What is the purpose these days?

[MikeD]

So, were they trying to sell drum corps as some type of elite music education in your era?

Which has what to do with any of this?

Would have been better if they had.

[Tekneek]

Which has what to do with any of this?

It has everything to do with the discussion that was already happening in this thread.

Would have been better if they had.

Drum corps is instantly better simply because of being marketed as music education?

[MikeD]

It has everything to do with the discussion that was already happening in this thread.

Drum corps is instantly better simply because of being marketed as music education?

No, if the general instruction had been at the level of good music education, not just the 'marketing'

[Martybucs]

Why all the focus on music education at such expense?

In any organized activity as a youth, you will learn lifelong lessons that will be of great benefit. Most youth activities cost a fraction of what band and drum corps cost.

Music education is great and worth the money, if that's what you're going to do with your career. There is very little room for professional musicians these days and the ones that do get the jobs usually didn't belong to either and couldn't march 180 bpm if you paid them 3X scale.

IMO it is still worth the time and effort to learn and perform. It's still fun to watch.

It is unaffordable and monetarily impractical for most that aren't going to be band/corps instructors or try to make a living performing.

I know, change is better. I just miss the days when we did it for ourselves and our collective family and friends came to watch and hopefully were entertained.

[IllianaLancerContra]

Drum corps was never that..as it was never an activity with 'mass' appeal. It has always been a niche activity.

The operative phrase is 'as possible'..the numbers today are what as 'possible' to exist in 2007.

Interesting you use the word niche. As a biologist with several graduate degrees, I am very familiar with the term. When an organism requirres a too-specialized niche, it is well on the road to extinction. Niches do not need to be small, consider the cockroach or the rat, for example.

PS - I meant 'touring', not 'youring'.

[tubamann]

Why all the focus on music education at such expense?

In any organized activity as a youth, you will learn lifelong lessons that will be of great benefit. Most youth activities cost a fraction of what band and drum corps cost.

Music education is great and worth the money, if that's what you're going to do with your career. There is very little room for professional musicians these days and the ones that do get the jobs usually didn't belong to either and couldn't march 180 bpm if you paid them 3X scale.

IMO it is still worth the time and effort to learn and perform. It's still fun to watch.

It is unaffordable and monetarily impractical for most that aren't going to be band/corps instructors or try to make a living performing.

I know, change is better. I just miss the days when we did it for ourselves and our collective family and friends came to watch and hopefully were entertained.

Bull..Numerous Studies show music education students do better with cognitive thinking skills, and in general score higher on standardized tests. In addition, students who take part in school music programs are less likely to be discipline problems.

Music study offers alot outside of careers in music. DCI in its current form is dedicated to fostering music education in and out of the corps world, as are it's constituant organizations.

The mission statement of my corps has always involved music education, from the founding of the corps nearly 20 years ago.

The kids today still do it because drumcorps is rewarding to them, and because they want to do marching music at the highest level.

Very simple.

[Tekneek]

No, if the general instruction had been at the level of good music education, not just the 'marketing'

Apparently they aren't at that level these days either, given the amount of complaints I read regarding college music programs not wanting students to participate. That's why I call it 'marketing.'

Edited November 24, 2007 by Tekneek

[IntheMood]

Drum corps exists at the top echelon of the marching music community. If you think that DCI, its philosophy, and the people involved exist inside an organizational bubble, then I could see how you might think that drum corps has lost its way. But you have to understand: DCI is only one arm of the revolution. WGI, BOA, and every competitive state circuit across the country have their role to play in educating our youth, as well.

The purposes once served by DCI, the VFW, and local corps are today served by high-quality academic band programs across the country, which are significantly more financially stable and accessible than drum corps could ever hope to be, simply because of the organizational natures of the two models.

Many of the top drum corps staff also teach at different levels in our public and private schools. I like to think that those involved with leading drum corps were smart enough to understand that the overall advancement of music and marching education, in any medium, was more important than propagating our particular medium of performance.

We lose focus when we talk about the role of DCI as something it is not: that is, something made for mass consumption, something that is not rooted in the value of its educational experience, and something for everyone. DCI is not any of those things, and I think the years have shown that it's not practical to pursue that in our modern society and economy.

DCI is the best of the best for everyone who marches. It is not the be-all end-all of marching anymore, not even close. It exists for those who want to take part, which it is possible for someone of any skill level to find a home in World or Open Class. It provides its students the opportunity to experience excellence, teamworks, performance, and rewards.

Good band programs are only accessible to those who live in that schools district.

It has been said on here by many of school teachers that more and more of the music programs are geting cut as we speak. I live in a distract that is poor. And I can tell you for sure that there is not one Drum Corps staff person teaching music in the distract. To me A local Drum Corps will be more accessible to a young person then a band program.

[HoltonH178]

Good band programs are only accessible to those who live in that schools district.

It has been said on here by many of school teachers that more and more of the music programs are geting cut as we speak. I live in a distract that is poor. And I can tell you for sure that there is not one Drum Corps staff person teaching music in the distract. To me A local Drum Corps will be more accessible to a young person then a band program.

And that's why we still have Open Class, Senior Corps, etc. ...

Don't pretend like every local corps could offer as good of an experience as the one next door. Even in World Class, we have groups like The Cavaliers, and we have groups like Pioneer. Disparity exists in every single arena; not just band.

Music programs are a lot less likely to be cut than a corps is to fold.

[BOBSMYTH]

Good band programs are only accessible to those who live in that schools district.

It has been said on here by many of school teachers that more and more of the music programs are geting cut as we speak. I live in a distract that is poor. And I can tell you for sure that there is not one Drum Corps staff person teaching music in the distract. To me A local Drum Corps will be more accessible to a young person then a band program.

It is unfortunate (some would say tragic) that there are areas of the country that have poor or non-existent music programs in their local school districts.

However, even back at the height of the local corps popularity (in terms of the number of units), there were still large parts of the country that had poor or non-existent availability to local community style drum corps. If you lived outside the Northeast, the upper Midwest or a couple of other small pockets around the country - good luck.