I have two kids in band. A high school freshman who plays a mellophone with the marching band and a french horn with the concert band. And a 7th grader who plays a french horn with the middle school band.
We all know the basics – in general band kids are good kids, music is good for the brain keeping it active and growing, music can lift your mood when you are down, learning music helps strengthen neural pathways for language and reasoning and memorization and the list of benefits goes on and on. That’s all great and good. Don’t get me wrong – I love the music and I love that they love the music. I go to every single one of their performances that I can manage.
But what I really love, what I really value is the close friendships they are building, the life skills they are learning and the sense of self-worth and accomplishment they have from being in the band.
I love that they’re learning discipline, teamwork, resilience, being brave, trust, self-confidence, flexibility, respect and generosity. That sounds like a tall order from one extracurricular activity. But band hits them all. Discipline, teamwork and trust from the many hours of practice and memorization – during the marching band season you have to know your part and absolutely trust that your bandmates are doing what they’re supposed to so that you don’t crash into them during your precision marching. Being brave and self-confidence because it takes raw courage to go up in front of an audience and perform. Resilience because sometimes you mess up but you have to bounce back and “the show must go on”. Respect from representing your school and town each and every time you put on your uniform or perform. Generosity from applauding the other bands at competitions and realizing that them doing well doesn’t take away from your own performance.
And even more than all of that – I love, love, love the way the band has helped make the older boy’s first year of high school a positive experience. All four grades practice together as one big group over the summer so on the first day of school he already had juniors and seniors greeting him in the hallway. The band is welcoming and inclusive. Each person’s contribution is valued and they are part of something big and important together. And being in the band has expanded his comfort zone. A lot!!! For the first time in his life, I’ve seen that boy dancing (yes, actual dancing) in the stands with his bandmates in between performed songs. He does jazz hands and chants and cheers with them. He wore a costume for their half-time show on the field (yes, it was low key with just a batman mask and cape but it was an actual costume and he wore it with pride). He even loves his marching band uniform.
So I’m with the band all the way! And I’m so glad both my boys are too. I can’t wait to see what it’s like to have them both in the same high school band in a couple of years.
