Klarinet Archive - Posting 000343.txt from 1998/03

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Music in schools, was Marching Band
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 14:43:26 -0500

On Thu, 5 Mar 1998, Rich & Tani Miller wrote:

> Roger Garrett wrote:
>
> > It would be MUCH harder to rationalize and defend a
> > requirement in which there was a symphonic band separate from the marching
> > band.

Rich & Tani Miller Wrote:
> Actually you can justify marching band as an extracurricular activity and
> concert band as a curricular subject very easily.

Please keep in mind I was responding to a post which discussed a
REQUIREMENT for playing in both. If you mean just having an
extracurricular activity after school (as you describe nicely below), it
does not apply to what the question was that I was trying to respond to.
You can't require an extra-curricular activity.....it then becomes
curricular.

> Marching band performs and practices mostly afterschool and on weekends. How
> many English classes meet that often off the regular school day. Now concert
> band concerts do happen, most of the time, off the regular school day but not
> with nearly the frequency as marching band. There are many many pros and
> cons to this argument. The best way to do this in my opinion (yes I'm
> allowed to have an opinion!!!!), is to treat your concert band as an academic
> subject. Set goals, make assignments, make students accountable for
> assignments, and most importantly, assess their progress regularly. Have
> grading requirements for each report card period. For you music teachers,
> rubrics work well in both assignments and assessments. Learning occurs, is
> assessed--voila, isn't that what happens in art, English, math, et. Of
> course you need to keep marching band off the regular school day and that
> isn't as easy as it sounds if you are accustomed to rehearsing on the school
> day. In addition, I live in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania--Amish country.
> Traditions die hard here, I know change can be difficult when it affects a
> large number of people!!!!!!

This is the best way to run a marching program....strictly voluntary and
as an extracurricular. Then, there are no walls to climb in terms of the
rationale behind the ensemble. Of course, one must still watch out for
the teacher who does nothing with the curricular concert band and spends
all of his time using the extra-curricular to measure his own musicianship
and teaching abilities with.

Roger Garrett