Band Day - from The Messenger

For any of the middle school band members who might have hit a sour note Friday morning during the North Central Iowa Bandmasters Association Band Clinic at the Fort Dodge Middle School, they would not have been alone.

Doug Morin, associate director of bands at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, assured them it had happened to him, too, when he was first starting out.

"My first note sounded like a sick moose," he said.

While the members of the St. Edmond Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade band sort of appreciated his next comment, there were a few groans.

"I'm going to tell you a series of bad jokes," he said. "Like dad jokes."

Morin enjoys working with younger students during clinics.

"It's great to work with them," he said. "There's a lot of energy. It's fun to see them develop musically. When they're new like this you see the progress a lot faster. I'm excited to see their breakthrough moments."

The clinic had been planned to include several area schools in addition to the Fort Dodge Middle School bands and St. Edmond's. Late starts due to weather kept several of them home, including the Algona band.

The show, or in this case, the clinic, still goes on, though.

Tara Smith, band director at the Fort Dodge Middle School, said there are a variety of great learning experiences that are part of a clinic.

"It's non-competitive," Smith said. "It's a learning experience. It's always nice for the students to hear something from a different perspective."

She also agrees with Morin - it does energize her students.

"One of my students came up afterwards and told me a piece he was having trouble with became easier," she said. "He said 'Oh my gosh, that was so much fun.'"

It's about helping the students.

"It's good for them to find success," she said.

Feedback from the clinician is also taken to heart by Smith.

"We take the feedback and apply it to future performances of that music," she said.

Michelle Curtis, instrumental music instructor at St. Edmond Catholic School, took a seat on the stage as her band played, learned and laughed at some of Morin's jokes.

She said the positive things learned while attending a clinic get brought back to the band room.

"They're more motivated to practice," Curtis said. "It helps build the band's energy."

In addition to the clinics, the Fort Dodge bands also got to perform later in the day.