The Joy of Participating in the Tian Guo Marching Band

(Minghui.org) Greetings, Esteemed Master and fellow practitioners:

I am a member of the snare drum section of the Western US Tian Guo Marching Band, which I joined around the year 2013.

Participating in Parades

Since I joined the Band I have continuously performed in parades and other events.

Before the pandemic, whenever our band traveled long-distance to perform in a parade, I felt as if we were really “going on a battlefield.” We carefully checked our instruments, gloves, hats, costumes, and boots, before we traveled for more than 10 hours on a bus. While on the bus, we studied the Fa together, and recited Lun Yu. I can recall many memorable times. I met all of my best friends as a member of the band.

The longest parade we participated in was the Portland Rose Festival. It was 4 miles long – usually the local parades are 1 to 1.5 miles long. We left by bus in the afternoon, drove through the night for more than 10 hours, and arrived early in the morning at our destination. The local practitioners always made space in their homes, and prepared food for us, including for practitioners from Vancouver and New York.

The organizers asked us to get off the bus at a set location, after which the bus drove away. Our Band member in charge put a lot of thought into the plan – what time we should take the instruments out of the bus and assemble them, how to adjust the seating for easy loading, getting into formation, and walking to the performance area. It generally took just a few minutes to arrive at the performance area.

The first part of the parade was the indoor judges’ podium, and we played “Triumphant Return” as we walked into the arena. The instruments echoed in the stadium, such as the percussion, brass, and woodwinds. Playing in unison had a very powerful effect. The audience cheering for us made us feel very happy. Close to the podium was a live television (TV) broadcast. I remember the beautiful smiles of the practitioners holding the Falun Dafa banner in front of us.

In front of the TV, the conductors chose to play the most challenging song, “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which is a song known to almost every American, and brings up patriotic feelings in people’s hearts. Maybe it means a lot that Master Li, the founder of Falun Gong, asked us to learn to play this piece well. It was overseen by our teachers and conductor. Growing up in the US, when we played “America the Beautiful,” I felt it very soul stirring. “The Stars and Stripes Forever” replaced the old piece “America the Beautiful” and it was increasing in difficulty over time. But, every time we played this song on the street, I could feel the pride of our Western conductors as well as the audience, and I was proud too.

In the midst of the tension, we finished this majestic and most strenuous piece, and there were still four miles of marching performance waiting for us. During the march, we moved forward and encouraged each other. When we were getting tired and turning a corner, we might hold the thought how much longer we had to walk to reach the end. However, when we heard the cheers of the audience, we would forget our hard work and fatigue and continue to play. We were proud to help Master rectify the Fa, and save all sentient beings.

After the performance we took a group photo amidst the laughter of our fellow practitioners. Although our costumes being sweat soaked, we were all so relieved, and all felt our effort was worth it. When my friends and I went to buy sorbet, the shopkeeper gleefully shared with us the video he had recorded of us, and we told him the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution. He said, “You guys are the best!”

On the way home in the bus, the practitioner in charge organized a sharing. Every band member came to the front, picked up the microphone, and shared their experience. We were moved, especially when the practitioners who seldom spoke, but always contributed a lot, came to the front and shared. We talked, laughed, and cherished that experience. We are grateful to Master for giving us these opportunities, and to our fellow practitioners for their dedication and perseverance.

The Joy of Participating in Group Practice

We used to practice in a warehouse when I first joined the Band. The section leads and veteran band members taught us from scratch how to beat the drum and march. I sang the songs while practicing marching on the snare drum by the beach with the new snare drum members.

Now we come to this location provided by fellow practitioners every Sunday for rehearsals. One may ask, why? After you know how to play the Dafa songs, why not just join the parade? Is it worth the time? For me it is always a pleasure to come to the rehearsal.

The fatigue of working in front of the computer all week, and despite the laziness one experiences at home, everyone looked forward to play the snare drum and learn how to cooperate with fellow practitioners.

I enjoy listening to the other sections playing, so that I can cooperate with them during the performance. I also listen to the classical music that the conductor occasionally shares. Thus, we can better understand the different parts played by other sections, the polyphonies, where to highlight, put accent, and lastly the arrangement of the dynamics of different sections, so that the pieces we play are more musical, more powerful and beautiful.

