Why are some bands so good?

[I<3thebox]

HAH! We do pilates (I didnt know anybody else did - that makes me feel better) ... I don't think I'd ever felt like my "core" was on FIRE before... basically they're all excersizes (sp?) that deal with your "core" which is like abs and bellow the bellybutton, and you sides and lower back they help with upper body support and keeping you smooth on the march so you can play your horn well. We also run everyday during summer band in the morning - yesterday we did 10 minutes straight

[xraidercutiex]

They have amazing private teachers and very smart directors with tenure and experience. Also, they had he best middle school directors in the state.

i think its funny that you say that. i used to take private lessons from the best middle school band director in the state. He had no clue how to play brass instruments.

[whitewing09]

Haha that suxxx

[Skippy]

i think its funny that you say that. i used to take private lessons from the best middle school band director in the state. He had no clue how to play brass instruments.

Who was the best middle school band director in the state, and how did he achieve such a prestigious title?

[xraidercutiex]

I've been thinking about this, and I want y'alls opinion on it: Why are bands like Bell, Duncanville, SFA, etc. so good, while others are not? Why are some bands noted wherever they go, while others make people say "Who are they again?". What's stopping Westlake, The Colony, Leander, and other bands who aren't often considered "great" from winning BOA Regionals and placing high in State? And what's making Duncanville and Langham Creek constant contenders for Honor Band? Why is that?

Disclipline, name, delivery, leaders.

[xraidercutiex]

Who was the best middle school band director in the state, and how did he achieve such a prestigious title?

it was a long time ago + the only reason i thought it was alright to take lessons from him was because i saw the newspaper article talking about their band being all awesome. his name was Mr.Pierce.

[QuadraticBeats]

I forgot when this topic was first posted (though not in the same thread).

Sometime last year... and here we are, raising the dead..

[iceeblue2]

I didn't read every reply but, ......along with all of the above listed .........did someone mention

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

[Skippy]

I didn't read every reply but, ......along with all of the above listed .........did someone mention

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

I don't think anyone did.

 

But it's very true.

[Nancy08]

I think talent has nothing to do with it. We have kids that don't necissarily have talent, but work their butts off and are very good. On the other hand, we have kids that are super talented, but also super lazy. Dedication, complete dedication, from the majority is what it takes. Once you build that name for yourself, it gets easier to retain it.

[Arabella]

Good directors, good leadership, GOOD FUNDAMENTALS, dedication, involvement.

[QuadraticBeats]

My rankings for the most significant factors.

 

#1. Excellent Directorship.

Reason: If your directors can't teach you the right stuff, or bring solid shows to the field, then you are not going to be competitive. No amount of effort by the students is going to change things if a.) no one knows what they're doing or b.) everyone is doing something different.

 

#2. Motivation.

Reason: Even if you have excellent directors, it's still YOU who is performing out there. Anyone who is in marching band just for graduation requirements (this might be a quaint Leander ISD thing) is wasting everyone else's time- come on, would you rather spend 50 hours a week on school activities, or just take a P.E. class and Art class every other day?

 

#3. Good Rehearsal Procedure, Policies

Reason: Being yelled at for no good reason, skipping water breaks for prolonged periods of time, band/section politics or infighting, inflexible policies, and complacency by students when given time to work undermines motivation and the respect that students have for each other or the directorship. If no one respects each other, then it's going to be a hard thing to take what a director is saying seriously, or for a section to get much work done; it's a bad idea to constantly point out what the guy next to you is doing wrong, unless they're just annoying and won't be quiet, or are major tickboxes- and, in that case, you should also suggest how they should fix their issues, such as explaining a concept they don't understand. And, if they do understand, then let them work on it on their own, unless they request help.

 

#4. Money.

Reason: You're not going to be able to compete very well with obsolete, beaten-up and neglected instruments. Nor will you be able to go to many competitions without lots of the green stuff, either .

 

#5. Talent.

Reason: Genetically, we are 99% the same. Therefore, that 1% difference doesn't matter that much- in most of my experiences, the "best" players in the band often happen to have had music lessons a number of years before they started their current instrument, and practiced consistently, with proper technique. Think they're just magically better than you? Think again.

 

I hope this helps.

*Edited for one spelling error *

[MartinHorn]

I think talent has nothing to do with it. We have kids that don't necissarily have talent, but work their butts off and are very good. On the other hand, we have kids that are super talented, but also super lazy. Dedication, complete dedication, from the majority is what it takes. Once you build that name for yourself, it gets easier to retain it.

Talent absolutely has something to do with it, hard work+talent = championship bands.

