Hello! Here’s a little background about myself before I talk about my predicament.
I am an upcoming second year at UCLA. During high school, I fell in love with my school’s marching band. I enjoyed everything about them, the people and their personalities to their skillful performances. I would literally go to school sports games just to watch my band perform rather than pay attention to the actual sport. A lot of my friends were actually in marching band in high school too so maybe that’s why I’m so attached to marching band. This past quarter, I took a jazz history class and it got me even more interested in band, specifically with the alto saxophone instrument. My first year in college, I haven’t really found “that group of friends” that I could call my second family yet, but I really do believe I could meet them in band as well.
Anyway, I have no musical background, I don’t know how to read music but I can sincerely tell you that I have this driving passion of wanting to join the UCLA marching band. I want to audition for an alto sax position but I honestly have less than 3 months to learn how to play the alto sax to submit an audition… Is this realistic? When I set my mind to practicing something, I’m all for it. But this time constraint really makes me nervous… and I need to acquire an instrument somehow to practice with too. I’m aware of the time dedication and the intensity of band camp commitments, but I really want to be part of this community.
What do you guys think? Is less than 3 months of practice realistic or should I just call it a day? Also, does anyone have any tips on what I should do? I feel like I’ve never wanted to be part of something so badly like this and this is a huge leap out of my comfort zone as well…
Thank you!