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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:17 pm
by vmbronco
I understand where some of you are coming from with the inexperience of the freshman, but if a sophomore has the ability to be a good leader, then they probably also have the ability to understand how a program is run after a year. A year's worth of experience is enough if the person has the right mentality to be a capable leader

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:01 pm
by kiltedfreak
1] Freshmen don't have cars, so it's pretty hard for them to get to an event exactly when needed(Well, unless they're like me and were held back and turned 16 during the year)

driving shouldnt have anything to do with that situation, my sectionleader is a senior and doesnt drive and doesnt have a car and she gets there always on time wether its hitching a ride with a friend or asking her aunt to drop her off early.

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 4:37 am
by MusicCoach



I dont think that a FRESHMEN should even be consider for a leadership position. Due to the fact that they dont have any experience being in the program at first. Secondly I would only got members that have previous experience and are maturely capable to handle their leadership position.


:D 8-) :lol: :P

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2005 5:48 am
by formermarcher
MusicCoach wrote:


I dont think that a FRESHMENshould even be consider for a leardership position. Due to the fact that they dont have no experience being in the program at first. Secondly I would only got members that have previous experience and are maturely capable to handle their leadership position.


:D 8-) :lol: :P
I have to say I agree with you 100%.

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:52 pm
by StaroftheMasquerade
kiltedfreak wrote:
1] Freshmen don't have cars, so it's pretty hard for them to get to an event exactly when needed(Well, unless they're like me and were held back and turned 16 during the year)

driving shouldnt have anything to do with that situation, my sectionleader is a senior and doesnt drive and doesnt have a car and she gets there always on time wether its hitching a ride with a friend or asking her aunt to drop her off early.
Well, my point was that a section leader shouldn't have to depend on their parents for rides all the time.

Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 9:44 pm
by Madame_Spooky
PHSBando wrote:
kiltedfreak wrote:
1] Freshmen don't have cars, so it's pretty hard for them to get to an event exactly when needed(Well, unless they're like me and were held back and turned 16 during the year)

driving shouldnt have anything to do with that situation, my sectionleader is a senior and doesnt drive and doesnt have a car and she gets there always on time wether its hitching a ride with a friend or asking her aunt to drop her off early.
Well, my point was that a section leader shouldn't have to depend on their parents for rides all the time.
Why should section leaders depending on their parents for rides all the time have anything to do with them leading their group?

I would say the only benefit a section leader has in driving him/herself is that he/she can offer people in his/her section rides to practices and events.

Most section leaders I've met throughout various years never drove until months before they graduated -- and some didn't even drive until after they graduated.

~Jessi

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 9:51 pm
by nobodyspecial
I think a leader needs to be familiar with playing and with the program, which would be difficult for a freshman.
3] Also sophomores probably wouldn't have as much experience and as good of playing ability as the juniors and seniors.]
not necessarily- I was first chair as a sophomore, and I know some who were even that good as freshmen- age doesn't necessarily determine playing ability

Also, many programs select leaders at the end of the year before, allowing them to attend leadership training, etc- this would not allow a freshman even a chance.

I think a main point is not just can you lead (at whatever age) but will you lead them in the right direction, and will they follow you?? Many times an underclassman has the ability to lead, but has not yet earned the respect of upperclassmen. In that case, I would suggest giving the frosh/soph the position of co- or assistant section leader-. This will give him/her the experience and put him/her in a place where he/she can benefit the band, while upperclassmen will still be kept in line.

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:58 am
by clarinetwitproblems08
i think that a freshmen should try out but figure that there not gonna get it. it looks very good for ur band director when u do try out ur last year. thats how my section leader got her job!
________________________________________________________
band geeks r hot!!

