Why Band Directors Stick with it and Teach
It’s a question we all ask ourselves from time to time: "Why am I doing this? Is it really worth it?" For band directors, the question comes up a little more FREQUENTLY. The long rehearsals, hours of preparation and planning. Budget, buses and banged up tubas. Counseling and consoling. Lesson planning to tour planning." Why are you doing this?" Someone asked me once, "It’s only band".
It’s only band?
Studies show that those high school students least likely to be involved with drugs are band students. Six separate national independent studies showed students with four years of instrumental music scored 40-50% higher on their Math and English Sat scores that non –music students who had equal scores four years earlier. "Why" Music is the only subject that encompasses all seven learning intelligences. Music is one of only two subjects that "connects" the two independent sides of the brain –logical and creative. Similar studies showed that band students attend more regularly. They participate in their classrooms, look forward to and actually like school. They become more focused, more disciplined. An educated person is less likely to end up in jail, impaired by addictions, or homeless.
Band teaches life skills. Where independent thinking is the model in most academic classrooms, teamwork is essential in band. Band students learn to work with and for each other. The three R’s in band include Respect, Responsibility, & Reliability. Our students learn to appreciate one another for their individual talents and their contributions to the organization as a whole. They learn positive social skills –the most important factor in our program –where we teach such qualities as confidence, pride, and self esteem; all values that will serve these young people well throughout the course of their life. Citizenship, team motivational skills/leadership skills, time management, organization skills, dependability, and honesty are instilled into band members. Band teaches students to face challenges and strive to reach higher and higher goals.
Band is family. When your student walks onto campus, he or she is instantly adopted into the strongest society on campus. They will be spending their school days among the top achievers on campus, with fellow students who look out for one another and steer each other away from trouble instead of towards it. Teachers, staff, parents, and volunteers watch over all the kids as if they were their own.
Band is an elective given in elementary schools through college schools around the world. Many schools come together and compete with one another. School bands also perform at football games, basketball games, and in parades. Most school marching bands are accompanied by a color guard, a group of performers, who add a visual interpretation to the music by using props, flags and rifles. A school marching band apparel includes a military type of style, the school's colors, along with the school's name and mascot. It is important to have band as an elective in schools because it helps kids display their emotions and maybe for some it is a hobby. Band directors have said that having band helps young emotional development, helps contribute to a more intellectual culture, builds teamwork and self confidence. It is hard to imagine being in this amazing class and coming upon these out of the box stereotypes and misconceptions of being a nerd, lazy or unathletic. These stereotypes and misconception mainly come from basically movies, shows and books things that are being aired. For example, a kid show, spongebob, kids from ages three to twelve are watching these shows maybe even teens and adults. A spongebob episode fifteen, season two is titled “band geeks”, putting this low degrading name on the group of kids performing at football games with instruments
Payne, B. (1997). A review of research on band competition. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 33(1), 1-21.
As a freshman in high school and band, I was nervous, and very unconfident. But band changed it all for me. I found that helping people out was much more rewarding than just being a good player or marcher. Leadership is the best skill I've learned from band, and it will
Marching band is a very broad field to participate in. High school and college band both have specific criteria they have to meet during marching season. But what are the differences and likenesses between high school and college band? In high school band, there is one show to perform and there are many long, grueling hours spent perfecting and fine tuning it. The show is not only for halftime spectating at football games, but also band festival and regional contests. High school band has a more stern outlook because the entire season is spent working for placement, whether it be superior or not. Some bands have a more difficult time working considering obstacles such as size. Bands can range anywhere from only thirty to two hundred. With upperclassmen
I love marching band because, while it is so challenging and physically draining, it is also an amazing and rewarding experience. To me, band is more than a class. It’s more than an extracurricular activity or a summer pastime. Band is a way to express who you really are-- a way to find your true character. I’ve met some of the most influential people in my life through band programs, and they’ve helped me shape myself into
Many different bands will practices not only during school hours, but also after school. It is just another similarity between marching band and sports. For example, my high school band has practice every day for 50 minutes and on mondays and thursdays after school for two and a half hours. Which is more than my high school bowling team practice. During these practices people will learn drill, music, and basic marching from the band director. He, or she, is like the coach. The students follow their instructions, just like following a coach. The students will even run, stretch, or do other types of exercise before starting. During these practices students must work hard and want to get better. Students cannot screw around or they could mess up the entire band. That is the same for other sports as