Among our processional repertoire is “The Sacred Song” composed by Master:

“Human life is always shrouded in illusionEvery time when life loses its bearingI will sing, lightly, the song in my heartDo not complainHold on to kindnessMost people have come from heavensBecoming human to wait for the CreatorThat is the long-awaited hope for all beingsThis song awakens meThis song gives me strengthThe sacred melody makes the sky clear”(“The Sacred Song,” Hong Yin IV)

Once we learned the song, we sang the lyrics and try to understand what Master was telling us. During that time I was going through xinxing tribulations, Thus, the singing always made me teary-eyed, and I felt very grateful for Master’s compassion, not giving up on the disciples, and encouraging them. This song speaks to our hearts. When we play it to the world, we are passing on this message of hope .

Letting Go of Attachments

When practicing with the group, I can also often see my own attachments, such as the attachments of ego, zealotry, and the attachment of showing-off. Sometimes during practice or processions, when I feel that we are not playing well as a whole, or when I see that fellow practitioners have conflicts in the group, I feel the attachment of complaint, and I keep getting upset and annoyed, thinking about why others are behaving like that.

However, whenever I remind myself, like in “The Sacred Song”, “Do not complain, hold on to kindness,” I would suddenly feel very light. Then, when I listen, I realize the overall effect of the music is actually very good, and the issues in my mind are all resolved. I would get teary-eyed, because the music is so beautiful. Thank you, Master, for making me realize that letting go of ego and attachment is really like what Master said, “We say that when you take a step back in a conflict, you will find the seas and skies boundless, and it will certainly be a different situation.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)

Whenever we were indoors for group rehearsal, when everyone (not only the percussion) stood up and marched in sync, everyone moved together, marched together, held out their instruments together, and started playing together. I often felt very touched. When I looked at the Falun on the baton. I felt that when our hearts are together, and only when we are able to be together, to exhale and play the first beat together, play together as one person, the energy is very powerful and moving.

Attending Professional Classes

During the past five years, each of our sections attended lessons with professional teachers to learn some music theory and proper playing techniques. You may wonder why we do it, when we are not trying to be professionals? My understanding is that Americans have a very good musical education, having grown up in marching bands and watching marching bands play at football games, so we need to improve. If people give us thumbs up after watching and hearing us play, they will understand the beauty of Dafa through our demeanor and our level of musical attainment.

Our section leader would often spend time practicing and figuring out the advice the teacher gave us, then send short videos of himself to our group, to share how to achieve what the teacher just taught. We benefit from that a lot.

Also, I didn’t find any problems on the surface of my playing, but when the teacher looked at my techniques and gave me advice on things to adjust, I benefited a lot and tried to apply the basic techniques to the pieces we perform. I realized that with these tiny adjustments we are improving. It is just like our cultivation, we listen carefully to our teacher’s teachings and practice, that is really cultivating. We should also be more serious about our cultivation and cultivate ourselves with our heart and soul, to do so is really cultivating.

Recently we had a new teacher who is a graduate student in the music school, and he pointed out to us a lot of areas where we could improve. One time he asked me, were you in the school Drumline in high school? I was surprised because the high school Drumline was very technically advanced. I realized that all our previous teachers were all very good and attentive.

They wrote warm-up exercises specifically for us and taught us the basics ( notes, eighth and sixteenth, accents, piano, crescendos, decrescendos, double-stroke roll drums, and so on), which are the things that we could not do before, but the high school bands would use as their warm-up exercises. If we practice these basics well, our marching pieces will be very easy to play and new songs will be learned relatively easily. What each teacher teaches, such as which muscles to exert, and how much strength to use for each of the various techniques. Wrist, fingers, and arms are all important. It reminds me of the recent Shen Yun video where the dancers say that when they are practicing tumbling techniques, they feel the subtle force of each muscle. They are trying to figure it out, it is part of the process of cultivating.

