Posted by Tracy H. on July 16, 2001 at 17:18:21:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Should I use CC for Band? posted by dp on July 16, 2001 at 11:37:34:
Bear with me, I'm only a HS student and I'm not quite sure where exactly this post would fit in, so I'm guessing and fitting it in here.
Ok here's my thoughts.
You get a good band from players playing together, listening to each other, respecting each other, and being good themselves. Being a "Family" as my director puts it.
As I'm friends with both sides of my band (dedicated people/not dedicated people)I can see how they think and how the actions of one person affect both sides.
When you get one person having permission to not do marching (this is not what SHOULD happen, but it's what does at my school) they:
a) lose respect of fellow band members. Think about it. How would you like it if you were standing out in the heat going back and forth on your free time while Bob Joe got to go home or practice indoors just because he's more dedicated than you? In a student's mind, that should be the reverse. Dedicated should be marching, not dedicated should not.
b) the student who doesn't march would miss out on a bunch of fun (I know it doesn't really seem like fun during it, but my friends and I felt really down when it was over and couldn't wait till next year.) This is where good friendships are made...sitting on busses for hours upon hours, making up traditions and playing out old ones...cheering for your team and poking fun at the other. You just have trouble realizing this till it's over sometimes. The non-dedicated group would try to get out of marching because it's hard work and it takes up to much time before they realize the fun of it.
c) A lot is to learn out on the field whether it's "I'm not in shape", "I don't phrase right", or "I'm crazy", it's all good stuff to learn, especially if you're serious in music.
d) The band needs you. No matter how many people your section has, no matter how good/bad they are. The big fun of band itself is to try your best to help the band as much as you can. In my band, we have 5 tuba's. One's the drum major, and the rest are first timers except me. Now, if I decided I wanted to concentrate on CC tuba playing and dropped out of marching, we'd have three tuba's who were first timers and that would be the base of the band. I owe it to my band to help them get where they want to go, where I want to go. Imagine how I'd feel if we got a lower score in competition because the judges said we didn't have enough bass? Sure I might make state from my concentrations, but I'd rather make state with the rest of the band if it meant one or the other because that's the only chance a lot of them have.
And from a director's view, I can see how they wouldn't want people dropping marching. Their job is to make the band the best they can at the same time making the student the best they can. After the benefits I listed, you can see how they would push (or force) field onto the students. I'm glad they do. Our band would be a mess if we had a decision. Look at how bad a mess it is of double blocking when you don't HAVE to do it already. Star players dropping B day band to fit in health. People complaining it's not fair because they heard they weren't allowed. Whew...messy.
Ok, wow, that was sure long winded, but really, think about what you choose when you make a decision. Sure there are plenty of benefits of dropping marching, but I just wrote this to put it in perspective from my view. Please don't get me to hard for this, I can't really tell if what I wrote will bring up any "negative vibes" or not.