No.
Band is almost incidental to football. The days of the band bus loading up to go to away games is gone. The band doesn’t prepare a show for football half-time; they prepare a show for competition and happen to also perform it at half-time.
It is similar in that marching band is big in Texas like football is big in Texas.
Sicks Ate, Pixel_Dent, I apologize. I didn’t mean to offend. I just did a poor job of pointing out that trying to coordinate a mass of teenagers is an awful job that requires something of a martinet to maintain control. It shouldn’t reflect on their abilities otherwise as educators, or the value of what they do.
Because they are trying to motivate teenagers and cannot use whips?
You guys must have one hell of a bake sale.
I studied music in college, with the goal of being a high school band director/music teacher. I never went into the field though.
The following is my experience/observations - not necessarily fact. Take it for what it’s worth.
The whole “those who can’t do, teach” idea doesn’t apply. I can and was doing it as a professional musician (performance) for a good while. But I wanted to settle down and raise a family. That lifestyle isn’t the best for families. I wanted a steady, reliable job with the health plan, etc.
Music students, professionals, etc. consider themselves as artists. Even the HS band director. The performance is the culmination of that artistic endeavor.
In addition, arts programs and extra-curricular activities like pep band, marching band, etc. are usually the first programs to be cut when the school/district has funding problems. Many people perceive music/arts to be nice to have, but not necessary.
Thus many band directors have a sort of chip on their shoulder plus something to prove. They constantly need to justify their existence in the school so that their program isn’t cut or eliminated entirely. My college coursework included learning ways for the band/music teacher to advocate for their programs to help avoid cuts from hitting their area/department. We even had to draft speeches/arguments in the context of presenting to school boards, PTA meetings, etc.
Math, science, english, etc. doesn’t need to justify itself in the public school. And in order to keep your job as a teacher in one of those subjects, one really only needs decent test scores.
With music/band, the performance is sort of how that teacher is graded by the administration. In a way, the band director’s job is on the line.
The tweets from Ms. Laura havve been coming for weeks now, color guard reminders, drum line rehearsals, full rehearsals, parade at the Free Fair,
and somehow I just got sweet talked into KP duty for band camp!
OH well, budgets slashed -
Look to a scrip (cash rebate) progra for fundraising, it adds up so fast!
Quite all right!
Former band geek here. I pretty much agree with this. High schoolers are a rowdy bunch. Get them outside, in the fresh air - yeesh. I have memories - I play trombone, and that bunch is especially wild. I don’t know how you could be anything but strict in an environment like that. Because the truth is, most marching bands sound like shit. It’s actually pretty difficult to move around that much while still maintaining sound quality. Only complete discipline will really be able to create something worth listening to.
How silly, the notion that band leaders aren’t teachers. My band teachers taught us every day in class. They taught us how to stand, how to march without tripping, how to walk backward on a football field while playing an instrument from memory (try it sometime and tell me you don’t need a teacher), how to improve tone, coordination, how to sight read… I could go on.
I don’t want to get into a pissing match about who is more driven, but I will say I went to band camp at the same place the footballers went to football camp. The football players themselves gave us props, because we were out on that field for longer than they were.
Yeah it was intense. But we didn’t suck.
All coaches are driven, because they exist in that delicate balance between being knowledgeable enough to teach their activity and dumb enough to think it matters.
-silenus
25+ years of coaching debate, Speech, AcDec and other such nonsense
How many cookies do you have to sell to get an 18 wheeler?
This. Though I would add that good coaches also live in the delicate balance of giving a shit right up until it doesn’t matter any more, and then letting it go.
Also, coaches give the kids the team they want. If the kids/parents/community wants a more casual/laid back activity, that’s what they will end up with because they hold all the cards: these are electives. Coaches that push kids to a place they don’t feel like going end up with empty rosters.