Would marching band affect your college choice?

[flashofthunder]

I'm currently in HS and am looking to major in Music Education. College marching band will most likely not be a deciding factor for me. I would like to go somewhere with one, but if the school doesn't have one but still has a good music ed program I would still go.

However, one thing I definitely don't want to do is go to a school that's incredibly gung-ho marching band. I've heard too much about music majors at certain universities being unofficially required to be in marching band. I want to go to a college marching band and have a good time and perform for people. Yes I'll learn, but I don't want to be roped into something that will interfere with everything else I do, especially drum corps. Drum corps just means too much to me, and I'm not sure if I could live with myself if I decided to miss an entire summer to attend a 1 week college band camp. There are plenty of good music schools out there.

[Piper]

Are these posts SUPPOSED to make sense?

Since when did Drum Corps ever make any sense? We're all crazy. :P

[Orpheus]

Drum corps just means too much to me, and I'm not sure if I could live with myself if I decided to miss an entire summer to attend a 1 week college band camp.

Hmmm ... Well, I don't think that'll be a problem. I can't imagine any college holding their band camp prior to the date of DCI Finals, especially since Finals are earlier than they used to be. It's not like HS where camp is in the middle of the summer, you know. Typically you just move in to campus maybe ten days before the semester starts. Something like that. Different schools will vary somewhat. There might be some college bands with weird schedules, but they've got to be pretty rare. `

Has anyone on here ever been required to miss out on corps because of college band camp? Or vice versa, for that matter?

Edited January 3, 2007 by Orpheus

[MikeD]

Well said. Being in college marching band provided some of the best times of my life and (for better or worse) nearly all of the people from college who I'm still friends with ten years on are people I met through marching band. Of course, this is a non-music major talking, so my experience'll have been different than many of yours.

P.S. Hey, MikeD, I always thought that Temple was a state-related university ... ?

Oh, is it? You could be right. I guess I never really thought about is all that closely. Just assuming...and you know what that means! :)

Oops...you are correct...from temple.edu....

Temple University, of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education

[Super Don-O]

Just me 2 cents

For Universities in the Northeast the best band has to be UMASS. Hands down. George Parks is a terrific director, and the writing/instruction comes from 2 drum corps legends: Thom Hannum & Michael Klesch. They put on a helluva show, and often get a bigger response than the football team. Also a good school for music ed. (I'm told)

And no, I didn't go there, but as an alum of anither state University in New England I was always jealous of their band.

And as other poster's have stated, in addition to being a chance to learn how to run a band, what's even more important is the ready-made circle of friends you get just by joining.

Edited January 3, 2007 by Super Don-O

[drewbugler]

I didn't do marching band in college. While in school, it helped me concentrate on trumpet lessons and ensembles, and allowed me the time to work with a few high school bands in the area.

After graduating, I spent a year working at Western Michigan with their marching band, and then moved to the University of Virginia to help out there and take some classes. Teaching a college marching band was EXTREMELY rewarding!

[Herbel]

I didn't read all of the posts, so hopefully I'm not redundant here.

Have you considered Rutgers? To be honest, the marching band there is not very good, but I can see them improving quite a bit in the coming years.

I was in my high school marching band for 5 years as well as the indoor drumline for 3, and the fact that my school doesn't have a marching band hasn't been a big deal (of course I'm not a music major). I've also heard a lot of music majors from other schools say that marching band is too large of a commitment for them anyway. If you're looking for a great music school, I have to plug the College of New Jersey. It gets overlooked a lot because of its reputation as the former Trenton State College, and because it's relatively close to Princeton. But it's a great school with an awesome music department and the prettiest recital hall I've ever played in. Feel free to PM me, and good luck!

[dorph31]

I attended the University of Oklahoma because of. . . well I have no clue exactly, but I'm about go graduate within the year with Music Ed degree that has been well taught. I was so oblivious to college sports prior to going to OU that I no clue oklahoma had a history of good football or had a good team at the time, or that the marching band was so integral. But the marching band has enhanced my college experience so much, we don't have the best marching (but who the hell cares really in the world of college football who has the best band, its all who has the pre-game show that enhances the spirit of the stadium and the fans) but we have great people to lead it and we have a football team that has done pretty decent. In my four years I've been to Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, and just recently Glendale, AZ (no need to talk about how most of those games turned out though ;) Essentially this is a plug for any big conference school/marching band, because of the opportunities, you get. I haven't even mentioned opportunities to make friends etc etc.

I just got off a 22 hour bus ride an had thought about that on the way, so yeah.

[MikeD]

I didn't read all of the posts, so hopefully I'm not redundant here.

Have you considered Rutgers? To be honest, the marching band there is not very good, but I can see them improving quite a bit in the coming years.

I was in my high school marching band for 5 years as well as the indoor drumline for 3, and the fact that my school doesn't have a marching band hasn't been a big deal (of course I'm not a music major). I've also heard a lot of music majors from other schools say that marching band is too large of a commitment for them anyway. If you're looking for a great music school, I have to plug the College of New Jersey. It gets overlooked a lot because of its reputation as the former Trenton State College, and because it's relatively close to Princeton. But it's a great school with an awesome music department and the prettiest recital hall I've ever played in. Feel free to PM me, and good luck!

From my view...for music ed, TCNJ is a fine choice. I have seen student teachers from both Rutgers and TCNJ...the TCNJ ones seem to be the best prepared from a teaching methids standpoint...though it might just be the particular individuals over the years, of course.

Having said that, Rutgers is a great school...they have some fine teachers at the Mason Gross School of the Arts. Percussion-wise for example, She-e Wu is an amazing mallet player and directs the percussion ensemble.

You are right about the recital hall at TCNJ...I have been there many times, and it is a wonderful hall.

[danielray]

To the OP...

If your goal is to perform in Blast! and to be a high school director, I would actually not even consider the marching band as a factor at all in choosing a university.

If you are currently marching in a div I drum corps, you will get much more valuable experience there. Instead of university marching band, I would suggest trying to work as a tech for a high school program to understand the reality of working with high school ensembles and practical approaches.

I would recommend selecting a university based on their trumpet studio, music education faculty, and their ensembles (and conductors). If you could pull it off, I'd even recommend a conservatory over a university.