prodigal bari Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 If you can march in a good Drum Corps, why on earth would you need to be in a High School Band again? High School is a good thing to escape from. Because there is more to a scholastic band program than marchng; and in the good ones, marching is only one part of the entire experience...concert, small ensembles, honor band activities (where you HAVE to be a member of a scholastic band program in order to participate or be chosen)...and the ability to win scholarships thru most university music departments for performance. (Practically all college music departments work thru the high school band directors and the state/regional association honor band lists to offer scholarships.) (Although in the OP's topic; the point is moot. So there... ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 -Could it be that the corps BOD sees a problem legally with mixing high-school age students with college-age adults; and want to avoid any potential liability situations? I am telling you from my observations it is only a matter of time before you run into lawsuits and legal situations with the mixing of two different age groups and the statutory problems that can arise from interaction, lack of underage supervision, and parental objections to some of the lifestyle issues that are on display in adult situations..whether there are liability releases or not; we are in a litigatious society; and there is a way around these releases. And it would only take one situation to destroy a group. (Frankly, DCI will need to take a look at this at some point in time; IMHO.) 1. I wouldn't think that would be a primary factor in setting policy. Every DCI corps I am aware of has a mix of HS and college aged marchers. If they could not coexist in a peaceful and non-litigious manner, there would be no DCI. 2. It also seems clear that Music City's policy has nothing to do with the liability issues you refer to. If mixing 18-and-over with 17-and-under was the issue, the corps would have to set an age limit for participation....can't have a 17-year-old HS senior attending winter camps and fraternizing with the older kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 In my experience, returning to the HS band was a mistake. Perhaps band directors now behave better.I was taking Piano applied via joint "enrollment," it would have been easy enough to simply sign-up for other music classes, such as band, my Piano professor suggested that I should have also taken English and History and such. But I was young and still had fear reprisals from the petty High School people. He had no such illusion-- And I suggest that he was purely correct. All they do in schools now is teach to the test, anyway. Blow the chicken coop and head to college. But, I'm pretty sure there was more to the local college band than HS anything. Good players are welcomed. Those who can, should escape HS and skip on to college, by whatever means is allowed, GED or what-have-you. I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but your anecdotal experience is not indicative of everyones experience. There, I said it better the second time. That is arguable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I've known Drum Corps kids who only continued marching HS band to pick up an academic credit. When they returned to their corps you would have thought that they'd just been let out of jail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 "It is the board's strong desire for the corps to have only a very positive effect on the high school band programs in the region; therefore, the decision was made to limit membership in the corps to graduating high school seniors and college students. This will ensure that the corps does not interfere with any activities of the area's high school bands."Makes sense to me. If making a commitment to not developing talent makes sense, I guess you're right. From an valued-added perspective to the community, not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) Be interesting to see how big of a corps they get with the age limit, especially with a new corps. s/ Guy who started Senior corps while a Junior in High School (yeah, the corps needed warm bodies that badly ). Edited January 28, 2009 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OdeToArsenal47 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Specific to Music City's case (but I'll keep in this forum), if you are essentially going to have an age 18+ corps, why not just go the DCA route and open the membership up to a much larger pool? (which would be a completely different forum!) Okay, I'm just going to have to say it and take the flak. DCA is "Plan C" (not Plan A or B) in the minds of teenagers wanting to march for a corps. That's at least how it is in my band. The fact is that when you march for a DCI corps, you're put on a pedestal over marching for a DCA corps by the teenagers in the activity (let me clarify, I am a teenager with them, but I really enjoy DCA). What they think in their mind is "Phantom Regiment Gold Medal WIN WIN WIN". Nothing to do with the corps history or the camaraderie or the pride with marching for a corps. I hate to say it to you guys, but most of us kids (well, I like to believe I'm excluded because I really want to stay at whatever corps I go to until I age out) don't give a #### about being dedicated to one corps. I guarantee you that this is why you will see more and more kids hopping between corps like professional athletes jump between teams. And because of this, Music City shows its Achilles heel. I know about 15 people in that corps, and ALL of them are viewing the corps as the stepping stone to the big boys. That's all that corps means to them. It's dipping your feet in before you dive in. Because of this, I think that Music City will have a hard time getting a larger member count than they have now, because a big lot of them are going to jump up the ladder. Just had to get it off my chest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I hate to say it to you guys, but most of us kids (well, I like to believe I'm excluded because I really want to stay at whatever corps I go to until I age out) don't give a #### about being dedicated to one corps. I guarantee you that this is why you will see more and more kids hopping between corps like professional athletes jump between teams. Then maybe it's the job of people like you who will stay with a corps (possibly) to teach them a little something. Just sayin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) DCA is "Plan C" (not Plan A or B) in the minds of teenagers wanting to march for a corps. That's at least how it is in my band. Agree up to a point, I'd say the young person will look at what would work for them best for the season and go for that type (Jr/All-Age) type of corps. In my Senior corps we had plenty of younger people eligible to march a Junior corps but the "Weekend Warrior" thing suited them better. Know of plenty who started in All-Age then went to Junior. As for All Age corps, let's not forget Music City Legend is already in the area and small enough to take in new members. (Wonder what their lower age limit is.) Edited January 28, 2009 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) If you can march in a good Drum Corps, why on earth would you need to be in a High School Band again? High School is a good thing to escape from. Possibly so you can continue to play music, be with a group, etc, etc, etc...... For some of us being in a music group is an outlet to do something you enjoy not "if we've not winning, I'm staying home". s/ Guy who joined a corps so he could continue playing after HS (no bands in my community college). Edited January 28, 2009 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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