Dear Colleagues, While marching band is indeed an entertaining show, the process that takes place to have such a show is most often an egregious violation of fundamental principles employed in the training of young musicians, particularly at the high school level. The use of extra shallow mouthpieces, rote instruction, not to mention improper embouchures has become a cancer among too many institutions who put the half-time show above prudent training. Unfortunately, it is such a popular medium, particularly in a blue collar community, that most music educators must comply or lose their jobs. High School administrators, either musically ignorant, overwhelmingly political at the cost of sound education, or both are to blame. I know of very few music programs where the director is strong enough to hold his/her ground and work to cultivate a balanced wind ensemble program. Those who are strong manage in a very short time to train musicians who can sit in the stands of an athletic event and sight-read decent "pep" music with skill. Eventually, the population grows to appreciate the sound and learn to live with the compromise.
I have been a high school music director for 16 years, and a college horn teacher for many of those. I can't begin to tell you how many potentially good horn players have been crippled by improper training due in most part to short cuts taken in order to perform in marching band. Yet, none of this surprises me given North American music culture. What the general public is literally forced to listen to on a daily basis has led to the dumbing down of our society. I had the experience of playing horn in a couple of European orchestras, and I must say that, although the U.S. music culture has crept into theirs, there was still a greater appreciation among the "common folk" for true art music. Unfortunately, I don't know the solution, other than in my own small way to battle the problem within my own tiny fiefdom. Keep fighting the good fight. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Christopher Bonner Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 7:46 PM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Emphasis on Marching Dear Hornlist Colleagues, The can of worms that is the North American marching band has been opened, and I feel obligated to drop my two cents into the wishing well of music education. It is appalling the amount of time and money some programs spend on a marching band. Most of these marching bands perform a 6 to 10 minute show throughout the entire "marching season" which just happens to coincide with football season. Bands will start working on these shows in early May, rehearse all summer long and then perform until late November. Some of these bands will rehearse up to 12 hours per week after school, as well as their regular class period five days a week. The budgets for some of these band programs run well over $100,000.00 just for the marching band. How do we justify spending 350-400 hours a year on ten minutes of music? This isnt education, and it has nothing to do with the real world of a performing musician. And if you think that I am exaggerating about the amount of time, I assure you that I am being conservative in that estimate, and can provide numerous programs in the state of Florida the spend much more time. I know this, because part of my making a living is writing marching band shows. Last year the band director at a highly competitive school, a school with numerous state champion titles told his principal that he was concerned with the amount of time and money being spent on the marching band and that he wished to back off the competition circuit so that more emphasis could be placed on symphonic, chamber and jazz literature. The principal told him NO. He told him that you will maintain or increase the competitive level of the marching band at the cost of all else. The director resigned I am pleased to say. Meanwhile,another band director passed away in the state of Florida. His name was Jan Coolman and he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 44. The stress of the job has claimed another. Not all band programs are this out of wack, but it is getting worse every year. The marching band pays the bills and is what the community gets to see the most. And if you live in Florida or Texas you know that football is king and that as long as there is football you will have a job because God forbid there is not a marching band there on Friday night. A principal can not spell Sibelius, and if he could he would probably think it is a new venereal disease some cheerleader contracted from the quarterback. Welcome to public school education in the United States, where the tail wags the jackass. Happy Thoughts, Chris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Margaret Dikel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "The Horn List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 2:46 PM Subject: RE: [Hornlist] Emphasis on Marching > At 11:32 AM 4/2/2004, you wrote: > >Hello Margaret, > >your emphatic letter about the importance of the band activity reminds > >me, that there was (long time ago) a enormous movement here in Europe > >(Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Hungary) regarding putting > >all in uniforms, marching & marching again. Music was involved, but the > >emphasis of this music bands was on making music not marching. They > >marched where they had to march, but if they played at the sports field, > >they stood in place & played the music. It was not necessary to memorize > >as they read their music from sheet music, even while marching they had > >the mini music stand as a clip-on on their instruments. > > > >They received the marching drill in schools as some rhythmic drill in > >the sports lessons or later in the military. But youth bands were not > >drilled as your bands perhaps. Then the regime changed & all kids had to > >join certain government controlled organisations (I should be very > >careful with my words here to avoid misunderstanding) and marched again. > >So with the progress of education years, the young folk (ooops, that was > >one of the names) was prepared to join the war machine. > > > >We all know the outcome from history. > > I can't believe you would make such a comparison between marching > bands in public education and the Nazi movement in Germany. That > is such an outrageous statement that even I cannot fathom to what > depth you sink in this belief. > > >I guess, we should initiate an initiative to open the mind in the > >communities, to open the mind of the school directors, committees, band > >instructors etc. to put more emphasis on the musical quality of the > >bands, to avoid this blaring blast, combine good quality of playing with > >good quality of the band ballet (ha, ha !). There are so many > >similarities. Even in Europe "one had to belong to a band", if living in > >a small community. But all depends, how things are arranged. > > If anyone needs to initiate an invitation to open the mind in communities, > I believe it is you, Prof. Pizka, who most in need of this. It certainly > appears > to me that you believe that there is no good music unless it is done in a > manner you feel is appropriate with no consideration for any other means. > > I apologize to the entire list for this conversation. However, I also > apologize > to you, Prof. Pizka, because I have really lost all respect for your thoughts > on this topic. > > Margaret > > > Margaret Dikel > JCCSO Librarian / Horn > 11218 Ashley Drive, Rockville MD 20852 > 301-881-0122 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _______________________________________________ > post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/cbonner%40swfla.rr.com _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/pandolfi%40deerfield.edu _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
