Sunday, December 5, 2010
Music "Literacy"
I am working on an informal study on the use of pre-1980 compositions in contemporary concert band programming. If you'd be interested in sharing what you do with your program (did if you are retired) please take the survey. I will post results in the summer 2011.
What Kind Of ASBDA Member Are You?
this is a repost of the November 2010 issue of the ASBDA Newsletter
I am sure you have heard the saying, “There are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who say what happened?” I have long pondered why are there members of ASBDA who become inactive so quickly. How can we have such a dichotomy of membership? On one hand a small highly active and motivated group, on the other hand a “resume” group that quickly loses interest and does not seem to be concerned in what we are about or the potential for what we can be for school bands in the 21st century. Over-simplified? Perhaps it is, but I do not believe it is that far off the mark.
In order to answer my question I have looked at the leadership I see in ASBDA, not just those who hold a position in our association but those that hold positions in other organizations in their home state. I have also tried to read and study as many vision statements of state bandmasters (band and orchestra director) associations as I could find online and com-pare them to the ASBDA vision statement. In the spirit of the adage provided to begin this article I have developed a theory that there are three kinds of band directors in the world: those that want to help other band programs strive for excellence, those that provide opportunities for band directors to demonstrate excellence and those that gladly utilize both information and opportunities. What I mean is that there are those who actively seek opportunities to help their peers and young musicians. This can come from sharing ideas and opinions, developing or working on research to solve issues associated with bands, or offering personal assistance. Secondly, many have a knack for organization and the ability to stage a festival where students can demonstrate their ability or combine their talent with others to produce a cooperative performance. Certainly, there are those who excel in both, but for the sake of my argument you should consider this set of leaders as part of the first group. Which one are ASBDA members? Well, I would hope that you would all agree that an ASBDA member is and should belong in group one. Our time, energy and experience are not only used to create our own programs of excellence, we are personally concerned with helping others to do the same. You can see the excitement in our eyes when someone begins to talk about solving problems or digging into issues confronting our profession. This is an outlet that we can find a means of alternative satisfaction. Another set of leaders in the band world are actively involved at a more localized plane. Through the local, district, regional and state level festivals or honor groups, many state associations work very hard to provide quality opportunities for young musicians. These activities are vital and provide important chances for students to seek out their own potential. Many state organizations, as I know you are personally aware, also offer conventions or conferences that help with giving directors a chance to improve the quality of their teaching. However, it seems that much of the focus remains on the planning and implementation of the festivals and conferences/conventions more than resolving the issues that face the school band program. Again, I am not affording any blame or infer a sense of apathy, simply put—it is more a lack of time than commitment. There is solid purpose to those who fall into group two and the reason that I believe we do not and should not feel like we tread on each others toes. We should be collaborative entities working toward making school bands work for the betterment of young band musicians.
I do not care where you are, time is more of a premium than ever before. Everyone is being asked to do more with less and decisions are being made about the amount of time, resources and energy that will be shared with family, work and community. The number of those who have the inclination to be in group one appear to be shrinking, individuals who are active in group two are getting tired or frustrated and lack the time or will to focus on others around them. Those in group three are finding it hard to obtain the time and money to provide their students with the enrichment activities open to them. More generalities? Of course, but once again I doubt that I am that far off the mark.
What is it we can do to help? There has to be a way to find those members who are truly interested in helping others create programs of excellence. They are still out there and we have asked many of them, at one time or another, to join ASBDA. Our problem is that we have not done a good enough job to inform them of how their involvement will not simply help ASBDA but, more importantly, help themselves as well. They will have the chance to help make bands and band directors better in their home states or local regions, not only now but for the foreseeable future as well. Never in human history has information and the ability to communicate been so easily attained. The ease with which we can share concerns and solutions should ultimately make this a perfect time to reaffirm our role in school bands nationwide.
If we do not become more vocal and proactive in what we are as an organization and what we seek to do for school bands in America then recruiting others, regardless of age, experience or quality, will only become more fruitless. There has to be the ability to provide leaders of each state an understanding that state organizations and ASBDA can be symbiotic, that we can both benefit from what each group is designed and dedicated to do and that there is time and energy enough to belong to both. Not only that there is time and energy for both but it is profoundly necessary that we make it a priority to spend time being proactive about our programs. Since, as mentioned before, time is something no one seems to have enough of, this is a difficult task and I wish I could say that I have an answer.
I think we have made great strides recently with changes in our organization and a renewed interest and enthusiasm in research. The executive board is interested in finding ways to let others know who we are and then, even more importantly, what ASBDA is about—something we can all use, as a unified entity, when someone asks what is ASBDA and why should they join. In today’s society image and easy access to information is an expected quality for both business and organizations.
I am confident we will find ways to entice other members to join our cause and actively participate. I am interested in knowing what you think about what I have written here. I will try to post a similar position on the ASBDA blog and you can comment or feel free to email me your thoughts. I hope I have not offended anyone as I truly respect all who work toward creating better school band programs for student musicians to thrive in. I sincerely believe that neither ASBDA nor state associations are better than the other; they are equal partners to the cause.
