By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

LISBON – In Lisbon Community School’s beginner band, the end of the song isn’t always the end.

Once the clarinet players, flutists, drummers and horn players start, they get excited – and stay excited – even when the sheet music ends. They would rather tweet, toot and boom.

“We don’t like to stop,” said 10-year-old Mina Craig, who plays the clarinet.

It’s a happy issue to have. Three years ago, the problem was getting the band to start.

With only 10 young musicians, it was fading into extinction.

Now, thanks to a new band director and a musical passion that’s sweeping the school, there are 125 kids and not just one band, but two.

“I think it’s just people have really started to like music,” said 12-year-old Diana Bernier-Siegler, who plays the saxophone.

Circles on sticks’

Band director Jonathan Carsley joined the school system last year. To boost attendance, he allowed fourth-graders to join band. He bought and refurbished instruments so struggling families wouldn’t have to buy or rent them. He started an “instrument petting zoo,” letting the kids handle the saxophone, play the drums, learn how the trumpet sounded.

In one year, the group grew from 10 members to 105.

This year, nearly 40 percent of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders play. Less experienced students join the beginner band. More experienced students join cadet band.

Both are enthusiastic, even when they’re still learning to read notes.

“It looks just like circles on sticks, but for us it’s beautiful music,” said 10-year-old Jaymi Thibault, a fourth-grader whose trombone stands taller than she does.

One recent morning, both bands crowded into the gym for a few hours of rehearsal.

The floor vibrated with the sound of drums and horns. After one particularly intense song, an older clarinet player squeaked and put her hands over her ears.

Said Jaymi, “I’m pretty confident no one in the audience knows when we mess up.”

Their reasons for joining the band were varied. Some of the young musicians said they liked the sounds; others wanted to follow in the footsteps of older siblings.

A few boys simply wanted a crack at the drums.

“Boys are drawn to drums,” Carsley said. “They like to hit things.”

Their reasons for staying were the same: Music turned out to be fun.

“You never get worse,” Jaymi said. “You can always get better.”