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 Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:23 am
So this past year i was clarinet secction leader at my school. It went...horribly.
-I couldn't get my section to listen to me. Half the time, I would try to fix them and they would completely ignore me. Even when i could get their attetion, they never did what i asked.
-During sectionals, I would ask them to play soemthing, and they would start playing or talking so i had to repeat myself multiple times before even a single person would hear me. Even when i asked them to shut up.
-i would start a countoff, and someone would always start playing or talking, and not even the right part of the song. At times i wondered if this was on purpose.
-I would stop to work with someone and everyone else would try to "help' me, and just confuse them more.
-I was never right, apparently. Yet when the teacher or dm said the exact same thing, it was suddenly correct. And a new concept.
-I was afraid to be the first one to leave sectionals. According to my loyal freshman, they would talk about me when i was gone. Stuff he is afraid to repeat
-Apparently, they held secret sectionals dring lunch. Once again according to my loyal freshman, half those sectionals would be trashtalking me. And again, he wont repeat what was said.
-Sectionals often broke into verbal arguements. If i called someone out on one of these things, they would get mad.
Apparently, all of this was my fault. I don't see how I could have started rebellion in my section.
now, my tactics for being an sl changed after band camp, mostly because my first way wasn't workingeither(although it was doing better then this...)
At first, I tried to be nice sl. I was pretty laidback and kinda elt everyone do their own thing. Unfortunately, this left a large margin for error in the section control department, and I had to get meaner to control them(according to the dms and bd). well, the moment I started being meaner, the control went downt he toilet, and my section was chaotic. The more mean i got, the more they hated me. And I never even got very mean, because i dont like being mean and was afraid they would only get worse(if thats possible). I was still the nicest sl in the band, but according to one of my sophomores, who is still msotly on my side, i "don't know how to run a section."
Its still pretty bad now that marchign is over. The other junior, the onyl other upperclassmen in my section, has pretty much taken over sl(the teacher apparently supports it andlets her come up as sl, no matter how much i protest) now, our sls are based on playing auditions. So my question for this other girl is why she gets all first parts, a sophomore gets msotly first parts, and i get few first parts and msotly second? I'm still first chair. I'm still the best clarinet player at our school.
So I was wonderining if you guys could help me. If I have my way, I'll be either sl or dm next year. How can I control my section? Is it better to be nice, or is it better to be mean? Is it a mixture of both? If so, how can I mix them together to a point where they will listen but not hate me?
I really don't see what i did that amde them all hate me...
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Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:46 am
I kind-of experienced the same thing my junior year as flute section leader. I didn't know I was SL until just before I arrived at Band Camp the first day. I was panicking at first, even though I had a feeling I'd probably get SL.
The year didn't go so well. I had two seniors all mad because they didn't get SL, even though both never had a private instructor, never practiced, and were always in the second band (until that year, of course). Then I had the pissy, "I don't wanna be here," sophomore. I had a couple know-it-all freshmen, too. Tensions were high, and I was just trying to work things out. I felt like the bad cop most of the time, though, because the assistant section leader, a sophomore, was really nice and encouraging, but she didn't really correct anything. We shared different marching band values.
This year, the section was different. The seniors were gone, both sophomores quit. This year's sophomores were more behaved (despite frequent talking, which I had to get on them frequently about). But both the section leaders were seniors, me and my friend. We shared the same values, because we went through marching band together. We knew what it was like to succeed, unlike the other classes, and we went through extreme flute sectionals together. We were able to be more assertive, while being friendly since there were no tensions.
As far as controlling your section, it's best to maintain a bit of both. However, if you have tensions there, it's extremely frustrating, and I know how you must feel.
I'm pretty sure people trash-talked me plenty of times, even this year. But, it's about accepting the fact that people will no matter what. All you have to do is know you're doing your best, and don't worry so much about what other people are saying about you. Leave little room for them to trash-talk you; always know your music, drill, basics, conducting patters, etc. Maybe incorporate some section fun, like a section handshake, section shirts, or giving cookies before/after each competition. Let them know that, although they have to do what they're supposed to on the field, band can still be fun.
Good luck, though. I know how it is to deal with frustrating sections. I hope it all turns out nicely in the end for you.
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Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:40 pm
Well, I tried section shirts, but those didnt quite go too well...as in: i couldn't find a palce cheap enough to make em where everyone could afford. And does telling ghost stories count? Cause we had a good time with that on the last day of abnd camp. Before they all became aholes. It was the first time i was able to control them, and the last. We had finished everything(it was a good day), so our bd said to sit back and relax because there was really nothing else to work on, since we had already surpassed the rest of the band. we got bored so we jsut sat telling ghost stories for half an hour.
And I can totally relate to the whole sophomore not wanting to be there. I think msot of our sophomores had that idea.
and your senior issue seems similasr to what i was havign trouble with, except it was a sophomore and a junior.
Thanks for the advice! I'll defiantely be putting it to use. I'm glad to know im not the only one with issues
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:55 pm
ClarinetGoddess Thanks for the advice! I'll defiantely be putting it to use. I'm glad to know im not the only one with issues lol i'm glad i'm not the only one with issues too! my friend and i are the only returning upperclassmen for guard, and technically she's captain and i'm assistant but we have different roles (only time the whole assistant thing is obvious is when we're on the same line for winter) but the 2 returning sophomores (we have no juniors) are sort of thrown into the role of "veteran-thats-not-captain" even though, when we were sophomores, that would have NEVER happened (because we had a HUGE class of '09 and lots of others quit that year) anyways it's been really hard to get authority over them, especially because last year we were TINY with only 7 people, and we had to be like a family and all best friends and whatnot, as opposed to the years before with 17 or so people and there were the amazing upperclassmen that all the lowerclassmen looked up to. now we have 12, in between, and the 2 sophomores still think we should be the best friends/family thing...ALL THE TIME. they haven't realized that me and the other captain basically have split personalities. sometimes we're their friends, sometimes we're not because we're captains. it's even harder because i wasn't captain last year, but the other captain was, so i don't think the 2 sophomores even see me as a captain to begin with... anyways, i think its getting better, but "talks" seem to help. like if theres been a week when you've had especially bad...i don't know, talking while you're talking or something, have a talk about respect (soon after the incident(s) so the people who did it know who you're talking about). if theres been a bad week for discipline or something, talk about that. even today, we had a talk about the whole sometimes captain, sometimes friends thing... and i think if its a subject thats probably gonna make some people feel really bad (even the good ones like your loyal freshmen) you should buy them candy or something to go along with the talk. (i just remember my captain freshman year doing that haha)
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:58 am
Im afraid our DM next year is gonna have trouble with this she doesnt understand that she has to be mean and the DM this year is a D-bag and keeps telling people to be terrible to her. Anyway im not a SL but from experience i have had one that couldnt keep control of the section and he got tired of trying to get control of it so he sorta just let it happen DON'T DO THAT we were terrible that year you cant be afraid to be mean if thats what its going to take, also try and keep and open mind if someone has a suggestion listen to it dont blow them off, not that you did, and ask what they have been having trouble with. But im going to truthful i cant fully understand your issue yet because im not SL.
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