flopping them, it is a rolling technique. A way to think about it is you are trying to roll to paste out all the way out of the bottle. Marching backwards is different, your heels are completely off the ground to help you stay stable.

how the shapes and lines are formed

Are you Confused on what this sheet means, well I will help you. This is called a set sheet.The drill Latin fire is the name of the drill, so that would be the show name, performing as cast member is the instrument that you will play. Then the symbol, every body in the band gets a different symbol to show who is who on the field. Obviously the set means the set number, and the move which also means the counts, so say someone said go to set 16 and move to 17 how many counts? It would be 16 counts. Back to front is to show you where you are  in the back of the field or the front. North and south means are you on the right side of the field or the left side. So if i said go to set 4 I would be on the 50 yard line and 2 steps in front of the front hash. 

marching band

 

Marching Band

Marching band is a series of instrument put together to make a show for other people or other bands to see. As you can see in one of the picture at the top, in marching band you can create different shapes or lines like the picture. The picture is the Ohio State marching band the shapes they are making are the super man sign, the harry potter symbol, a dinosaur, and a skull head. marching band is different from regular band because of the instruments. Some are the same like clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, flute, and trombone. But some are different, like in band the french horn is called the mellophone, and the baritone is called the same but looks different. these two instruments look like a trumpet.and there is one more and it is the sousaphone and it is based off of the tuba. the sousaphone is made out of brass and sits on your shoulder. then here is the drum line. the drums are not to different but there is some difference. For example the snare drum sounds more like a gun shot. A drum in band rings more and there are bass drums. The bass drums is a series of size. So different sounds come out. And then there are the tenor drums which are the other drums on a drum set, that is why another name for them are the quads. 

Myself and Marching Band

Hello everyone my name is Alec P. and I am a fresh man in high school. I am also a boy scout in my troop. My favorite sport is tennis and I am in the drum-line for my high school marching band. I made this blog about marching band and maybe other topics. But for now I will be sharing facts about marching band and maybe pictures. This is my topic because marching band seems really hard but it is not and it also interest me because I get to play different types of music like this year for my band I am doing Mexican music. After reading my blog you may finish it with a lot more knowledge on marching band.