Since its founding 78 years ago, the Taipei Municipal First Girls' High School has helped cultivate countless talented people to build up the country. Students are intelligent, conscientious, hard-working and achieve a remarkably good record in college joint entrance examinations. Their performance in extracurricular activities is even more outstanding, with perhaps the school band and honor guard being the most prominent.
These two teams are often invited to present performances during national holiday celebrations, or to entertain foreign guests. For instance, they were chosen to perform at Expo'70 held in Japan on the day set aside for the Republic of China. They upheld not only the good traditions of the school, but also the national honor. They also inspired other high schools to organize bands and honor guards.
Exhilarating performance: All members of the audience are spellbound as the performance begins. Four squad leaders and a general commander holding a saber first move into position. Their smart uniforms and movements at once attract attention. After the whistle is sounded, the commander salutes smartly to pay homage to the spectators, and the performance begins.
As the band plays the fanfare and march, members of the honor guard begin their superb rifle drill display. They can throw a rifle in the air and catch it after two or three somersaults. They can even throw a rifle over their shoulders for the guards in the ranks behind to catch. The spectators are amazed to realize that these teenage girls can turn over their rifles 15 times in 15 seconds.
A figure exercise by the honor guard is another highlight of the performance. Though the routine differs according to the occasion, V--representing victory, I love China, national emblem and TFGH--Taipei First Girls' High, are among those most frequently presented.
As the spectators concentrate on watching the performance of the honor guard, they tend to neglect "back stage heroes" of the wind music band. The band once won the championship in national high school band competitions, even though wind instruments are regarded as being more suitable for men.
Pre-requisites: Membership in the band does not require any previous musical training, instead, players are chosen from among the top five students in each class. Those with an average of over 80 marks are eligible for the honor guard.
The policy of selecting students with good scholastic records and good health to join the teams was adopted right from the start by former principal Chiang Hsueh-chu. When the band was first organized in 1958, principal Chiang, realizing that all the students entering the school had passed stiff entrance examinations, decided to let the best students in each class play a musical instrument as a relief from their studies. Results showed that those with good scholastic records learned the fastest. Thus, when the honor guard of the school was organized two years later, its members were also chosen according to scholastic merit.
Some may ask if such extracurricular activities influence the students' academic performance. The answer seems to be no. For instance, before the band and honor guard went to perform at Expo'70 in Japan, they had to take college entrance examinations. They practiced as usual before the test, and went on to Japan immediately afterward. Three members of the band, however, emerged top in three of the four categories in the examination.
Training: Intensive training is given during the two-month summer vacation after the first year at the school. Candidate members of both teams must give up other activities to receive three hours of training every day except Sunday, whatever the weather. When school begins, they practice twice a week--two hours on Tuesday and Saturday each.
Since most members of the band have no musical training, the teacher must first decide who is going to play which instrument. In general, those with thin lips play the trumpet, those with thick fingers play the clarinet, with long hands, the trombone, and with quick reactions, drums.
The teacher first gives students lessons in musical theory, then instructs them on how to use their diaphragm to expel air to play the wind instruments. After learning musical scales, the students learn how to play ceremonial songs, including the national anthem and national flag song, before they start to play marches, overtures and symphonies.
The emphasis in the honor guard training is placed on displaying an upright spirit and regal bearing. Recruits must first practice such actions as forward march, right turn, left turn, about turn, attention and at ease, before learning such basic routines as shoulder arms, order arms and present arms. After this training, a guard leader and a flag team is chosen.
The three tallest in each troupe are selected to bear the national flag, school flag and Chinese Youth Corps' flag, while the remaining 18 serve as flag guards. The leader of the band must have a good sense of rhythm and melody, and the honor guard leader a strong and clear voice. Both must have leadership qualities and organizational ability.
During practice, almost every member of the honor guard has broken a rifle or suffered minor hand injuries, but one girl said: "I have benefited greatly through the drill. Now I have more stamina and better poise."
Instructors: Instructors Pi Hsueh-fu and Yang Hsien-to are perhaps the main contributors to the teams' success. Pi, who is proficient in playing the trumpet, is currently teaching at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts, and Yang was formerly a member of the army honor guard. Pi has taught 20 years and Yang more than 10 years at the school despite the low pay. They both attribute the success of their efforts to the fast learning abilities and sense of honor among the students.
The students in turn show deep respect for their instructors. At the end of the third year, each student presents a small gift to them while the two teams combine to present an autographed album containing all the students' photographs.
The band members wear red tunics with white sleeves, white skirts and boots, while honor guard members dress similarly, except the tunics are green. Huang Chun, art teacher at the school, is in charge of dress design. He said: "The dresses of the honor guard are embroidered with two dragons, and those of the band with two phoenixes, because these two fabulous animals are auspicious symbols in Chinese tradition. The tall hats help to make up for lack of height among some of the students."
Through their drills and performances, members of the band and honor guard have made more friends, broadened their horizons, and realized the importance of teamwork and the honor of the school and country. They represent the best traditions of both schools and students in the Republic of China.
[Picture Caption]
Flag team precedes the honor guard. The three tallest are selected to bear the national flag, school flag and Chinese Youth Corps flag, while the remaining 18 serve as flag guards. The huge saxhorn, made of white fiber glass, is a newly added musical instrument for the band. Students with good scholastic records and good health are chosen to form these two eye-catching teams.
Even though wind instruments are regarded as being more suitable for men, the band once won the championship in national high school band competitions. The honor guard members wear green tunics with white sleeves, white skirts and boots, and a tall hat. The dress is embroidered with two dragons.
The honor guard leaders must have a strong and clear voice, leadership qualities and organizational ability. The success of the honor guard depends on fast learning ability and sense of honor among the students. These two attractive teams often present performances during national holidays.
Flag team precedes the honor guard. The three tallest are selected to bear the national flag, school flag and Chinese Youth Corps flag, while the remaining 18 serve as flag guards. The huge saxhorn, made of white fiber glass, is a newly added musical instrument for the band.
Students with good scholastic records and good health are chosen to form these two eye-catching teams.
ven though wind instruments are regarded as being more suitable for men, the band once won the championship in national high school band competitions.
The honor guard members wear green tunics with white sleeves, white skirts and boots, and a tall hat. The dress is embroidered with two dragons.
The honor guard leaders must have a strong and clear voice, leadership qualities and organizational ability.
The honor guard leaders must have a strong and clear voice, leadership qualities and organizational ability.
The success of the honor guard depends on fast learning ability and sense of honor among the students. These two attractive teams often present performances during national holidays.
