Klarinet Archive - Posting 001173.txt from 1998/09

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Marching band
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 05:54:32 -0400

At 10:12 AM 9/29/98 -0700, Eric Hatch 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. The
>aesthetic result doesn't nearly justify the amount of time and effort that
>you speak of investing in marching band.
> 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.
>
OK, so marching bands are not great music. So what? Algebra isn't great
music either, nor is history, English, or any other course you take in
school. But a great deal can be learned from the marching band experience:
comraderie, esprit de corps, teamwork, discipline, and just plain learning
to put up with a lot of crap in order to achieve a goal. These are
actually the main things kids learn in team sports, and team music is no
different. Great friendships are forged under these conditions. All of my
best friends from college are fellow bandsmen. I would not trade my
marching band experience for anything!

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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