Klarinet Archive - Posting 000046.txt from 1998/10

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Enough with the Marching Bands, already
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 15:40:44 -0400

On Thu, 1 Oct 1998, George Landis wrote:

> At the risk of igniting a flame war...marching bands serve two
> purposes: a) giving the troops a snappy tune to march to and b)
> providing a modicum of entertainment during football games (including
> the obligatory number for the drill team to shake their butts to).
> That's it. Nothing more.

Actually, while the above is mostly true, the last two sentences are not.
Marching band on the field was originally a way to show school pride and
demonstrate musical support in an area that is unrelated (athletics).
Becuase most people attended football games in the 30's and 40's (there
was no tv.....people actually looked forward to the high school game) It
was a way to unite the school in a common endeavor - it WAS NOT designed
to be the most important aspect of a problem. However, it serves as a
strong public relations tool that is NECESSARY - just as fund raising and
ticket sales are important and necessary to the dying symphony orchestras.
It is a necessary evil that can be enriching, educational
(musically....yes, I said that) as well as socially satisfying.

> Band directors try and make it into something more because most of them
> find it far easier to have a "good" marching band than to have really
> fine wind ensembles/concert bands. Most students, therefore, buy the
> notion that their marching experience is just as valid as playing in a
> fine band or orchestra because they have no frame of reference for
> thinking anything else.

Of course.......this has been the contention all along.

> DCI and all that stuff is just items a) and b) carried to an extreme.

No - it is not. It is a separate, musical art form. It is not related to
public school teaching - I for one, enjoy watching it every year on tv! I
am impressed with what they do.......as I am also impressed with a really
wonderfully coreographed dance routine.....it just shouldn't be used as
the model for what goes on in the public schools.

> Unless I'm mistaken, this is a list devoted to the clarinet and all
things directly related to the instrument. Could we relegate MARCHING
BAND to some other list, please???

You are not mistaken except that marching band is related. I play
professionally on the clarinet, teach professionally at a university, and
have very strong concerns about what young people think and know about any
aspect of teaching - including marching band. Therefore.....use your
delete button - just as I did when the discussion focused on instrument
repair, or the specifics of A440, etc.

Roger Garrett
IWU

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