Learning Experiences

Thursday night was my son's first band concert.  (They combined with the choir.)  They have A & B days with only 12 weeks into the school year, 99% of the students never having any previous instrument / reading music lessons.  I wasn't expecting much.  A few highlights from the evening:

• In the choir, there were 2 girls that must have been sisters.  A bit into the song, the older one reaches across and starts pushing her sister - who is in the row ahead of her and about 3 people over.  It didn't make much sense to me till the next verse when the younger sister walked over and sang a solo.  The really funny part is that she was smacking on gum the entire time. 
• The band is about to play.  The audience is quiet.  The director stands to the side of his box stand and waits till he has their full attention.  When he's satisfied they're watching him, he takes the stand.  As he raises his hands signaling the students to ready their instruments, the students immediately respond.  In the process, a boy in the front row knocks something off of his stand shattering the silence as it hits the floor.  As quick as only a 6th grader can, he pulls an innocent face and points to his female stand partner.
• The choir participants left their programs by their feet when they stood to sing.  There was one girl whose program must've been bugging her because through the entire song she didn't sing a single note but was looking down at her leg and rubbing it with her other foot, trying to shift her weight, and finally just bending down and picking it up.
• The band was just getting ready to start and the boy responsible for the bells was trying so hard to keep them quiet.  He was doing a good job considering the task when the boy sitting next him whispers quite louding, "Shut up!"
• The band director, in his zest during the last number, moved just the wrong direction and knocked out the support on the left side of the box-podium he was standing on.  Very loud bang when it hit the ground.

Overall, I think it was the absolute best "1st concert" I have ever heard.  I was very impressed with how much the director accomplished in such a short amount of time, so much better than I was even hoping for.  If I can figure how to get anything off of my camera, I'll post a song.  They did awesome!