Klarinet Archive - Posting 001024.txt from 1998/02

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: alto mpcs
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 1998 13:34:26 -0500

On Sat, 28 Feb 1998, Rich & Tani Miller wrote:
> Music needs to be funded by the school district like every other curricular
> subject. We wouldn't have fundraisers for science lab equipment would we?
> Other then the band trip, my school district fully funds the music program.
> No there is never enough money, but we find creative ways of making things
> work.

Sadly, your description is quite accurate.......band becomes a fund raised
event. However, consider that the Science class doesn't ask the district
for transportation to Disneyworld/Disneyland to march in the square and
ride the rides either!

> Sure this is the negative side of marching band and I'm sorry that you
> haven't seen enough of the positive side of marching band. There are a lot
> of positives though.

I have seen plenty of positives and have experienced them personally. I'm
not sure why you feel comfortable saying I neither see the positives or
recognize them?

Students can (emphasis on the word "can") learn
> leadership skills, musicianship, and a lot of life lessons. Marching bands
> can play with incredible musicianship!!!

Leadership skills and life lessons can be learned in football, german
club, etc......these are not things that make music a unique, learning
experience....although many would argue that it doesn't need to be unique.
I would argue that, it is ONLY through being unique that we are able to
keep it in the public schools. There IS a reason orchestra programs are
being cut and band programs remain........the political ramifications of
removing the string program don't compare with those of cutting the
marching band!

I never said marching bands don't play with musicianship....I would
certainly hope that the music they do play is played as musically and
sensitively as possible....

> It all depends upon the director
> (there are people who will be offended by this one I'm sure). There are
> many, many programs who have very strong competive programs who also have
> incredible concert bands.

I would argue that there is a world of difference between playing a Holst
Suite and an arrangement of the finale to The Pines of Rome - students
will work hard to play what is rehearsed musically on the field, but the
experience is NOT spontaneous - and spontanity is a very important part of
a creative, musical experience. Therefore, while we can discuss the
ramifications of competition, the basic experience of concert performance
indoors is a more musical experience for both the band and the audience.
My opinion of course!

> In addition, marching bands provide an awful lot
> of public relations for school music programs.

Sure......but keep in mind, is public relations why we use state tax
dollars to fund a band? SHOULD it be that way? Do you know WHY music was
put in the public schools - accepted as a part of the curriculum - to
begin with?

> Sure people ought to come to
> concerts, but the fact is that many people don't (I live in a community where
> football rules, the new practice field that cost a lot of money is testament
> to that!). We should never stop trying to infuse our communities with
> culture. However, more taxpayers go to football games then to concert band
> performances (yes it is a sad comment upon our society).

They wouldn't if it was just the band........maybe the band parents!
People are there to see the football game......the band is there, we hope,
to entertain during halftime....most however, use it as a performance
warm-up for the marching competition...which wouldn't be around if there
weren't marching bands to perform entertainment at football games. What a
viscious circle.

Replace the word culture with entertainment and you may have a better,
more realistic definition of what bands do on the field.

> If they see an
> entertaining marching band program with a whole lot of students involved,
> they are probably more likely to support financial decisions that benefit the
> music programs, more likely to buy their own children instruments, and maybe,
> just maybe they might be more likely to show up at a concert.

Of course this is true.....that's why the band began to march to begin
with.

> Once again I'd
> like to emphasize that it really comes down to the band director. Creative
> inspiring directors can have both marching and concert bands that would
> impress anyone. They create an environment which causes students to have a
> musical experience whether it be in a band room or on a football field.
> Creative directors find ways to use marching band as a way to hook kids on
> music and then they extend that into concert band. Please note that I AM NOT
> advocating that marching band take the place of concert band. We need both
> and we need both to provide quality musical experiences for our children.

No problem with this argument.

> Oh yes, I forgot to add that many directors are now programming grade 4-5
> concert band music in their marching band shows. Students are not just
> necessarily repeating unchallenging music over and over throughout the
> marching band season. Quite often, music is custom arranged in order to
> allow for exposure of all sections s(yes woodwinds too!!) I've heard some
> incredible clarinet exposure. With the addition of dance and colorguard,
> marching band also allows for some integration with other areas of the arts
> as well as allowing for more student involvement. Whether we like it or not,
> the numbers of students involved can seriously affect the politics of public
> schools. No, marching band should never take precedence over concert band
> but if you're going to to do it, program and design well so that students
> have an educational experience that enriches their lives.

