Klarinet Archive - Posting 001151.txt from 1998/09

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Marching band
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:52:01 -0400

On Tue, 29 Sep 1998 sls2t@-----.edu wrote:
> Hey
> all you marching band freaks....we're musicians, not toy
> soldiers!!! Let's all grow up musically and come to grips with what music
> education should really be: following the National Standards in Music
> Education... Marching band has NO place in the National Standards.

Hmmmmmmm..........an extreme viewpoint. One might argue that athletics
has no place in the public schools, but that's not life. It is what
music teachers DO with marching band that leaves very little space for
inclusion in "national standards."

>The
> aesthetic result doesn't nearly justify the amount of time and effort that
> you speak of investing in marching band.

Depends on which aesthetic results one is aiming for now doesn't it?
Competitions....yup...you're absolutely correct. Entertainment at a
football game? You are not realistic regarding the possiblities!

> No longer can wind music in this country afford to sell-out to
> athletic programs. Why don't choirs and orchestras sell-out to athletics?
> It's not traditional...Well, it's time to break the status quo and face
> the music---no pun intended.

Well....bands are a mobile ensemble that projects well outside.....that's
why strings and choirs don't do it. Marching band can be something other
than a "sell-out".........it's just that music teachers don't often know
what to do to keep from "selling out" to the athletic department.
Recognition of music at athletic events as an important part of the event
itself is important.......

Roger Garrett
IWU

-------------------------------------------------------------------------