MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Intermediate band students from Iolani School in Honolulu received a special opportunity to work alongside Marines with the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific Band aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Oct. 30, 2013.
Iolani School is a K-12 coeducational college preparatory school, which serves more than 1,800 students. Once every year for the past four years, Iolani School has sent one of their three bands, ranging between different experience levels to MCB Hawaii to listen, learn and practice with the MarForPac Band.
“For our band students, this is the highlight of their year,” said Lynn Muramaru, the Intermediate Band director of Iolani School. “The thing the students look forward to most is being able to work one-on-one with the Marines and everything they can to learn from them.”
Upon their arrival to the base, 36 intermediate band students gathered outside the MarForPac Band Hall and observed the Marines as they played special music for their guests.
From there, the Marines and students went inside where the MarForPac Party Band performed for the students with a couple of songs the students would learn later that day to play alongside the band.
“Being able to listen to the (MarForPac) Band and watch how they play is a great learning tool for the students,” Muramaru said. “The students get to put all of the practice to use and show the Marines what they can do.”
After handing out sheet music, everyone broke up into their individual instrumental sections and began working on their scales and learning the new music. Working closely with the students, the Marines provided constructive criticism and solutions to help them improve their playing abilities.
“These students are here to learn and become better musicians,” said Cpl. Kristi De Lashmutt, saxophone section leader, and 22-year-old native of Stockton, Calif. “They get to hear a different sound when they hear us play, and we’re teaching them different techniques as well as helping them apply new fundamentals that will improve their performance.”
Not only did the students get to work with the Marines in their sections but also one-on-one. The Marines listened to the students play and worked with them to tweak their sound to produce a clearer, sharper sound.
“We love working with the students one-on-one, and it’s something we aim to do because you can focus on the little things they do and offer advice,” De Lashmutt explained. “You try to tweak those things the best you can, and the better the group will sound.”
A band student shared his experience working one-on-one with the MarForPac Marines.
“I’ve been playing sax for two years and this is my first time out here with the Marines. It’s an amazing learning opportunity,“ said Bryson Ito, a saxophone player in the Intermediate Band at Iolani School. “It helps a lot more when you can focus on your one instrument instead of focusing on the entire band.”
At the end of their visit, the students and MarForPac Band gathered into one giant band and played the sheet music they received earlier that morning.
“Individually, everyone has a different interpretation of how they hear music,” said De Lashmutt. “Our goal is to help the students apply the basic fundamentals to their music to level the playing field and sound like an elegant ensemble.”