Orch Dorks

       Orch dorks are a very rare and very specific breed of awesome. You see, orchestra students are bound together not only bytheir love for music, but by some unknown force specific to orchestra. Band geeks form bonds in the same manor, practically acquiring a second family as a result of countless hours of marching band practice, but for orch dorks, it's different.

       Orch dorks do not spend as much time practicing together as the marching band folk, at least not at my school. Marching band has performances nearly every weekend, where as orchestra only performs every month or so. Orchestra kids still have class together everyday, just like band kids, but practice outside of class doesn't occur very often. That rules out the theory that the brotherhood of the dorks is rooted in our time spent together.

       I think it may be our size that bonds us, actually. At my school, orchestra is a small group. When I was still a part of it last year, there were only four violas including myself. Is it our size that keeps us “dorky”? Or is it just something in the air?

       I've come to believe that the fellowship of string players is rooted more firmly in the latter. There really is just that something about being in orchestra that unites string players differently than other musicians. It must be the faint cloud of rosin that's released into the air when someone applies it too heavily. It must be the sound your strings make when you clean them for the first time in weeks. It must be the ugly floor length black dresses we're required to wear for concerts. It must just be orchestra.

       My fellow orch dorks, who I have come to call good friends of mine, are some of the coolest people I've ever met. Sure, being in orchestra doesn't make you instantly cool, but it does become a huge part of who you are, and nine times out of ten, who you are as a musician is pretty darn awesome. I think that's another thing that bonds us together, is our mutual coolness. And not just the fact that we are “cool”, as I have said far too many times, but that we're all cool/dorky in a similar way. I don't know if that's because we're all high of rosin dust or if it's because we share a common interest, but I do know this: orch dorks rule the world, and band geeks ain't got nothing on us.

*Snaps fingers*

*Drops mic*

*Swaggers off the stage*

Photos featuring fellow bloggers Austin and Deeja