The Manitou Springs High School marching and pep band is currently preparing for upcoming football and homecoming events by practicing together during class in their classroom and on the track. They hope to memorize music and work together as a band in order to have a successful year.
Mr. Williams, the Manitou Springs High School band teacher, has the pep band play the same songs every year, with the addition of one or two different songs. They make an effort to memorize the songs that can be played on the spot if needed. “Anytime the football team scores a touchdown, we’re gonna play our fight song, which is also what we play in the homecoming parade,” Williams said. “We also play Seven Nation Army and a couple other short little ditties that we can have memorized and can pull up on the spot if we need to. We have also been rehearsing other pep band tunes. Some of them are arrangements I have written out, and some of them are purchased songs.”
Mack Tehan (12), a student in Jazz Band, Symphonic Band and Music Theory would describe the music this year to be loud and spirited, especially because of the popular songs that they are playing. “As Manitou, we want to be loud and proud about our music, especially with the fight songs and singing our school national anthem. That’s very important to us as a band, being able to keep up with the cheerleaders and the people singing,” Tehan said.
Cali Owen (9), a new member of pep and marching band, also said how she has noticed the music to be similarly energetic. “So far it’s been pretty upbeat and exciting,” Owen said.
The marching band will be marching at the Homecoming parade and at halftime during the Homecoming game. The pep band, however, is confirmed to play at the first home game on Sept. 19, the Homecoming game on Oct. 3 and the last home game on Oct. 31. They plan to play special songs based on the day that those games take place. “Our first home game is on Sept. 19, which is International Talk Like a Pirate Day,” Williams said, “so we’re going to play a couple of pirate songs during that football game, and then our last home game is on Halloween, so we’re going to look at trying to get one or two Halloween themed songs that we can play in the stands.”
The band only practices during class, which takes place during the 4B class period. When rehearsing, Williams motivates students to practice outside of class and to ask questions when needed. “In class they should be playing as we’re rehearsing,” Williams said. “If they have any questions, sometimes they’ll ask me, and sometimes they’ll ask the person next to them, which I encourage. I would hope that outside of school they’re practicing or looking over their music, so that when they come to class they have a better understanding of it.”
Williams feels that last year the band had fun, however he hopes to be able to make it to every game this year. “There was one football game where I got really sick and I couldn’t go, but the band still went, and they convinced an alumni to help lead him,” Williams said. “So I would hope that I don’t get sick, that we have fun, and that we make Manitou proud.”
Tehan mentions how she feels that the band did really well at sounding loud and confident last year, especially because of the seniors that had been part of the band. “We had a lot of great seniors last year,” Tehan said. “I miss those people very dearly. They were very loud and confident, which is something I hold value to. This year we’ve got some new people that are a little shy.”
Tehan feels that they all sound very good together, however their weakness is their ability to effectively listen. “Having a lot of people can be great, but at the same time one person trying to control 40 kids in the classroom is very difficult,” Tehan said.
Tehan also said that the band this year hopes to play and work well together in order to ultimately become a team and family. “As band members, we’re connected in such a way that is different from other people. We all play the same music and get to experience concerts together,” Tehan said. “I’m excited to share those experiences with my fellow students this year. Our goal is to play as well as we can, and do the best. We hope to achieve those by practicing as much as possible, staying focused and being confident in what we play.”
Williams’s goals for this year and season are to give his students experience and to make sure that they have fun .“We are not a competitive band,” Williams said. “When students go to college, if they want to play in the marching band, I want them to have some experiences of what that could be like before they go so that it’s not brand new.”
Some students that stand out to Williams this year are described to be enthusiastic, energetic, and prepared during class. The students that stick out to him are Mack Tehan, Cameron Schwartz (12), and Becket Wendell-Evans (12). “We have a really good core group of seniors that are stepping up as leaders within our program,” Williams said.
