Boiling it Down

I have read the comments below and they are all fine. What the whole thing boils down to is the "Philosophy of Band" you have. My philosophy is that band is a vehicle to which you learn instrumental music education. I do not view it as extra curricular. There are certainly many, many "extra" things you learn in band such as responsibility and team work but, with me, strong music education is the foundation upon which we build. If you have similar views, you probably agree with most of what I do. The marching band thing is just an extension of the music education component of the band program. If you want a competitive marching band, you must be able to play your instrument at a high level. To play at a high level, you must be committed to practice and maybe even taking private lessons. These statements are just simply facts. They are not opinions. Of course there are other "philosophies of band". Some view band as an entertainment group. Most college marching bands are these kind of groups. They are built on the fact that they are for entertaining the crowd. Some high school band also follow this mold. They don't have a lot of requirements for inclusion and don't have many individual playing responsibilities. They are just kind of "fun" and "entertaining". I think the main point of a high school is to prepare students for a continuing education into college or to prepare students to enter into the "real world". It is not to entertain. Certainly there are clubs and extra stuff in high school that are social activities but band should not be a club. There are immediate benefits with bands that take on this kind of role. Their numbers usually go up very quickly and they may see some extrinsic results especially in the area of marching band competition. What they lack is high level wind ensembles and, perhaps most importantly, they do not produce life long musicians. During my career, I have had many students go on to keep music in their lives. To me that's worth more than any trophy. Here is the deal though. If you are into marching band, by becoming a better individual musician and having a serious attitude toward playing, all the marching stuff will happen too. It is not by chance or coincidence that the best marching band programs in the country also have the best concert programs in the country too. Also some more food for thought. My goal is not to build one of the best bands in the state. I want more! Think about that one! We have the potential but potential is just that...an idea. There will be no true achievement until hard work and commitment are made the norm.