By Martin Ramos
Reporter
For some students at CSU Bakersfield, music is a daily part of their education, while other students haven’t touched an instrument in years.
The CSUB Pep Band offers students the opportunity to pick up their instrument of choice and begin reading and playing music again at campus events. The CSUB Pep Band is in its third year and is still a fairly new addition to CSUB.
Arthur Smith, spirit squad head coordinator, described the progression of the group through the years.
“The first year was learning to be a pep band, when to play, when not to play, that kind of stuff,” said Smith. “The second year, now they know where they fit, and now, maybe due to being in a similar circle in classes, they became a good group of friends and have fun at shows and games.”
Salvador Rios, a senior music major at CSUB with two years of experience in the pep band, thinks the band is a good transitional music group for CSUB students who are non-majors or haven’t played in recent years.
“There are students of all majors in the group and while there are a lot of music majors, there are some engineering majors in the group as well,” said Rios. “It’s a good way to start interest in your instrument again, and maybe help take reading music more seriously. If there are students intimidated by symphony or concert music, the pep band is good for transition because it requires musicianship, but not at such of a high level.”
The pep band travels for some of its performances, which is what makes it appealing for some students.
“In March, the pep band travels to WAC basketball games, like the annual trip to Vegas for a conference tournament,” said Smith. “Inclusion in any NCAA tournament would also allow opportunity for the pep band to travel.”
The atmosphere is a contrast to the concert music setting and is more relaxed and fun during performances.
“Some of my favorite experiences with the pep band were the basketball games and the Vegas trip, mostly because we were really together during basketball games,” said Rios. “We’d do chants, cheer, mock the players on the other team and stuff like that.”
For students, cost should not be an issue, as there is no cost for participating in the pep band.
“There are also no auditions for the group. Students are required to provide their own instrument, or they can rent one from the music department.”
Rios mentioned scholarships that help students with these indirect costs.
“Every year, they try to have a limited number of scholarships for $900, where priority is sometimes given to horn players and drummers,” said Rios. “All of the expenses are paid for the Vegas trip, and the music department offers rentals for good prices to students. We inherited our drums from BC and refurbished them to save money.”
Some students, unaware of the opportunity feel the group should reach out to students a bit more.
“I didn’t know we had a pep band,” said senior Minardo Ordonez. “If they’d had that when I was a freshman, I would have joined. They should put it out there more and advertise a little or something.”
Though the drum line held mini camps prior to the quarter starting, it is not too late to sign up, and drummers are still needed.
“You could still sign up, we already had our two rehearsals, but you could contact Dr. Sakomoto at [email protected] if you’re interested,” said Rios.
