A Kid’s Guide For Starting up a Band

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Many kids dream of being in a band, a team of musicians who bond well and entertain crowds. For many kids, the idea of being in a band carries the same feelings as being a superhero.

However, forming bands can be difficult, especially for kids. First, it can be hard to find three or four other kids who can play musical instruments. Second, it can be hard to find other musicians who can all get along with each other. Fights may breakout about creative differences. Third, there may be schedule conflicts, especially since children depend on their parents for transportation. With that said, it is not impossible. Here is a kid’s guide for starting up a band.

Network with other kids in school

Start talking to other people and find out whom in your school plays musical instruments. A band typically has four to five members: two guitarists, a drummer, a bassist and a singer. Sometimes one of the guitarists can also do the singing. This is a common model for a band, but there is no rule on which member should do the singing. If the drummer can play and sing, let him or her do it. The same goes for a bassist. The singer doesn’t always have to be a guitarist.

Get permission from every parent

Many kids these days don’t consider parents’ wishes about certain things. The respectful thing to do in any situation is to make sure that anything you do is allowed by every parent of every kid in the party. This also helps make sure that each kid in the band can make it to appointed band practices.

Find a large, empty room for practice

Ideally, you want to practice in a place away from neighbors. Band practices can get loud, and you don’t want to disturb a peaceful neighborhood. Practice should be held at the band member’s house with the least neighbors. If possible, practice in a closed garage. If you’re lucky, the parents may allow your band to practice in the living room or help you rent a storage space.

Getting your first gig

If practices go well and you have a few songs in your set list, you should try looking for a small gig. There is a probably chance that your first gig will be at a school function, such as a talent show or battle of the bands. The thrill of playing on stage for all your friends is amazing; it is what you spend hours of practice for.

With a little determination, your band can go far. Best of luck to you and your friends.

Lyndsi is a freelance writer and junior high music teacher. As a child she practiced with her band mates from storage units in Gardena to Extra Space Storage – Lancaster.

Moving can be very hard.

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Moving can be very hard. My mom and dad have been talking about moving and I know how it feels. It also can be fun to move because you would start a new life in a new school and make new friends. But for kids, that’s the thing. They don’t want to leave their school and all their friends. That’s one of the hard parts. But it is not always about wanting to move or not. Sometimes it’s because a parent needs a job, or you just don’t like the place you live. Every parent knows that a you, as a kid, would not want to leave your friends and start a new school were nobody knows you. But you can still keep in contact with your old friends. You can talk to them on the phone, you can e-mail them, you can send letters to them and you can visit them. Even though moving can be hard, you will be starting a new and exciting life. And even if your all the way across the country or all the way across the world, you will always be with your old friends.

Going Back to School

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Beginning a new year can be difficult if you are moving up a grade, starting a new school, or just starting school in kindergarten or pre-k. The best thing you can do is make a good impression when you start the year.

To make a good impression on the teacher, you should:

1. Have all of your school supplies and be ready to learn

2. Do all of your work and pay attention

3. Listen to your teacher and follow the rules

It can be scary to start a new school year, but if you just follow these tips you will be ok. Be sure to make friends and introduce yourself to people so that you have people around you who can help you. Before you know it, you’ll know the school and be really comfortable there just like at home.

Having Extracurricular Activities

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In September, every kid has to go to school and learn. For some it’s really boring. For others, they can have the time of their lives there. But everybody needs something to keep them going after school. You can do that with extracurricular activities. Some may join chorus or band. Others can have learn to do what they love to do like dancing or playing a musical instrument.

Extracurricular activities can be rough. You have less free time and you have something new that you have to fit in your schedule. I can give you some pointers on how to get used to it.

First of all, no one wants to have to do something at a time like 5:00 or 5:30 when dinner is about to start. You want to make it so what you want to do doesn’t get in the way of what you must do, like chores. You should also pick only a day or two of the week to do this. You don’t want the entire week being filled up with a sport or a lesson.

