Ray babbles, Pt 2: “I’ve never seen a guitarist in an Army band.” You probably have, he just wasn’t on guitar at that moment. . An Army band is comprised of 40 musicians and has a specific allotment of slots for various instruments. There is 1 job slot for a guitarist, 1 bassist, 1 piano player, and (IIRC) 2 drummers. Using those 40 people the Bandmaster is expected to provide certain types of music plus whatever other useful style he may accidentally have the personnel to play. There is always a marching band for military ceremonies & civilian parades, a large concert band for community events/public goodwill, a “Stage Band” (think big band swing music), a small jazz combo, and any other sort of ensemble that he may find possible with the talent at hand. In the ceremonial, marching, or concert bands the guitarist, bassist and piano player work in the percussion section. If an Army band comes to your hometown parade chances are that the person slamming the bass drum or smacking the marching cymbals is the guitarist. Go to that Fourth of July or Christmas concert (the 2 most important events in a military band’s year) and look at the row of people standing in the back amongst the drums, tympanis, cymbals, wood blocks, triangle, and all that stuff. Those people are the MOS drummers as well as the guitar, bass, and piano players. If there is a marimba that part typically goes to the pianist. Guitar, bass, and piano Bandsmen come into their own for certain when the Stage Band plays. I spent many hours sitting behind a folding podium next to the ‘bones with some big F-hole guitar plugged into a Roland JC120, whacking out jazzy cord chunks to some Benny Goodman or Count Basie chart. That stuff can be a lot of fun and the public usually loves it. In addition to the traditional stuff above a Bandmaster would assign (or at least encourage and endorse) any other type of performance ensemble that may be popular in the community if he finds capable players in the unit. At that time there was not an MOS for vocalist, so if the Bandmaster found out someone in the unit can sing well he may give them the opportunity to sing in front of the stage and concert bands, and also try to assemble what ever sort of small bands might work. I performed in jazz-fusion bands, Bebop, traditional & straight ahead jazz combos, as well as country, and pop/classic rock bands to entertain the troops & community or help Army recruiters show their faces in schools and colleges. You can actually have a successful career as an Army guitarist just playing big band stuff and banging the cymbals in parades without ever singing a note or bending the string of a Les Paul. How many of us would choose to stay that way given an opportunity to rock? Opportunities will come. When the boss comes around and says “Hey Sargent Whackamole I’ve heard you rockin’ out in that practice room. I’d like you to put together 4 or 5 piece band here, work up some jams and go do a tour of New England high schools with Sargent Dorkwad from recruiting.” You gonna say “Me? Oh no sir! I live to sit at the end of the row and chunk 13th chords quietly on beats 2&4. Please dont make me get applause and attention!” ? I don’t think so. Center-stage glory is almost never required of an Army guitarist, but always available if you look. I’ve rattled on too long again. I guess there will be one more installment before I address David’s questions. I’ll really try to do that next time, and get around to talking about some of the downsides of the job as well. As you may suspect, there are some parts of the job that take you away from the instruments.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 02:31:17 +0000
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