Chase started by trying out for the drum line at the end of the school year. The freshmen are told beforehand, that the drum line is mainly comprised of upperclassmen, but they’re allowed to try out anyway.

Chase and the rest of the frosh didn’t make it, so he was assigned to play on the drum rack in the pit. This was great because he’s been taking drums lessons for about a year.

After a couple of days, the band teacher asked for volunteers to play the keyboard. Chase happily agreed. The issue was, Chase doesn’t know how to play the keyboard! I helped him print off his sheet music, and set him up with a keyboard that we bought for Chloe.

Fast forward through a summer full of learning how to play piano, Chase had the songs nailed down. He knew that if he didn’t show up knowing the music, could possibly result in him being cut.

During the first few days of band camp, Chase played on a Yamaha keyboard in the pit. He sounded good! On the fourth day, his band teacher asked him to grab a pair of cymbals and join the drums line! Holy cow! Talk about a proud dad moment! Part of the drum line means marching, so in addition to learning all the cymbal parts to the songs, he also had to learn to march. In July. Down south.

Football season arrives on August 23, and I can’t wait to see Chase, the drum line, and the rest of the band perform.