The Nexus

An intimidating 450-feet stretch of pavement stood between Isaac Tian (10) and his award. All eyes were on him. With the sound of the whistle, his tirade of spinning began.

A couple of roundhouses. A waterfall toss. Around the back. Then the march began.

Tian is Westview Gold’s award-winning drum major. After only about seven months of training, Tian received first place at the Mira Mesa Band Review on Nov. 1. as well as a second-place award at the Veteran’s Day Parade on Nov. 11. These accolades capped an accomplished marching season.

Tian said he is surprised by how much he loves being drum major after never even considering the job through his dedicated seven years of band.

The title of drum major is primarily a leadership role.

Tian is required to be in charge of the band along with field conducting, where he stands on a ladder and conducts the band, usually at football games.

He also marches in parades, where he performs routines called spinning, executing tricks with a mace or large baton.

“I was in band since fourth grade, but never really thought about being drum major until last year,” Tian said. “[Last year’s drum major] Justin Schied (‘08) came along and tried to teach some people, and that’s when I just started learning.”

Multiple people supported Tian as he started learning the techniques.

It was hard at first because he had no experience with spinning, but he said he quickly became improved.

“Ben Young (12), who’s now the assistant drum major, and [Schied] used to teach me and a lot of other people,” he said. “I also had a private teacher so I had a lot of help and I caught on pretty quickly.”

But Tian said it’s not a matter of learning the moves, and the skills; it’s a matter of working to perfect them.

“It’s pretty hard at first to learn the moves,” he said. “It takes about a week if you practice hard. But to actually make them look good and clean it takes a really long time.”

Tian said that he has been continuously working on the same moves for about the past year.

“It’s a lot of work and can be really frustrating,” he said. “You end up hitting yourself [on the head] a lot, but it’s worth it.”

Tian said he spends countless hours dedicating himself to the art of spinning and to perfecting his already beautifully executed moves.

“I usually practice for at least an hour every day after school,” Tian said. “When it doesn’t take any effort to do it, you know that you’re doing it correctly.”

His practice was made worthwhile at the four competitions he and the marching band performed in this year.

Although Tian said the competitions are extremely nerve-racking, he said they are also some of the most fun experiences he’s had in band.

“You just stand there with this 450-feet parade track in front of you and judges and other people all around you watching you,” Tian said. “First, I do my routine, [and] then, I do spins while marching for the first 250 feet. It’s really scary because you’re standing out there all alone in front of the band and it’s completely silent.”

The panel of judges evaluates Tian and the band.

The results are posted afterwards, so for the band there’s no way of knowing how well they’re doing until the end of the competition.

“It’s weird because you want it to just be over so you can know how you did,” Tian said. “But it feels so good when you do it right and everybody starts clapping.”

Although excelling in spinning is a enormous part of being drum major, in addition, Tian also has to prove himself a leader and is held responsible for being showing leadership of the band.

“It’s really about leadership, not just about spinning,” Tian said. “It’s a really big responsibility. I have to organize practices and really be a captain.”

What Tian finds the most rewarding is being able to represent the school at games and competitions and show his school spirit and pride.

“All that matters is making your school look good, not you,” he said. “Who you are doesn’t matter in the competitions. It’s about something you represent.”