Bingham band: Scott James profile

In early January, I interviewed Scott James, the tuba section leader for the Bingham High School (Utah) Marching Band. As a junior, he was young to be a section leader but handled the job well. Here's the article that about him that will appearin the Bingham 2012 Marching Band yearbook.

Scott James:

 

His resume continues to grow

with a season full of success as a leader

 

By Bruce Smith

Matchup

 

            As the youngest of nine children, Scott James had listened to a lot of his advice.

            This year, as the tuba section leader for the Bingham Marching Band, he got to dispense a lot of it.

            Just a junior, James was asked to become the group leader in mid-summer and now considers the advancement to be an important part of his resume.

            Sure, there was a brief bout with nerves, but he adjusted and the tubas became an invisible benefit that added to Bingham’s season-long successes.

            “He had to be an instant replacement,” said Band director Darin Graber. “He’s a good tuba player and the kids respect him. He handled the situation well, even though over half of his section was new.”

            How did he do it? Like most things, he used his brains.

            James comes from a musical family and has a high grade-point average. He was already a member of the school’s National Honor Society and has hopes of graduating with honors with a promising future.

            He spent a portion of the summer playing in various bands and marching in summer parades. He said he didn’t have a long time to think about how he was going to handle his leadership role, but dove right into it.

            “I’m going to remember Band Camp (the most),” he said. “We were able to split off into our separate sections and I had some time alone with my section. We were able to talk and get through stuff and not worry about other people.”

            James began playing the tuba in seventh grade. He had watched one of his older brothers learn the instrument and quickly recognized it was a good idea.

            “The first three kids (in our family) did choir. The last six were all involved in band,” he said. “In middle school, my parents wanted us to get involved in music - to do something other than art classes and get credit.

            “My beginning band teacher told me that it’s easier to get a scholarship for college if you play an instrument that isn’t widely played.”

            James thought the tuba’s role in this year’s marching band performance was pretty easy, although it took the group a while to learn it because there were so many new faces. Several people from last year’s squad had quit. The group had fewer numbers (eight), but morale was much higher because everyone wanted to be there.

            “When we started doing our competitions, it helped a lot,” he said. “The first month and a half, we were just rehearsing and had nowhere to perform. After that, we knew we had to work harder to beat the competition at performances.”

            Near the end of the season, they knew they were at their best. James said they felt relaxed at Disneyland, and then put on a fine show in St. George.

            That was also a highlight, but not for the reasons you would think.

            “During our last practice, me and two other junior tuba players (Garrick Poulson and Jordan Treglown) switched spots in somebody else’s dot,” he said. “It was fun figuring out how to do it. Some of the people around us were freaking out.”

            Like Graber, James said he likes to combine work and fun with the band. He expects to be a section leader again as a senior and play an even bigger role with NHS. After graduation, he plans to serve an LDS Church mission and go to college.