Alexis G.

Hello, all! I'm seeking some wisdom for my current situation. I am a university bassoon student who has just transferred from a larger university to a smaller one, and am wondering what I can do as a student to influence my new peers in this wind ensemble to up their standards and become better musicians. Some problems that are driving me crazy at rehearsals: -Talking and not immediately stopping playing when the band director stops to give instruction. -Not bringing pencils to rehearsals, and not marking when mistakes are made / consistently made. -Not preparing music before rehearsals... (if they don't mark what to practice, they won't remember.) -No section sounds, just lots of individuals. -Hearing general bad sound and tone on instruments, students honking out obscenely nasty sounds before and after rehearsals start as opposed to doing a proper warmup. -No time gap between Symphonic band and Wind Ensemble rehearsals, so there's mass chaos as one band is leaving the room and the other is entering. Leaves for a poor mindset upon starting rehearsal and scrambling to get seats organized. -No system with 'section leaders' nor self-organized sectionals between rehearsals to encourage developing section sounds or generate peer pressure to practice. -A general "we're not that good" attitude. The school is small and has financial limitations when it comes to staff, practice rooms, and rehearsal rooms. The band director is almost too nice and doesn't present enough authority to get a high-school-minded group in line. This is my fourth year majoring in music, I am classified as a junior, and though I'm not the best bassoonist out there I can read and play at a much higher standard than most of the students in that room. As a transfer student who still hardly knows anyone at the school I don't know if I'd have the authority to do anything without offending or stepping on toes. I'm slowly befriending people, but it's taking time to get there. Any advice on things I can do? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Alexis G.