"School Bands Should Not Be Entertainment Adjunct For Sports"

[drchuck9]

Heard this on NPR earlier this week.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/13/174138591/school-bands-should-not-be-entertainment-adjunct-for-sports

The article has received a relatively large number of comments on the NPR website. Basically, the commentator is upset with what he feels is an overblown emphasis on marching band within High School and College music programs.

What do you think?

[flammaster]

Hmmmm. my son just got scholarships for two good colleges. He is deciding which one will give the better package. I think SJSU is the better program. I went to see my son play Marimba at a halftime show. Once.

Never again! I swear I was so P O'd because everyone just talked all through the show.

[SCTuba]

Heard this on NPR earlier this week.

http://www.npr.org/2...unct-for-sports

The article has received a relatively large number of comments on the NPR website. Basically, the commentator is upset with what he feels is an overblown emphasis on marching band within High School and College music programs.

What do you think?

Here's my take, as I've been part of two parts of his point and have first hand experience with it (though these are just my opinions). I'll start with the point about him talking about high schoolers being forced to do marching band to be in the concert band program as well. My high school went by this system, and it has its merits and pitfalls. The main benefit it provided is that all the top players were on the field, so naturally there was some assured strength and musical leadership on the field. The main flaw in this idea is a lot of kids only wanted to be in concert band, and resented having to do marching band. Quite a few wouldn't have been there if they didn't have to. It's a touchy subject once you start asking if marching band should be required or not for high schoolers enrolled in a band program. For one, marching band can be an EXTREMELY positive experience for students, in musical, physical, mental, and emotional aspects, and can provide for many students a certain intangible value that can be crucial to a student's musical education. Most people I've run into that did it in high school at least enjoyed it, if not loved it, even if they didn't decide to pursue it later whether through college marching band or corps. There is that smaller population to be accounted for though, and that's where problems are run into, but an all-volunteer system isn't *always* the solution. There are many highly successful programs around the county (Broken Arrow Senior High from Oklahoma is one that comes straight to mind) that are entirely based on volunteer participation, but the main issue with this approach is that some students may never give it a chance, so they may never discover that they enjoy it and may miss out on some significant personal and educational experiences. So there's where the two approaches reach an impasse. But as far as the article's point of high school marching band being used as a secondary form of entertainment at football games is a crazy overstatement. For the most part (the "show band" tradition is a prime exception to this), high school marching band shows are not something that would be considered "entertaining" by the average spectator at a football game, at least in the sense of what they imagine a football halftime show to be. Most high school bands are more focused on using those performances as opportunities to perform in public and are more concerned with success on their respective competitive circuit(s). So as far as that point goes, I think it falls kind of moot at a certain point.

As for there being an overemphasis on college bands being a secondary entertainment, I have pretty mixed feelings on this. First of all, it is a tradition that many college football fans are astoundingly passionate about, so it definitely serves a purpose that is seen as significant by the viewing population, so I feel while it is "secondary", it is also strongly valued, along with the presence in the stands during gameplay. The place where I start to agree with the article is where it says students are awarded music scholarships for marching band to reward their performance more than enhance their music education. To start off, most members of college marching band aren't there to further their music education. They're there because they enjoyed marching band in high school and wanted to continue in college, or because their family members did it/friends are doing it currently, or even just to get a scholarship and free football. Then there's a fixture within college bands that runs into some opposition a lot of the time, and that's the requirement of music education majors to do marching band for a certain number of years to earn credit towards their degree, which can range anywhere from 2-4 seasons from what I've observed/heard. I fall into this category, and I can say from my experience and from talking to my fellow music ed majors that it really does nothing to enhance our musical education. It provides no experience that teaches us anything we wouldn't have learned in high school or would learn in our "Marching Band Techniques Class" we're required to take. All it really does is take time out of our already packed schedules which makes fulfilling our practicing and studying commitments all the more difficult. Out of everyone I've seen drop music ed and either switch to another music degree or to another field of study all together, the requirement to do marching band was a pretty significant reason why (though there were others of course). So I guess on one hand I agree with the author, but at the same time I feel like some of his opinions are a little harsh and critical of the role of marching band on both levels.

Ok. Rant over.

[Rifuarian]

I've always thought mandatory marching band policies to a bit questionable. Though in my experience more high schoolers will complain about being forced to take concert band in order to be in the marching band rather than the other way around. But that's at highly competitive marching programs, and the author and many of the commenters seem completely unaware of competitive marching band.

Truth be told it seems like the author is writing from a state of near complete ignorance when it comes to band. Sounds like his knowledge is based on a single conversation and Google search for "mandatory marching band". Unfortunately many of the pro-band commenters seem to be completely ignorant of the workings of high school and college athletics. In short it's more of an amusing discussion rather than a useful one.

[ironlips]

Heard this on NPR earlier this week.