Our new teacher also constantly reminds us to relax, to play slower and slower, with relaxed techniques, then to speed up, and add difficulty when we get used to it, but still stay relaxed. When the hands and arms are tight it creates a problem. Feeling the music can also help relax; when you become a part of the music, you won’t experience tension when you play. The teacher also said that if everyone plays quieter, but can play in unison, the volume and energy will be very high.

I recently watched a video of Shen Yun vocalists also talking about the same thing. Playing the most rounded notes without very much effort is the highest level.

During rehearsals, a part of the “Triumphant Return” is a polyphony by trombones and French horns. I often feel that my fellow practitioners play so beautifully, it brings tears to my eyes. I thought that the snare drum is the accompaniment, and we can play lighter, highlighting the main character. When we listen to each other and cooperate with each other, the performance will be brilliant. My fellow drummers said that practicing 300 times would work. I think yes, if you follow the teacher’s instructions and practice the right way diligently, you will get closer and closer to the perfect level.

Helping Others Is Also a Process of Cultivating and Improving Oneself

A practitioner asked me to be the associate section lead. It could be that I give my opinion on many things, but some project coordinators once said that if you give your opinion, you are responsible for finding a solution. I then thought about how we can improve our section together as a whole and communicate that with our section lead.

Many fellow practitioners know that I am very direct, often offending fellow practitioners by complaining and speaking in a bad tone. I sincerely apologize for that. I am rather subjective, sometimes I think I am good, or I am right, and I want to impose that on others.

I used to work as an assistant in a computer class lab when I was a student. The Ph.D. student who was in charge at that time shared with us that when helping a student in a lab class, if he was sitting and you squatted down next to him to teach him, the student would feel no pressure and be more receptive because your physical position was lower than his. I then thought I should also lower my ego in the Band, tolerate others, and encourage practitioners. I’m still working on it.

Master said,

“Some of our Assistants are rude to our students. That’s absolutely unacceptable in our Dafa. Think about it, everyone: Anyone who studies this Fa is my disciple. You are my disciple, and so is the next person. So why are you so rude to him? We practice kindheartedness—treating others kindheartedly. I often say this: When a person talks to someone else, if he points out that person’s shortcomings or tells him something without attaching any of his own notions, the other person will be moved to tears. If you don’t have any personal agenda, don’t seek to gain anything, don’t even want to protect yourself, truly mean well, and are thinking about the other person, then that person will really see your heart—no matter what kind of person he is. Yet many of us often fail to do our work this way and resort to mandates, which is unacceptable! That’s not part of our Fa.” (Teachings at the Conference in Singapore)

Whenever I read the part, I think I could do better, at home, and outside. Why always order others instead treat others with kindness? I should think about how to speak kindly. Not to always hurt people and then be sorry afterwards. Acting with good intentions sincerely from my heart will move others and move myself.

For a while, I had a weekly one-on-one practice session with a fellow practitioner, and it was very rewarding. I often did not have time to practice during the week, so at the end of the week, I failed to show progress to the teacher and our group. But when I made a plan to practice with a fellow practitioner, I would spend the whole practicing time for that week. On the surface, I was helping my fellow practitioners, but in fact, my fellow practitioners who have been very diligent in cultivation were helping me. I am grateful that my fellow practitioners tolerate me, treat me with kindness, and accept my opinions. I also try to communicate with kindness. When our beats were messy and bad, our teachers always politely said, “Actually, we were together for the last beat.” And I’m just sharing with my fellow practitioners what I’ve learned from the teachers. We continue to cheer for each other and improve together.

Despite my responsibilities, sometimes my beats were off, I made mistakes, and my speed was inconsistent. One time a fellow practitioner shared that she felt solid when standing with so-and-so practitioners in the parade because she doesn’t make mistakes. I think maintaining a low error rate is the right thing to do, and I hope to be a team member that fellow practitioners can rely on.

The following is the “Tian Guo Marching Band” from Hong Yin IV to encourage fellow practitioners.

“Fa drum and Fa horn display mighty powerEliminating the wicked and evil, calling people to returnSaving people in the end times, shaking Heaven and EarthFa rectifies the universe, radiating brilliant light”(“Tian Guo Marching Band,” Hong Yin IV)

(Presented at the Western US Tian Guo Marching Band Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)