I am sure you have heard the saying, “There are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who say what happened?” I have long pondered why are there members of ASBDA who become inactive so quickly. How can we have such a dichotomy of membership? On one hand a small highly active and motivated group, on the other hand a “resume” group that quickly loses interest and does not seem to be concerned in what we are about or the potential for what we can be for school bands in the 21st century. Over-simplified? Perhaps it is, but I do not believe it is that far off the mark.
In order to answer my question I have looked at the leadership I see in ASBDA, not just those who hold a position in our association but those that hold positions in other organizations in their home state. I have also tried to read and study as many vision statements of state bandmasters (band and orchestra director) associations as I could find online and com-pare them to the ASBDA vision statement. In the spirit of the adage provided to begin this article I have developed a theory that there are three kinds of band directors in the world: those that want to help other band programs strive for excellence, those that provide opportunities for band directors to demonstrate excellence and those that gladly utilize both information and opportunities. What I mean is that there are those who actively seek opportunities to help their peers and young musicians. This can come from sharing ideas and opinions, developing or working on research to solve issues associated with bands, or offering personal assistance. Secondly, many have a knack for organization and the ability to stage a festival where students can demonstrate their ability or combine their talent with others to produce a cooperative performance. Certainly, there are those who excel in both, but for the sake of my argument you should consider this set of leaders as part of the first group. Which one are ASBDA members? Well, I would hope that you would all agree that an ASBDA member is and should belong in group one. Our time, energy and experience are not only used to create our own programs of excellence, we are personally concerned with helping others to do the same. You can see the excitement in our eyes when someone begins to talk about solving problems or digging into issues confronting our profession. This is an outlet that we can find a means of alternative satisfaction. Another set of leaders in the band world are actively involved at a more localized plane. Through the local, district, regional and state level festivals or honor groups, many state associations work very hard to provide quality opportunities for young musicians. These activities are vital and provide important chances for students to seek out their own potential. Many state organizations, as I know you are personally aware, also offer conventions or conferences that help with giving directors a chance to improve the quality of their teaching. However, it seems that much of the focus remains on the planning and implementation of the festivals and conferences/conventions more than resolving the issues that face the school band program. Again, I am not affording any blame or infer a sense of apathy, simply put—it is more a lack of time than commitment. There is solid purpose to those who fall into group two and the reason that I believe we do not and should not feel like we tread on each others toes. We should be collaborative entities working toward making school bands work for the betterment of young band musicians.
I do not care where you are, time is more of a premium than ever before. Everyone is being asked to do more with less and decisions are being made about the amount of time, resources and energy that will be shared with family, work and community. The number of those who have the inclination to be in group one appear to be shrinking, individuals who are active in group two are getting tired or frustrated and lack the time or will to focus on others around them. Those in group three are finding it hard to obtain the time and money to provide their students with the enrichment activities open to them. More generalities? Of course, but once again I doubt that I am that far off the mark.
What is it we can do to help? There has to be a way to find those members who are truly interested in helping others create programs of excellence. They are still out there and we have asked many of them, at one time or another, to join ASBDA. Our problem is that we have not done a good enough job to inform them of how their involvement will not simply help ASBDA but, more importantly, help themselves as well. They will have the chance to help make bands and band directors better in their home states or local regions, not only now but for the foreseeable future as well. Never in human history has information and the ability to communicate been so easily attained. The ease with which we can share concerns and solutions should ultimately make this a perfect time to reaffirm our role in school bands nationwide.
If we do not become more vocal and proactive in what we are as an organization and what we seek to do for school bands in America then recruiting others, regardless of age, experience or quality, will only become more fruitless. There has to be the ability to provide leaders of each state an understanding that state organizations and ASBDA can be symbiotic, that we can both benefit from what each group is designed and dedicated to do and that there is time and energy enough to belong to both. Not only that there is time and energy for both but it is profoundly necessary that we make it a priority to spend time being proactive about our programs. Since, as mentioned before, time is something no one seems to have enough of, this is a difficult task and I wish I could say that I have an answer.
I think we have made great strides recently with changes in our organization and a renewed interest and enthusiasm in research. The executive board is interested in finding ways to let others know who we are and then, even more importantly, what ASBDA is about—something we can all use, as a unified entity, when someone asks what is ASBDA and why should they join. In today’s society image and easy access to information is an expected quality for both business and organizations.
I am confident we will find ways to entice other members to join our cause and actively participate. I am interested in knowing what you think about what I have written here. I will try to post a similar position on the ASBDA blog and you can comment or feel free to email me your thoughts. I hope I have not offended anyone as I truly respect all who work toward creating better school band programs for student musicians to thrive in. I sincerely believe that neither ASBDA nor state associations are better than the other; they are equal partners to the cause.
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