Hiya been a while but I was wondering since I can play the flute at our squadron I’ve only seen people play the bass drum,the snare drum and xylophone and was just wondering if I could possibly be able to broach the subject to the NCOs of me joining band and playing the flute.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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I was a flutist in my wing band. Absolutely doable.
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So what if ,just for example, you only know a few notes or it’s been a while do they kind of teach you to play as well
How much you are taught in instrumental technique depends very much on the band and who runs it/is available to teach.
Alright thanks
The best thing to do is approach the person in charge or their assistant and ask whether they could make use of you as a musician and help you develop as a flautist.
Just being curious but what level are you at on the flute
I never got graded.
But I could play all the music given to me at the band practices. We had the music, but no tutors. I had lessons and could/can still play.
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Ah ok,I got taught up to grade one and then I left school
Speaking more generic the drum and lyre are usually taught as the easiest and cheapest to put together as a band. The bell lyre (harness xylophone) has the name of the keys written on there which means if you are learning a song you just need to remember which key to hit and get the rhythm although the flute could come in handy and I am not saying it should be ruled out, if you are musically interested you could enquire about giving a drum or bell lyre a go instead. Learning an instrument can be a good skill to tick off for your DofE too and you can earn badges for parades, camps and competitions too
Usually if you can play most of the notes, and can read (especially sight-read) music, then it should be fine.
Drums are easier to learn by ear, so especially if you’re not great at sight-reading, drums may be easier if this is a struggle
wait u guys have squadron bands
Some sqns do, many don’t. The offering varies greatly from sqn to sqn over here: depending on what qualifications are held by the staff, what they are interested in, direction from he OC and / or training officer, expressed preferences of the cadets, etc.
When I was a cadet it was very much a Wing thing only but the Drum corp/Bell Lyre bands although an initial expense of a few thousand pounds, possibly more if brand new and branded to your squadron. They are easily set-up however and once one person knows through practice it can easily become a culture within the Squadron, there isn’t many better things than parades being led by your Squadron band. They have a core of 3 songs that every Bell Lyre player knows then each year, 1 or 2 will be added and learnt to vary (the core ones are Dambusters, Dad’s Army theme song and “oh when the saints”) this is mixed with drum solos and then we have added all sorts just for one “season” to perform at 3 parades, mainly pop songs. So for 3 parades one year an additional 1 or 2 songs will be played that year along with the “core songs”