My Great Uncle Hal

I often hear a lot about my great uncle Hal. I don't hear much about him at all from my parents or grandparents, except maybe a slight mention. I know he must have done something great though because everytime I meet a new band director of some kind, or anyone invlolved in the high school band world, they ask if I'm related to Hal Meurer. I say yes, though I've never actually met the guy, and I don't really know what makes him so great to everyone who asks that question. It's like some increadible secret society of band directors who know what he's done, but everytime I ask I get the same answer: "He was a really good band director." I have a feeling he was more than that. He must have done something really great for everyone, and I mean everyone, in the band world to know him by name. I come from a long line of band directors, on my dad's side. My grandma and grandpa, and about five of my grandfather's siblings were band directors. My parents are both band directors as well. There are times where people will exlaim excitedly that I'm related to my dad or grandfather, they are both incredible directors, but the minute people realize I'm related to the great Hal Meurer that's all they want to talk about. They go find other band directors and say "She's related to Hal Meurer!" They shake my hand then go off together talking excitedly about my great uncle. They don't take any time out of their conversation to share with me what makes my uncle so great, they just talk about him as if he was some increadible celebrity that's on TV every night. I've come to terms with the fact that all I'll ever really know about him is that he was a "great" band director, but I am curious to meet the guy someday. Oh well.

Glossary of the Marching Band

Mark Time: Lifting your heel off the ground, but not going anywhere (marching in place).
Ten Hut: Call to attention
Order Arms: Holding your instrument out in front of you, halfway from your side to your face.
Arms Up: Holding your instrument up to your face, after you've been at order arms
Blocks: Patterns or sequences where the group marches in a block together, these are memorized and used in practice
Drill: The entire marching sequence of the show.
Charts: The individual pictures displayed by the band standing in formation
Roll Through: To move the foot completely from heel to toe or toe to heel, moving across the whole foot.
Roll Off: The lead snare drum will play a pattern that signals us to bring up our instruments and begin marching or playing.

In Class 3/19/09 Clips

1. I really don't think there would be a lot of differences from the research done then and if I were to do it now. There would be some words that are simply just not used anymore, but not really a difference in the accents. I suppose it's possible that from that time period till today's there might be more people presently spread out across the country with different accents living in the same place.
2. I feel like the study was done mainly on the differences between the far north and far south. There was some of the Mid-west in there, but it concentrated on places like New York and Texas. They could spend more time on maybe some of the slight differences in like the west.
3. According to the study there were a lot of people who really didn't like others because of their accent. People think that others are stupid or not as polite as others just because of the way they talk.

3 Questions

1. My informant pulled my right into the middle of their culture. She brought me to band parties where most of them gather to hang out. She parades me around as I am obviously a face that most of them don’t recognize, and she’s constantly introducing me to everyone she sees.
2. I have my own ideas about how marching band should work. These are based off of my own experience in high school marching band. My informant is part of the trumpet section so she may not know a lot about how other sections in the band interact or how the leadership of the band might view things differently. She was also in high school band, so I’m sure at some point she had to face some of the differences between the two. My informant and I have a strong bond as roommates and best friends. I’ve known her since I was about 4 years old, and there’s almost nothing she won’t tell me.
3. Her speech is very similar to mine.

Blog 9

Some of the most difficult points in my research have been finding a lot of information specific to Ball State’s marching band, The Pride of Mid-America. There’s information out there about marching band, and I can always do interviews with people in Ball State’s band, but if I want to find something written about the band, that’s a lot more difficult to find. The easiest part of this project has been actually getting to feel welcome in my field site. Having a close friend within the band has helped a lot in trying to feel comfortable with the marching band people, and helps them all to feel more comfortable with me. I suppose if I could change anything I would’ve tried to set up more interviews with other people. I’ve learned a lot from Marta, my roommate, but I haven’t heard a very different perspective from Marta’s. Keeping a blog has really helped me to follow along and keep up with my research. By having to answer the blog questions I know if my research is up to date or if I’m falling behind.

Blog 8

One of the main themes I’ve focused on throughout my research is the difference between high school and college marching band. I was a part of high school marching band so I understand a lot already about this subculture, but I have never participated in college marching band which is the subculture I’m studying, Ball State’s marching band to be specific. So, though I am very familiar with one side of the marching band world, there is a part of this culture I know almost nothing about. As I keep learning I hope to uncover those differences to better understand all sides, especially my subculture. I think a lot of the people within my subculture recognized the differences between high school and college marching band. Most of them made this transition, though there are a few who have not. As a freshman it is difficult for some of them to get used to a new director, new friends, and a completely different way of running things. Throughout this learning process I have grown closer to some of the people in the band. We have a lot in common and spend most of the time talking about high school marching bands. Once people realized what high school I came from, we always have something to talk about. (My high school was considered one of the best there is by everyone in the band world) I don’t know if I would consider myself almost a part of their subculture, but I often feel very included. They’re really accepting of me because I share a love for their art.