Week 3/Term 2/1

Sunday

There aren’t normally entries for Sundays in the troop diary but this week the Corps of Drums had a Masterclass in Romford, Essex. We left at 10.30 and got home at 22.00, so it was a long day. The Masterclass itself was with a guy called Steve Wight who can name Paul Weller and Oasis as people he has worked with as well as appearing at Live Eight. He was a kit drummer and what he had to say about rudiments and technique was interesting, and it made me realise just how much practice I have got to do.

Monday

I missed the weekly three-mile weekly run this morning, as I didn’t have to be in work until 10.30 because of the Masterclass the previous day. I was quite relieved as I was suffering with a cold, and my ‘phys’ hasn’t been quite the same since I returned form Christmas leave. However, I was back in work at the end of Stand-Easy (coffee break) to continue my private practice in my practice room / ‘cell’ until lunchtime. Every Monday, after lunch, we have drum parade and our kit must be immaculate. The week before, all the Buglers in training got ‘picked up’ and had extra drum parade, so this week we took on board the things that we were picked up for and were determined to pass, which thankfully we did. I had a professor’s lesson in the afternoon with the Trumpet and Bugle Professor, Professor Yates. The rest of the afternoon was spent in private practice where we practiced rudiments on the drum and bugle to develop technique, as well as learning our repertoire for our assessments.  Monday night is definitely the busiest night of the week as we clean for Rounds, ensuring that our ‘grots’ (accommodation) are immaculate for inspection the next morning. It is not uncommon to see the 19 lads of Neptune House scrubbing and polishing for a couple of hours whilst singing along to Hemmings’s dodgy music. As well as this, we have Training Band on Tuesday mornings and have to prepare for that to ensure that we don’t get picked up by the Drum Major.

Tuesday        

Tuesday mornings are one of my favourite parts of the week as we have Training Band, which consists predominantly of Neptune House (New Entry Troop). Here we begin to learn our trade in a marching band, which involves drill, bearing, playing at quick and slow march as well as responding to the various signals from the Drum Major. On Tuesday I have a double Elements lesson, which is music theory and takes us up to lunchtime. Normally on a Tuesday afternoon Neptune House has Recreational Training or Military Continuation Training, however this was cancelled as the School of Music was running in a cross-country on Thursday afternoon. Instead, that afternoon we found out that we had passed this week’s Rounds, much to our relief. I’d had my finger’s crossed all day as Tottenham were playing Arsenal that evening and if we had been ‘picked up’, my plans to watch it would have been scuppered. That afternoon was taken up with private practice, which I made the most of as we had been given new material for our Term Two Assessments. I managed to get my head around a lot of it, which put me at ease.

Wednesday

I was in a particularly good mood on Wednesday morning as Tottenham had beaten Arsenal 5-1 the night before, and what made it sweeter was that I had watched it with Musician Bowditch who is an Arsenal fan! The Term Two Buglers have Parade Band on Wednesday mornings with the rest of the Corps of Drums. This was followed by our daily ‘buzzing’ and Buglers’ Aural. From Stand-Easy I had a drum lesson with Professor King. The rest of the day I continued with private practice, working on my repertoire for the term.    

Thursday

Thursday morning is a chance for me to knuckle down with more private practice, and I normally work a lot on my bugling until Stand-Easy or until my lip goes, whichever one is first. After Stand-Easy we have drill during which we practice military drill as opposed to band drill. On Thursday afternoon the school had cross -country over at nearby Gosport. However I, along with a handful of Training Company ranks, were unable to attend as we had professors’ lessons, so I spent the afternoon going over some theory and learning marches for Training Band.

Friday

We were in the pool for 7.40 this morning for a swim session during which we did a circuit which proved to be a good work out. We returned to work for 9.00 and I continued with some private practice as well as going through some marches with the Corporal Buglers. After lunch we returned for an hour of private practice before finishing at 14.30, as the School of Music were going to the cinema to watch Sweeny Todd, a good way to end the week!

Bugler Horner

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