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/13/174138591/school-bands-should-not-be-entertainment-adjunct-for-sports

The article has received a relatively large number of comments on the NPR website. Basically, the commentator is upset with what he feels is an overblown emphasis on marching band within High School and College music programs.

What do you think?

My take may be a bit different as to Mr. Deford's actual thesis here. I believe he rather clearly states his belief that we undervalue school music programs when we make their raison d'etre simply to support sports.

As for the value of marching band in particular for the college music ed. major, there is no question that one gains a deeper understanding of the activity from direct participation (providing the instructional level is professional). In addition, if one seeks a secondary school position, the chances for employment are greatly enhanced for the candidate in posession of these skills.

Both sports and the arts are necessary for the intellectual and social development of the young. They are of equal importance, in my view.

Frank Dorritie

Former Director of Bands

St. Francis Prep (NYC)

[Stu]

The main flaw in this idea is a lot of kids only wanted to be in concert band, and resented having to do marching band.

Though in my experience more high schoolers will complain about being forced to take concert band in order to be in the marching band rather than the other way around.

In Marching Band I played swiss-kicks, cheesed inverts, and a plethora of other hybrids, performed in front of hundreds of fans at major contests, as well as went on long memorable bus rides sitting next to a guard girl who was an oboe player.

In Concert Band I played an occasional triangle ding, usually after 107 measures rests, performed on a cold stage at a contest with only three people (the judges) in the auditorium sitting somewhere in the back of the room, and went on long memorable bus rides sitting next to the same girl who was an oboe player.

So, I enjoyed both Marching Band and Concert Band equally!!!!

[SCTuba]

As for the value of marching band in particular for the college music ed. major, there is no question that one gains a deeper understanding of the activity from direct participation (providing the instructional level is professional). In addition, if one seeks a secondary school position, the chances for employment are greatly enhanced for the candidate in posession of these skills.

I wasn't necessarily questioning the value of having a solid understanding of marching band for music education majors, I was more questioning of the value that participation in college marching band would bring, especially being required to do multiple years. High school marching band and college marching band have become rather different beasts for the most part and are taught in rather different manners. Whereas a college band will learn a new show pretty much every week for the weekend's game, a high school marching band (at least in a corps-style program) will have a single, much more involved show that is cleaned over the entire season. Participation in college marching band does hold some value in teaching how to instruct and clean very quickly in a short period of time, but it doesn't impress upon future band directors the skills needed to clean shows that can have up to 10 times more sets of drill and more musical challenges that accompany the concept of first pacing out the learning of the program itself, and then to not only keep cleaning the show but to also keep tweaking based on observation in rehearsal/competition and also adjusting elements of the show based on comments from adjudicators. There's only so much that college marching band can teach that applies to the real world. Serving one year makes the most sense to me, but beyond that seems like it gets redundant and can only have so much real-world value beyond that first year (the law of diminishing returns in action). Then again, most of what needs to be known to be a successful band director is learned outside of the college classroom anyway, so maybe I'm making a moot point anyway.

[Rhumbline]

In Marching Band I played swiss-kicks, cheesed inverts, and a plethora of other hybrids, performed in front of hundreds of fans at major contests, as well as went on long memorable bus rides sitting next to a guard girl who was an oboe player.

In Concert Band I played an occasional triangle ding, usually after 107 measures rests, performed on a cold stage at a contest with only three people (the judges) in the auditorium sitting somewhere in the back of the room, and went on long memorable bus rides sitting next to the same girl who was an oboe player.

So, I enjoyed both Marching Band and Concert Band equally!!!! :thumbup:/>

So , did the triangle and the oboe form their own duo ?

[glory]

In Marching Band I played swiss-kicks, cheesed inverts, and a plethora of other hybrids, performed in front of hundreds of fans at major contests, as well as went on long memorable bus rides sitting next to a guard girl who was an oboe player.

In Concert Band I played an occasional triangle ding, usually after 107 measures rests, performed on a cold stage at a contest with only three people (the judges) in the auditorium sitting somewhere in the back of the room, and went on long memorable bus rides sitting next to the same girl who was an oboe player.

So, I enjoyed both Marching Band and Concert Band equally!!!! :thumbup:/>

Love it!

HH

[glory]

At my high school a long time ago in Lynchburg, Va., you had to try out for the marching band. Some didn't make it. The point being the marching band program at E.C. Glass was attractive enough that there was demand to join. (Funny story. My senior year, chearleading moved its tryout to earlier in the year so that they could lock in more "attractive" prospects. They had observed that marching band was syphoning off too many would-be chearleaders. By holding their tryouts first, they could take the first cut at the prospects. No worries, lots still opted for the band, whether musicians or guard.)

As for the article, I don't think there's anything wrong with his approach. He's right that band ought to be recognized in its own right. It's good to know it often is.

HH

PS: By the way, in case you don't know, Frank DeFord is one of the greatest sportswriters of our generation.