Second of all, you should pick something you enjoy doing. If you like to play baseball, then join a baseball club. If you don’t like what you do, it’s not worth it.

The last pointer, you don’t want get to stressed. That’s the last thing you need. If you’re trying to balance your day out too much, you’ll get frustrated. If that’s true, then you should take some time off of your sport or lesson. Relax. Hang out with your friends and family. Most of all, have fun for yourself. No one needs to have a stressed out day.

Hairspray- 2007

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I have watched a movie called Hairspray. It is about a girl named Tracy who loves to dance and sing. It is the time were blacks did not have the same rights as whites. Tracy did not believe that. She thought that there should be integration. Also, people did not really like having high hair in school. Tracy used hairspray and often got detention because other students couldn’t see. Once when she was in detention she met a black named Seaweed.

Some students at the school were on the Corny Collins Show. Tracy and her friend Penny loved to watch that show. That’s what they would do spending most of their time. One day someone was leaving the show for nine months! There was an opening for the show and Tracy tried out. Nobody was very nice. They were always making rude comments on every girl. Tracy thought she wouldn’t get the part until one day Penny came screaming to Tracy’s house to get her parents to see her on the TV. They were amazed with what she could do. She became famous. Then there was a Miss Hairspray pageant and Tracy wanted to win. Then she found out that Negro day was being cancelled. She and the blacks decided to march. Tracy said if she couldn’t dance with the blacks, she didn’t want to dance at all. But when they were stopped by officers, she hit one with a sign and she had to hide. She had to sneak in for the pageant. With the help of friends, family  and rather dumb officers, she got in. Watch the movie to find out who becomes Miss Hairspray.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone-2001

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In 1991, J.K. Rowling wrote a book called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which later extended into a seven-book series. In 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or otherwise called the Philosopher’s Stone) became a film.

Daniel Radcliffe plays an eleven-year old boy named Harry Potter, who after tragically losing his parents, moves in with his aunt and uncle who absolutely despise him. A big man named Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) barges in, to tell him, after several letters, that he’s a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“I can’t be a wizard. I’m Harry. Just Harry.” -Harry Potter

Rupert Grint plays Ronald Weasley, who is the first person (besides Hagrid) who goes to Hogwarts School. Just like Harry, Ronald Weasley is on his first year in Hogwarts. He meets Harry on the train that goes to the school and back every year.

“Follow the spiders? Why couldn’t it be follow the butterflies.” -Ronald Weasley

Emma Watson plays Hermione Granger, who is a girl who is ready to learn and encourage anyone who doesn’t. She always has a book in her hand and is always studying. She hates Harry and Ron and they don’t necessarily like her either, until later in the book when they save her and they become friends.

“Now I’m going to leave before you two come up with another idea to get us killed, or worse, expelled.” -Hermione Granger

Bachelor Girl

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The 8th Rocky Ridge Book

In the Little House series that I read, there are books on a girl named Rose Wilder and in Bachelor Girl she is growing up and she decides to get a job that is one of the few jobs that women can have because back then, many people thought a woman’s place was at the house. She was going to be a telegrapher. The first place she went to was Kansas City. When she got there, she went to a cafe that had rooms upstairs. She had to go to telegraphing school, were she learned to type train messages and other sorts of things. She went through many jobs, and many places to live. All of Rose’s jobs dealt with telegraphing. During her stay at the cafe rooms, someone named Mrs. Campbell  came and made her leave. Rose had no were to stay so she went to Mrs. Campbell’s house. She did not think that was a pleasant stay so she was happy when she got a job at the St. Francis hotel but also at the place were she now lived. At the hotel she made a friend named Louise. When Louise found out where Rose was staying, she asked her Momma if Rose could stay with them. To the girls delight, Momma said yes. Rose had the most fun in a long time. She went out a lot at night, and she met a man named Gillette Lane. She, Louise and Momma saw him almost every night they were out. Later on, Rose saw that she cared about were he was and one night he asked her if she would go with him and help him sell land. When Rose said yes, she had known this would be fun. Rose became Rose Wilder Lane. Later on they were married and they lived in San Francisco. That is the story of Bachelor girl.