Who said anything about unchallenging music? I would argue that most band
directors pick music that is too difficult for their brasses....destroying
fundamental sound production for the remainder of the year.

Regarding musicianship....I wonder....how many more of the students who
march around with the clarinet jiggling up and down are truly focusing on
tone, phrasing, listening to the release with the oboe, blending with the
bassoonist, entering precisely with the triangle/bells, etc. etc. etc. of
course I am being facetious (sp). But, let's not keep calling marching
band something it is not.....a creative, spontaneous, musical event.
Sure, the elements of musicality are there (we hope......most of the time
though, they are missing) - and that makes for good entertainment.
Agreed, someone was creative in designing the coreography and drill design
- but it was not the participating students....in fact, many of them don't
even know what their movements look like until they see a video tape of
it. How can that be creative? They are moving together in time to the
music.......trying to match movements and keep alignment/spacing.....this
is not creative....it is athletic.

You mention an educational experience that enriches their lives.....could
you be more specific as to how they are being educated? Are you saying
that marching band is educating them musically? I am interested in your
perception of this, and I would like to see further discussion regarding
this assertion.

> Do you really believe that an clarinetist would get a better experience by
> playing a percussion instrument?

Better than playing with an alto clarinet on the field.......hopefully,
the clarinetist is practicing clarinet outside of marching band.....most
do not though. They spend their time memorizing music for the field. I
have had students ask to study privately and then bring their marching
music to lessons......amazing!

> Imagine the effect that all those hours of
> practice on marching music will have upon that student's musical
> development?

Yes.....imagine! Think of the understanding for the keyboard they might
gain! Think of the rhythmic educational they can get from playing in the
percussion section! They might even gain an appreciation for tone on the
snare drum, bass drum, quad tom! No more thinking that the tone is just
hitting the drum!

> Most marching bands that I've worked with include technical
> development, intonation, and tone quality exercises in ALL rehearsals.

And exactly how many have you worked with? Would we view your experience
as one that represents the national norm? Is this how you are presenting
it? My discussion is with regard to national
trends/problems/programs....not isolated pockets that march well.

> Isn't
> that better than taking time away from their clarinet to play something that
> may or may not be less of a musical challenge? Accoustically, you're right
> about the alto clarinet.

I don't believe they are playing the clarinet in such a way as to get
something out of it when they are marching. I see bad embouchures, poor
tonguing. I hear overblowing, poor intonation, and I observe students
using their bad mouthpiece/reeds to march with....why? Because it is not
as important outside!

> Okay, I'm rambling and did get on the soapbox without meaning to (I didn't
> think that I was on the soapbox until I went back and read it). I've been
> lucky enough to have seen very healthy, competitive, musical marching bands.

I've been lucky to have been in some of the finest.......namely, the band
that won the first Sudler Trophy....University of Michigan in 1983.
However, we all understood why we were marching.....we didn't try to claim
it was a creative, musical event. We went out to produce the finest
halftime show possible.......with the most musically prepared product we
could.

> Through this, I've seen students become hooked on music enough to make it
> their lifetime profession or become lifetime musicians on the side.

I've seen more students quit music because of it......coast to coast.

> While
> I'd prefer that it started with Mozart and not on the football field, the end
> results are the same.

A student achieving the Mozart Clarinet Concerto is the same end result as
playing a great marching show?

> Is it more important that students play Pineapple
> Poll, Lincoln Portrait, Chester, Be Glad Then America, the Verdi Requiem,
> West Side Story Suite. . . on a concert stage or on a marching field?

Obviously it is better and more important to realize the music the way it
was intended - to use it as entertainment in another genre is a different
story. I guess I don't want my kids growing up to appreciate the Verdi
Requiem because they won a marching competition using a portion of the
piece! I would rather have them understand the art of why the piece is a
requiem.....the form, the history, the ART of music.

OR is
> it more important that they just get to perform and experience the music?
> It's all a matter of perspective (and keeping it in perspective!).

Please forgive me for disagreeing with you.

Roger Garrett
IWU