General Band Information

The purpose of this letter is to aquaint the incoming band parents of just what a band does at the high school level and how it is accomplished.

First, the band also doubles as a marching unit. At the high school level, this marching band is what the community gets to see during football games and local parades (this is normal for ALL high school bands). This is how the community knows we’re around. All the splash and flash is part of what high school band is all about...which means rehearsal time is not restricted to class time only. There are after school rehearsals, sectional practices and Saturday competitions that are all part of the program. Sectionals are times in which a section of the band practices by themselves to clean up their part.

Learning music is also different. The band will usually have several pieces of music memorized in their repertoire along with an approved competition march. The music is required to be memorized so that the students can work on keeping their lines and/or formations straight.

Perhaps one of the most striking differences is the uniform that is part of the performance. Each members is fitted, (usually during band camp), so that they can wear a uniform with the following requirements;

1. A pair of BLACK marching shoes for competition (to be ordered from school).
2. A pair of BLACK socks.
3. A pair of black gloves (to be ordered from the school).

The reason that we are so picky about the uniform requirements is because a judge usually judges us in an inspection zone, which requires that the students stand at complete attention for 3 to 5 minutes while they are inspected. Any single variation of the required uniform could cost a fraction of a point and some competitions are won or lost by that very slim margin.

All members of the band are required to march the same way. That means that there has to be some sort or orientation or “basic training” for all members to insure that all maneuvers are executed the same way. That’s why we have a summer band camp for incoming freshmen and returning students. Marching basics and music are gone over so that everyone feels confident when the start of school rolls around. This also sets the tone for the rehearsals when the school year begins and makes for a smoother running band. The summer band camp is by far THE MOST IMPORTANT activity that any freshman and 1st year student can attend. It makes things very hard when you have to start from square one and try to play catch up during the first week of school and the first football game is FRIDAY!
Missing any performance is the worst thing that can happen. When a student misses a performance they put an unnecessary strain on the rest of the group to try to cover the part and learn the missing person’s spot in the formation. I DO TAKE ROLL AT ALL PERFORMANCES!

A performance is defined as;
Football games that are assigned
Parades
Competitions (for competitive band only)
Concerts or ANY other time the entire group is required to perform. Not coming to a performance because of an outside group, (Vanguard, ECYS, SVYO, etc.), is an unexcused absence and will lower a students grade. Birthdays are NOT a legitimate excuse.

One reason that we do so much is that the community expects to see a high school band out performing. With the school requiring performances for its events such as the football homecoming parade and rallies and the community calling upon us to play for ceremonies and cultural events and other things, just doing a concert is not enough.

When the marching season subsides, the winter activities and concert season begins. For the concert band, a whole variety of music is presented to the student. Music that is both entertaining and challenging to the continuing musical growth of the student. The culmination of the season is of course, the concerts that are presented at school.

The winter activities, which are extra-curricular, are;
Winterguard—where pageantry and dance combine with choreography and props to form a colorful presentation of pre-recorded music of competition in the California Color Guard Circuit and Winter Guard International.
Winterpercussion—in which music arranged for drums, cymbals, mallets and traditional marching percussion are put together with drill design and movement for a delightful indoor presentation.

These winter activities are open to ANY student of the band program. There are instructors that specialize in the Winterguard and percussion areas so that students who have NO experience can still participate after being trained and meeting the prerequisites of the instructors and the program.

My philosophy towards “away” performances is that these are the times that we are being judged by an impartial set of judges who in essence “grade” the band in comparison to other bands much like how they grade any other class. Each area of performance is assigned a numerical value based on the quality of achievement in the competition zone. It is within this critical and close scrutiny that each band is evaluated and rated. This gives the band director a clearer, more objective evaluation of the program, and allows for better decision making to be made for the benefit of the students.

The Scarlet Regiment is the band that your student will be involved with at San Benito High School. This band travels and performs at many different places. It has already performed on local television for the “Lights On Parade” and nationally for the Heritage Music Festival when it toured Las Vegas, Nevada in 2002, Ensenada, Mexico in 2003 and Anaheim in 2006. The band has won over 315 awards since 2001 including the Northern California Band Association winterguard Championship in 2002, 2003 and 2005. The drumline has won 1st place in novice division in 2005 and advanced division in 2007. The varsity winterguard has also won the California Color Guard Circuit Scholastic “A” Championship in 2007. The band has won Parade Sweepstakes and Music Sweepstakes awards at Pacific Grove and Newark parades.

Obviously, to do all of this requires a great deal of planning and a LOT of help. To get the help needed the music department has a parent booster organization. The San Benito High Band Boosters are a group of parents that provide financial, moral and logistical support to the music department.

The music boosters help organize fund-raisers, help out with logistics, provide “goodies’ for the students after some performances and have even “pitched-in” and shared the cost of brand new instruments. They have paid for transportation to competitions. All of this requires a generous-to-volunteer group of parents that stick with the program and help where help is needed.

Parents of ALL music students are encouraged to join the band boosters, since everything that is done is to benefit the students. Membership in the band boosters allows for voting privileges as well as qualification for senior band booster scholarships at the end of the year and other advantages. But the biggest advantage is the satisfaction of knowing that you have done something to help your student and ALL the students of the San Benito Music Program.

Just like all the instruments are important to make the total band sound right, so is the cooperation of all the parents so that the band can run smoothly.

WELCOME TO THE RANKS OF THE SCARLET REGIMENT!

I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the open meetings held every 1st Monday of the month and especially at the events where you can join your student in the participation of the program. If you would like some more information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

James R. Zuniga
Music Director & Conductor
The Scarlet Regiment Band