We Rock!

It is the last block of Arts. Everyone is relaxed, ready to jam around and play songs. Slowly the last students of Rock Band, also known as the ‘Optional Arrival’, arrive. Our Guitar players as in Book P, Privett ‘20, Findlay M, Privett ‘20, Graeme M,  ‘19, Sydney H, Mackenzie ‘21, Kirstie Y, Mackenzie ‘21, and Isaac K, Whittall ‘20 start tuning their guitars. When everyone has arrived, Mr McGill lets us start with the songs we played the longest, the ones we play pretty comfortably by now. We play those songs mostly for the fun we have doing so. The ones we play easily are songs like “Day Tripper” by The Beatles, “She Sells Sanctuary” by The Cult, and sometimes “Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams. Felix W, Privett ‘20 and Kenya B, Alex ‘20 do a great job at singing those songs in their style as a duo. Mr McGill sometimes jumps in for one of them, but this practice both were there, ready to add the vocal part to the song. Between those songs, Book P, Privett ‘20 practices some moves and grooves on his guitar, but he usually catches himself before the next song starts. “I have a lot of fun every practice” he says. I share the drums with Travis L, Privett  ‘21 and Omkar V Ellis ‘19. I do not get to play all songs on the drums, making me know my parts that much better. I, just as the other drummers, therefore get the chance to understand the percussion instruments better. For this practice, I decide to rock the cowbell as much as possible: Maximum Rock Level. Some people would say it looks amusing, just a man and his cowbell, but I decide to call it funky.  As the time passes by, the songs become harder. There are more challenges to it than just jamming around. We start to focus even more, getting our parts down, starting to develop an individual groove for each song. Mr McGill is a great help for individuals who do not quite understand their parts yet or need some help playing them differently, may it be the tempo or the articulation of individual notes.  “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars is the newest song that we work on, but we already have most parts done pretty clearly. So clearly that at the Brentwood Regatta of 2018 it was a huge success, and we performed it without any interruptions whatsoever. For this song, I play the cowbell and try to rock it.  At the end of the practice, Mr McGill repeats what he had announced in previous practices already: “We are going to a recording studio as ‘Optional Arrival’.”  Henry Sommer, Privett ‘20