In eighth grade there was only 3 saxes (including me) who were constantly yelled at for playing to loud. Now in high school (I moved to indianapolis) there are 15 saxes, 6 trumpets, and 1 clarinet. Quite unbalaced and still the trumpets get the melody!

haha i wish i could say that, but I think the saxes get yelled at just as much as anyother section.. well not necessarily yelled at, but told to work on things and play stuff better. Although, my band last year had three tenors, and im not gonna lie, we almost always had our parts down really well. Although, it was probably because there were only three of us.

I am yelled at contantly, because i am the best in the state and my director hates me for it. so he put me in the shitty band class with 50 others. there is 1 saxophone besides me, and she is alto and she sucks....I get yelled at when she plays something wrong or if im not playing loud enough..my director just hates my guts. I get all the solos though XD

Joe, Sometimes it's hard to understand the way band directors think. I had a band director once who put me in the concert band when I was a far better player than both of the alto players he promoted to Symphonic band. When I asked him why, he said that he needed me in Concert band. We had more brass instruments in Concert band than woodwinds. There were only three saxophones. I played tenor, and we had a girl on alto, and another guy on baritone. Neither of them were terrible, but they didn't have as much experience playing as I did. I did what I could to help, and my director rewarded me with lots of solos. I didn't have the greatest attitude in the beginning. I fought him with everything he suggested to me. I thought he didn't like me either. I was pretty arrogant. I was convinced that I was far better than he was giving me credit for. Later, he explained that having me in the band made a huge difference, and that not only did he need a good tenor player to keep up with the brass section, but that he knew that I could assist the other horns and make them better. At that point, I stopped looking at it as a punishment and more of a great opportunity. I doubt that your director "hates your guts". I would suggest talking to him about your feelings, and maybe taking a look at your own attitude. Sometimes when we take a good look at our own attitudes, we find room for improvement. Good luck, Jim

I was hoping that was the case but i was proved wrong when he told me that he hated me and he wished i wasnt even in band, although im his best student. Hes pretty old and stingy, and he has 100 kids in the symphonic upperclass band and 50 in concert, he promotes people like it doesnt matter, but he refused to promote me. I told him that i had audition results to prove i was good enough, I placed 195 out of like 200 for all-district band which was the highest score out of anybody who auditioned for any instrument, i did this as a freshman. I did better than even the seniors but just said, i dont want you in my higher class, i hate you. w/e the parents got him to promote me this upcoming school year so im happy XD

Did he really say he hated you? I find that hard to believe, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to hyperbole.

yes he did. He's done it several times now. one of the big reasosns is because im better than his son who is in band

Ouch thats harsh, him saying he hated you... I know this sounds like a cop out, but the nicer u are to him, the more difficult it should be for him to be evil to you. And if he still is, he just looks really unreasonable.. good luck to you though

Right--turn the other cheek. Passive resistance, non-violence, all that good stuff.

Band Directors can be evil... I remember first year of learning sax, our teacher punched one of the kids (anger problems...) cuz he couldn't play something very well...and then he got fired... And also I remember my dad telling me when they had a drum rehearsal, a kid said a joke about the band and the director came out, picked him up by his shirt and pushed him into some empty drum barrells (or whatever you want to call them) and he got fired too...gee... Oh well done sharing past evil experiences.=)

Must be the overwhelming responsibility, gnawing away at them, constantly rearing its ugly head.

My son just started high school, and the band experience switched from "Mr Holland's Opus" to Svengali crossed with Vince Lombardi. The main emphasis seems to be on FUNDRAISING and keeping up with the band next door (don't even get me started on that evil woman in charge of the booster club). Does anyone else have 12-hr marching practices?

12 hrs? Was this for band camp? That's how we do it in my band for band camp anyway. That's kinda normal though - hard, but normal.

Yeesh... twelve hours? We did eight a day in band camp when I was in school, but never twelve. That's a long time to be marching and playing. Anyway, being out of high school as I am, I shouldn't really be here, but the thread was too appropriate for me to pass up. My cronies and I formed a sax quartet in our sophomore year, so when we made top wind ensemble, four of the five of us were quite adept while playing with one another. As a result, we had an extremely tight section and were never reprimanded in band. Saxes just wail, I guess. I think every section with the opportunity should form chamber sax ensembles to aid sectional playing and musical growth as a whole. Keep saxes on top of the school band system, and remember, saxes should always strive to be the most serious players in the band, but never look like it (Just kidding. I'm just reminiscing about how it was for me back in school.).

sounds fun