The Band Kids

Can you imagine your life without music? Many of us start singing before we talk, or bang out rhythms with a spoon on any flat surface. As soon as we hit school we start learning songs and using songs to learn, or to make transitions. To this day, I use the alphabet song when I am filing papers. Talk about a piece of music that sticks with you!

As we grow we experience music in more places---ceremonies, celebrations, religious gatherings, performances. We began to experience music as soundtrack to our lives. Nearly everyone has experienced the time travel that certain songs immediately trigger when we hear them. For most people music is the fastest track to specific memories. Some of us begin to develop a passion for making music, vocally or with instruments.

Did you take music lessons as a child and dream of a career? Were you in the band in high school and college, or sing in the school musical or church choir? What role has music played in your life, whether you play an instrument or vocalize, enjoy listening or dancing to it?

Can you imagine your life without music?

Yet music education, like many of the fine arts, has at times had to struggle to prove its worth.

Music education programs include music theory and appreciation classes, marching and concert band programs, choir, musical theater, extracurricular jazz or choral groups. Studying music for music’s sake is powerful, rich and life-enhancing. But there’s more to the story.

Recent research completed by the Texas Music Educators Association and the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education shows strong correlations between the study of fine arts and overall academic achievement, from improved scores in mathematics to higher SAT scores. Campuses with higher percentages of student enrollment in fine arts report better involvement of students, with fewer dropout rates and higher attendance rates.

And many writers and researchers are noting the world is changing, that what is needed are creative thinkers. Robert Floyd, chair of the coalition and executive director of TMEA notes that “ Creativity will prove as essential as literacy in preparing students to succeed in the 21st century workforce.” And Dan Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, has said, “the degree of the future is the Master of Fine Arts, and this future belongs to a very different kind of person with a different kind of mind.”

Today we focus on high school marching and concert bands.

All across the country, in the steamy heat of early August, high school band students show up hours before the start of the school day to work. Through practice, classes, games, concerts, competitions and band camps, they form a dedicated community of support, a mixture of competition and collaboration. Music education offers many kids a home base in the tough world of adolescence, igniting passion for music, teaching self-discipline, exploring the joys of personal best and experiencing the power of teamwork. The band kids work harder than most people imagine, as musicians with a high degree of athleticism, all the while maintaining academic performance and a myriad of other responsibilities and activities. Some, inspired by their teachers, choose to become music educators themselves. In college they work even harder, mastering instruments, theory, teaching methods and more.

How can you support those hardworking kids in your community? Show up for football games, regional contests and concerts, join a booster club to help them raise money for transportation to competitions. Contribute to scholarship and instrument funds. Advocate for the best music programs and best music teachers that can be found. Advocate for integrating music into the academic curriculum. Visit advocacy sites like TMEA and find out more about the importance of music in your state, and what your legislature is doing. Start making music or singing, just for fun.