The Richmond High School Raider Marching Band worked into the early evening ours in preparation of Friday’s halftime show “Heart”.
Friday’s show, at halftime during tomorrow’s football home opener against Butler, represents months of effort with many students spending all summer memorizing the notes and steps for each performance.
“I feel pretty good about it. There are going to be some bumps, some bruises, but it’s all part of the learning process,” RSHS Band Instructor Edwin Carter said.
The theme of this year’s show is Heart. Friday’s show will be Heart Beat, followed by Heart Break and then Heart Rate. Carter said he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise by discussing the band’s musical selections, but added the audience will be entertained.
“There are going to be some hidden songs. I don’t want to say anything. I want them to come out and hear it,” Carter said. “I feel pretty good about it. They enjoy playing it, and they play it pretty well. We just got to get the music to their feet.”
Carter said the Marching Raiders have the most difficult part of the learning process down, which is memorizing the musical selections. Despite debuting the show Friday, they still have a long way to go before presenting the final product during the last home game.
“They are a good group of kids. It’s pretty easy working with them. The biggest challenge is working with their schedules. They’re all very busy young people. Some of them have jobs. Some of them help with their family. Some have multiple clubs at the same time. They try to split their time as evenly as possible. I try to be welcoming because I don’t want to stop somebody from doing something that has potential for the future … When they are here, they give 100 percent,” Carter said.
Carter credited his section leaders for having the band well ahead of schedule than they were in previous years. One of those leaders is first-year Drum Major Seneca Thomas. With marching band almost being a test of athleticism, with musicians playing and marching in time, Thomas said he does his best to be patient and understanding of the difficulties young musicians face.
“It’s hard, but it’s an amazing job. Anyone who wants to do it, I think they will be very good at once you get the hand of it. It’s very easy with a good band director like Mr. Carter,” Thomas said. “… It’s been a challenge. Most of the [underclassmen] don’t know what to do, and they get really frustrated, but like I always tell them ‘You have to take it one step at a time. It’s not something you pick up on really fast.”