Learning all music is very important and a freshman first job. Once the music is learned completely we start the drill sequence. .After this the rest of the book is worked on until it meets the band director’s needs. The key factor of a good freshman is discipline. This has a lot of points that will make or break you. This means the attitudes are in check and there are no feelings just business. Staying in a freshman place is following all the rules even if there don’t make sense. It’s a freshman job to sit back and learn as much as possible the first year. No freshman is allowed to any extra activities until and upperclassmen. Fraternizing is also a topic freshman cannot partake in. Reading is not an issue from upper classmen and so shouldn’t it be from freshman. All basic skills are to be mastered. Once one is finally consider an upperclassmen the duties are now to swerve the band as a noble person. Still keeping the original attitude as a freshman the work still needs to be done. Even after being a freshman there are a lot of responsibilities in the band. Upholding the band in its standard is a big responsibility carried on even after being a freshman. After Devin realized that following these rules for freshman helped him out in the long run. These rules in the end will make a successful freshman and continue to be a successful
The band has taught me many valuable lessons. My technical skills have grown as well as my social skills. I’ve learned to treat others with respect; additionally, I now understand my unique learning style. I am a much faster learner due to being taught work in a short amount of time which has helped me tremendously with school. I used to not care about my grades in middle school, for I had nothing to work towards. I just went there turned in some work and called it a day. Now I have something to keep me on my toes, and my grades have become tip top, thus I am now able to be a part of this organization. My confidence has exceedingly grown since last year. I was very self conscious about who I was, for I had nothing to help me embrace who I truly am. I have been taught major things about self discipline this past season. Success is a road paved with mistake and failure. Through these mistakes, I learned self control and perseverance. Going back to freshman year I didn’t think I would be as skilled
In band, you learn so much more about how to read music, understand it, and apply that knowledge
There have been many studies done to find how music influences a child’s development. The College Entrance Examination Board discovered that students who took music appreciation classes had higher verbal and math scores than those who did not take the classes. (Stephens 2003) The U.S. Department of Education found that in 25,000 secondary schools, students who were highly involved in the music program did much better in math than any other students. (Stephens 2003) These studies and more have found that involvement in music increases chi...
A typical day for a band teacher may not be what you would expect. Being a band teacher still means that you may end up teaching other fine arts classes or even classes that have nothing to do with fine arts. The individual I job shadowed spent their morning with hosting a study hall for two hours. These classes are devoted to helping kids receive help that they may not understand and
I am not from a very musical family, so band opened up a completely different world to me. Participating in band allowed me to be more well rounded in my school activities and created a better sense of culture with in me. Playing saxophone in our high school band was an extremely enjoyable experience, I personally enjoyed listening to my part and corresponding parts. Listening to the tones of each individual instrument, as a perfect harmonic sound protruded. It was relaxing as it was a break from my rigorous course load. Band gave me the opportunity to be creative, which was generally absent in my daily life. Having the opportunity to play a musical instrument has also enhanced my intellectual abilities. Studies have shown that playing
to lead. I craved for an opportunity to really make a difference in the band program that meant
The academic benefits of music education are immense. In a study by Shirley Brice Heath, a researcher at Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, students with at least three hours of participation in the arts, three days a week for at least a year are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement (Ford, AdamMcMahon, Maureen). Students in music excel in core subjects such as math, English, and science. In 1997, the College Board produced a study, revealing that students with at least four years of music education scored an average of 49 points higher on the verbal section of the SAT and 34 points higher of the math section (“Arts Education”). These days, this is the difference between being accepted to a college and not.
From my experience of playing with an orchestra and also a band, I have boosted my team skills, perseverance, responsibility, interaction, and stage fright, all of which are important aspects of being successful in life. While being a part of a band or orchestra, it 's essential that you learn to cooperate with those around you in order to make beautiful music together. The time and effort that it takes in order to learn how to play an instrument teach the qualities of patience and perseverance that almost every musician possesses. Responsibility is also taught while maintaining your instrument in working condition or such as remembering to get to your performance, rehearsals, and making it on time to practice. Being a part of this musical community can also greatly affect anyone 's social skills. Being surrounded by many other musicians who share the same interests as you, makes it easy for a person to open up and create strong