Rock Island High School Marching Band, also known as the Pride of Rock Island, puts in hours of work into their shows every year.
Myaels Hoffeditz is a Junior at Rock Island High School and is one out of three conductors, also known as drum majors, for the band. He chose his position to help his band succeed stating, “I simply couldn’t have done it on the field.” Being a drum major has made a major impact on his life, spending hours practicing and perfecting his conducting and leadership skills, but also learning how shows are made.
Another student Zach, grew up living right next to the stadium, and would obviously grow up hearing and going to marching band half time performances and listening to late night rehearsals. Zach is now a senior, playing baritone, and finishing his last marching band show strong, playing the Joker. With such a big role, he is looking forward to Minneapolis, performing his character on the Viking’s field. Out of all of his four years in the marching band, his favorite memory has been getting section shirts with the band’s director, Mr. Carlin’s face, which surprised him and got his reaction. For Myaels, he would always go to games and parades with his dad, and practically grew up with the marching band, also living right next to the stadium and being able to hear rehearsals.
Being in a competitive marching band, there are always struggles, and for Myaels, it’s been not always constructive criticism quickly and effectively. The drum major takes huge inspiration from his father to push himself more and more, every day, to be the best person at everything he does. With putting so many hours into his practice, Myaels says his biggest practice tip “is repetitions. Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
Every year, there is a goal for each section. For Zach, it is to teach his section how to act and represent themselves as a section. Zach says his biggest practice tip is to “Practice and look over what you can’t do, not what you can.” For Myaels, his advice for someone or people who’d be interested in doing what he does is, “Listen and learn! There’s tons of great resources, and you just need to have initiative to learn from them.”
Marching bands for these students has left a mark with a positive outlook for band, music, and life. Taking a deeper dive into what makes the Rock Island Band the Pride of Rock Island, how marching band has affected the Rocks, and how they want to inspire and push their fellow members for better. They, and many other students, are what make the Pride of Rock Island.