[QuadraticBeats]

Seeing as how a number of us have come up with similar conclusions... perhaps we should make an uber-band. Wait... some schools have already done that.

 

Nuts.

[gavinrh]

that's messed up.

[dop3_mell0w]

Langham Creek makes their students sign contracts that basically makes them slaves.

um... excuse me?

[paradigm1220]

yeah what he said. we ain't slaves, we know what it takes to be sucessful

[jbrih13]

It really depends on the directors and their determination as well as the band members and how hard they work and are willing to work (work ethic). All these good bands, are good because they work really, really hard for it. Like they always say hard work pays off.

[MmCheezItsYay]

what they said ^ and it also probably has a little to do with the abilities of all the band members... like overall ability i guess

[blusax]

Briefly scimmed this thread to see if my top reason was given. To me... its tradition. Alot of other factors that have been mentioned are involved also. But a tradition of excellence is hard to bring down. Being an 8th grader seeing your future band and knowing they are one of the top bands in the state makes the average person willing to work abit more than they normally would.

 

I would agree with money to some extent also. But its not so much money as what is common when schools are in affluent areas. More kids tend to take private lessons... thier parents push them to do well on thier instruments... and an affluent school with alot of parental support is more likely to attract the top notch directors. In that sense... money matters.

 

 

Band to band kids arnt noticibly more talented than anywhere else unless you want to start looking at magnet performing arts schools (I can think of 2 in texas off the top of my head).

[barisaxy08]

i think these are the main things that help a band be/stay successful:

 

Passion - people have to want to be good if they are gonna be good

 

Dedication - you have to put a lot into a show if you want it to be successful. You can't just half-**** at rehearsal and expect the best. You gotta be dedicated to what you put yourself in.

 

Support - You have to support for fellow marchers. The people that march with you are the ones also determining how well you score and how good your show looks, so you have to make sure that they are supported and that you have their back. You can act like you don't like someone in band all you want...but when it comes down to it...that person is gonna determine that .05 points that could seperate you from 1st and 2nd. So you have to support and help out when you can.

 

Discipline - You can't just go to practice and joke and laugh like practice is unneccesary. You have to have self-discipline in your band in order for things to get done correctly and efficiently (sp?). The more discipline the band is...the more stuff that gets done and clean...the more points that appear on the board.

 

Respect - YOU HAVE to be able to respect everyone. That includes leadership to marchers, marchers to leadership, leadership to directiors, directors to leadership, and even directors to directors, and etc. People are put in positions for a reason so u just have to respect their position in order for things to go as planned.

 

Teamwork - People have to be willing to help out when chances are allotted. Directors are only allowed a certain amount of time to help, but as far as students helping each other...that's unlimited. Nobody marches perfectly so therefore there's always room for someone to improve in a marching show.

 

A Good Show - How good your show is thought out and presented is mostly why certain bands have the rep they do. You can't jus go out and march the "ABCs" and expect to get good rankings. The thought and work that goes into a show helps define bands.

 

Fun - Everyone just has to be having fun with the band program and how everything is going. Now-a-days teenagers have to be entertained in order for them to get into something, and if they are not having fun with it, then they could care less how it turns out in the end. i can promise you that if there was a band program in which every student and director was enjoying themselves, then all the things above would come in effect like they should. It's all about having fun and enjoying the greatest and only 4 years of high school band that u could possibly have.

 

well...that's honestly just my opinion. Choose to agree/disagree if u want.

[LordGiggles]

Applying fundamental concepts to music helps a lot. A lot of bands work really hard on the fundamentals, and focusing on all the possible aspects of music or marching and isolating them in exercises to train students. Established fundamentals can be transfered to music or marching which explains the way some bands sound and the lack of sound some bands may have despite the talent in their program.

[Drummer Chick]

We have a crazy big band, so most people looking from the outside in think that it must be horrible, but really, it's better, because we have awesome directors and totally awesome band parents, who help keep it all together, though a lot of it is the student comraderie, you meet upper classmen in middle school, then they learn from the upperclassmen above them when they go to the high school, and then when you move up, you're learning how the band works from people who are already your friends, not just some random upperclassman telling you to hold your horn higher. Also, the directors have a high standard of excellence set for us, so we try our hardest to achieve it, it sounds really stupid but it works.

[Skippy]

Applying fundamental concepts to music helps a lot. A lot of bands work really hard on the fundamentals, and focusing on all the possible aspects of music or marching and isolating them in exercises to train students. Established fundamentals can be transfered to music or marching which explains the way some bands sound and the lack of sound some bands may have despite the talent in their program.

Truth.