Dealing With Bullies

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Bullying is bad for everyone.

Bullying is a problem with every school. There is no way to get around it. There are ways you can deal with bullying besides just running away from it. Running away is not even a good way to deal it. Running away just makes it worse.

Bullying comes in many forms. The three big ones are physical bullying, gossip and bullying online. All three just as bad as the next. One way you should deal with this is tell a trustworthy adult. You can’t tell just any adult, because they can bully too. Trustworthy adults would be parents, teachers, principals, guidance counselors or anyone else you know well.

There is one thing you can’t do. You never fight back. If you fight back, it may get you out of pain, but it won’t get you out of trouble.

Canadian Bacon-1995

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When my parents bought Netflix, I got turned loose on movies. As long as I was allowed to watch it, I watched it. With John Candy and Rhea Perlman, this 1995 PG movie called Canadian Bacon, is about the president sending two police officers over to Canada to see what they’re up to. Meanwhile, the President’s Advisor is sent over to the man, who knows ALL about Canada. He gives him some information and America is sent to war with Canada. This is Operation: Canadian Bacon.

John Candy stars as Bud Boomer, sheriff of Niagara Falls. The first time goes to Canada, he goes to a hockey game, tastes some Canadian beer and says, “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. This beer sucks.” Once he said that, everyone went nuts. They started beating each other up and a couple of guys hit Boomer.

Rhea Perlman stars as Honey. That’s all they call her, Honey. Honey’s a police officer. She participates in Operation: Canadian Bacon. Honey’s teamed up with Bud Boomer (John Candy). She doesn’t necessarily want to go to war against Canada. She’s fallen in love with their national tower. Well the Canadians find an American on the tower and ask her to come down quietly. She’s not going to go down without a fight. Face the gun or get out of her way.

The lesson in this movie goes to presidents and a lot of government officials. Don’t start a war for no reason.

I like this movie. I watched a while ago, but it was great. You should watch it too.

Choices

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There are many things in life that you may think are important. Then you realize down the road that certain things were not as important as you thought they were. For example, I thought (and still do sometimes) think that in order to be “cool” or fit in you have to act all bad and fail at things you were always good at just so that you don’t feel like a “nerd”. Fitting in may seem important but you should not try to be somebody else in that process. If people don’t like you for who you are then they are not your real friends and they will do anything possible to turn your life upside down. And then they won’t be there for you in the end when things get bad. This has happened to me and it used to be the way I thought and the reason I, myself, started to fail in things that I never used to fail. I used to be able to get pretty much straight A’s and didn’t really ever get in much trouble in school that I can remember. Now that I am in middle school and there is so much pressure about fitting in and getting good grades, it’s hard because sometimes you can’t do both and still be considered “cool”.

The point of this article is that everything that you think is important may not be in reality what is truly important to the people around you and deep down in your heart. I want all of you to know what inspired me to write this article. There are a couple of things:

  1. I am a real music freak and I was listening to the radio. My favorite song is “Who Says,” by Selena Gomez. The song is about people getting pushed to do things they don’t want to do just to fit in. The message of the song is to believe that you can do anything despite what other people say.
  2. My mom. She always says the most important thing in life is family and school and the life ahead. Nothing else. Friends should not be the most important thing in life. At least fitting in with people that sometimes aren’t really your friends. Friends are important too but kids especially have to have the right priorities. Getting good grades to help your future and family should be at the top of the most important list.

My point is for teenagers to think about what is really important right now. Think about what is the most important thing in your life and think about what really should be. It is important for your future that family and school are at least some of your top priorities. I had to decide to start making the right choices and now I am seeing the benefits. I am working my way to having straight A’s in school again!