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 11:07 pm
by RBSnare
i dont know if percussion at other schools works differently from the band, but at my school its always been a senior as battery section leader. however, for next year, the powers that be are considering 3 seniors (juniors now) and 1 junior (soph now, me) for SL. for one of them, they have a hard time getting people to listen to them...they just arent taken very seriously, ever. the other can get the goof-offs in the section to listen when he wants to, but he seems irresponsible and has made a name for himself, IMO, as a goof-off himself. the other current junior is responsible, but again there are enough screw-offs in the section to influence people to not listen. i am being considered for SL next year, when im a junior, and my skills as a player are among the best, maybe better than the older people. responsibily wise i think i am pretty dedicated to the program, more so than at least 2 of the other candidates (IMO). what it really comes down to is how the percussion instructor feels about each person, and the band director's opinion on top of that.

as for freshmen, the freshman here simply lack the experience and skills to lead a drumline. the feeder schools dont prepare kids well enough for the program. no freshman would ever be drumline section leader, maybe pit if they were a virtuoso and had intense musical knowledge and knowledge of the program. freshmen for battery, they just lack the knowledge of the instruments; there are no middle school drumlines around here.


ok the top part was kind of off topic; im stupid k.

section leadership

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:37 pm
by pretty_in_pit
I am a sophmore and a section leader. At my school, my band director has told me that I am the first such leader. Personally, I don't think freshmen should be section leaders because they are brand-new to the program and need time to learn and adjust to highschool. As for sophmores, I believe that if they are good musicians and responsible there is nothing wrong with placing them in a position of leadership. Being an upper-classmen is not synonomus with being a good player and leader. For example, there are to juniors(next year's seniors) in our drumline right now who are total goof-offs and don't practice or care about anything. I would rather have one of our more responsible(not to mention better players) sophmores(next year's juniors) take charge than one of them. Senority should only apply in cases where two(or more) people are equally skilled, then the older person should be the section leader.

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 9:10 pm
by krshootingstar
seniority really does not matter, I think. It's all about who is the best leader.

I think the important thing is to keep an open mind- and allow everyone in the program to reach their full potential.

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 1:14 am
by PercussionAndAllThatJazz
i'm sort of starting to notice that the younger members are the ones who have the most ambition. a lot of them want to get things done, make a place for themselves...have you noticed that when people post topics asking what it takes to get onto a leadership team, they're usually underclassmen? it's because they still have the shiny glow to them. A lot of times, seniors get that wonderful disease, Senioritis, and once they've started doing college auditions and campus tours, they're sorta gone. They realize that their lives are moving forward, and that they've almost outgrown this place. Sometimes it even happens with advanced Juniors, and a lot of times, it does take a younger member to motivate the older ones into focusing on the team as a whole, as opposed to focusing solely on him or herself. So I say seniority doesn't matter. Really, I think when it comes to section leaders, the ability to teach and get work done are the most important components of the role.

Sometimes someone isn't as good of a player as someone else, but that doesn't mean the other person is good at working with others.
For example. I had a sub in statistics once who had a doctorate in math and physics. He spent most of the class period explaining HOW mathematicians had come to certain equations, what certain things were for, and he was really just diving in to everything, and he was so excited about it too. Now while he was brilliant, our class really didn't get much from him because he was WAAAAAAAAY over our heads, and we really weren't concerned with much else than understanding what our teacher had assigned.

So, there it is. My tangented opinion. Woohoo!

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2005 10:33 pm
by obeyoboe
To my knowledge, the one factor that would seem most important is their leadership and their strength as a leader. They need to be able to handle situations that deal with seniority, including upperclassmen not receiving the position they tried out for and becoming opposed to the younger sectionleader.
Hey, if they have more ability and are more promising than their higher companions, they totally deserve it. Becoming a leader somewhat changes your outlook and attitude towards certain things. Yeah the Freshman or Sophomore might not have as much experience, but they do have some. To become a leader that young should require experience outside of band as well. It really all depends on the person. :)

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:31 am
by swuster
are you all talking about being a section leader for the duration of freshman/sophomore year? or do you mean they were elected/appointed/chosen for section leader at the END of freshman/sophomore year to be a section leader next year?

Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:41 pm
by Nreuest
at my school when some juniors tried out and wrote essays, sophomores were picked over them for finalists. so at my school, it has nothing to do with senority (sometimes)