First off, let me say this to all aspiring musicians out there who didn’t start learning a particular instrument until later in life: “It’s NOT a requirement to have learned anything about music when you’re young (in your teens, or earlier).”
It’s definitely a plus, but not a “show-stopper” at all. Plenty of people learned how to play the guitar, piano, or pick-your-favorite-instrument) in their thirties, forties, and so on, and so forth…
However, joining the junior high school band, or orchestra, has the power to open up a young person’s imagination, and even increase their intellect (according to some studies – you can do your own research…)…
This post just emphasizes that someone’s first musical instrument experiences are very influential to their rowth as a musician. If someone had the opportunity to learn at a younger age, they might recall how much more peceptive they were to learning then. Some things learned at that early age can sometimes be hard to forget. If you (I) were taught good musical habits, then that’s a great benefit in your adult life as a musician…
Why join the school band or orchestra?
Lots of times, people’s first thoughts of the elementary or junior high school band or orchestra are that it’s just some activity to get kids involved… just because… “It’ll be a great group experience for the child.” While that is very true. There are other reasons being in the band or orchestra could be quite beneficial to a child, especially if they actually become involved in music on a greater level later on in life. Someone’s first musical instrument experiences are some of the most ingrained memories they’ll create about music overall.
Sometimes, when we think of younger people (elementary or junior high school age), we think they probably dismiss a lot of what they encounter in their daily lives, but some of those experiences will stick with us forever.
The trumpet was the first musical instrument that I learned to play. Well… actually that’s not entirely true. My father taught me how to play “Heart-n-Soul” on the piano first, but… the trumpet was the first instrument that I learned to play in a curriculum setting (I think that’s the right way to say it)… Meaning, that, although it was mostly fun, there were times I had to engage in certain musical activities that I was not that motivated to do, and probably would not have done, if the band teacher had not made it a requirement for the day…
More Music-Related Photos From My Flickr Album
You learn how to read music.
While in my junior high school band, I had to learn to read music, in particular treble-clef music, since that’s where the trumpet notes lie. From that day on, I will never need to learn the treble clef notes ever again. And these notes are, of course, the same for any musical piece – the treble clef is the treble clef whether you’re playing the trumpet, or the piano, the guitar… whatever…
Obviously, it’s not that hard to learn what each line (and in between each line) on the treble clef represents, and it’s also not a requirement for musicians to be able to read music in the first place; however, it certainly doesn’t take away from a musician’s capabilities either.
Site-Reading
I realize there are prodigies that excel at much earlier ages, but for the average person (who might become a music professional later in life), learning to read music at an early age (say, 12 years old, or earlier) is a definite plus. In the band, I also had to pass periodic sight-reading exercises. Site-reading involves being able to play a piece of music that you’ve never played or read, immediately upon it being placed in front of you.
So, for the trumpet, it would be like this…. I sit down with the trumpet in hand, positioned to play, a piece of music is put in front of me, and I simply start playing that piece of music – no practice, no reading it beforehand, etc. … Sometimes these exercises went well, and others, well… a few mistakes might have been made. But overall, site-reading exercises really force you to learn how to read and understand music on a deeper level. Granted, at the junior high level, these site-reading exercises did not involve complicated pieces, but I was nervous each time nonetheless…
Another thing I seemed to pay attention to during those band days was how well (or not-so-well) each of the different instruments blended together. Even at such an early age, you can tell when one instrument seems to be over-taking another more so than it should be. It’s just natural for all human beings to sense that right away. Being exposed to that early on and seeing how it’s dealt with by the band teacher leaves an impression for you to lean on later.
You learn what it’s like to be embarrassed.
As adult musicians, we certainly know when we make a mistake in our playing, and are just hoping that no one else noticed it (especially someone in the audience – if performing for an audience). Well, the more you get to experience those embarrassing moments, the more you learn how to successfully deal with them.
As a trumpet player in the junior high band, those notes really stand out in the music. I can definitely recall being nervous that I would not quite hit that high note, or just forget what I’m playing altogether. The fear was always there. And as any imperfect human will do, I did hit that occasional wrong note, or just plain lost my place in the music at some point. Not exactly the best feeling in the world, if ya know what I mean.
Now, with the guitar being my primary instrument, the only difference is that I’m more capable of laughing at myself when these unfortunate events happen – even if I seem to have annoyed others around me. It kind of goes like this, “Alright… OK… So I screwed up… I apologize, but I can’t take it back… either keep listening, or turn away… the choice is yours.”…
There’s always someone better.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you practice your playing… No matter how much enthusiasm, time, and effort you put into being your best… “Little Scotty” seems to always out-play you, or maybe even “Jeffrey” came out of nowhere to place a chair or two ahead of you in the trumpet (pick-your-instrument) line-up…
Learning that you’re not going to always be the best at what you do helps to keep things in perspective, and helps you to realize that you don’t have to be “The Best, of The Best, of The Best…Sir!” in order to be of useful service to others. There’s plenty of opportunity out there for everyone who’s interested. Those opportunities might not be as wonderful and as glamorous as you had hoped for initially, but you may find that’s not a bad thing after all…
You’re exposed to multiple instruments.
In any group of musicians, you’re consciously and subconsciously collecting data about every instrument you’re exposed to. You start learning the different approaches for each instrument. For example, in the junior high school band, over time, you start to notice how certain instruments (like the trumpet or flute) tend to emphasize the melody of the musical piece, while the trombones, tubas, and percussionists (drummers) emphasize the chord changes, providing the structure that keeps the music together.
Although subtle at this age, learning these things greatly increases our overall musical abilities. We learn the importance of how a group of instruments is “supposed to fit together.” That, although most pieces of music have a “star (so to speak),” the instrument that gets most of the spotlight, the other instruments have their place and usually make “the star” shine even brighter than it normally would without the help of its brothers and sisters…
Lastly, you learn how to work with other musicians.
Working / Communicating / Conversing / Arguing / Whatever you want to call it… with other musicians is normally not that difficult in the elementary, junior high band, or orchestra. My memories of playing in the junior high band are pretty positive and enjoyable.
But as some of you know, when we get older, there seems to be less patience and more pride involved in our dealings with each other in the area of music (at least, that’s been my experience). 85% of the time seems to be positive, but when that 15% rears its ugly head, people’s voices tend to rise, people get up and leave the room, slamming doors behind them, etc., etc., etc. It’s just not pretty sometimes… Looking back, I think about some of those bad experiences and say to myself, “That was just a stupid, silly argument that I should’ve just left alone.”…
Bottom line, opposite of everything else in life, we “adult” musicians tend to get “our little feelings hurt” more so than children, when things don’t go our way, or when someone doesn’t like our view on things. Worse… when someone doesn’t like our playing, our performance… We take ourselves waaaay too seriously sometimes…
In Conclusion . . .
Elementary, or Junior High (& / or High) School Band experiences greatly influence our approach to music when we become adults. Again, it isn’t necessary for someone to have had these experiences in order to have highly fulfilling musical experiences later in life, just that they add (usually in a positive way) to our overall growth as musicians… If you want to provide your young son or daughter with another creative outlet in their lives (that could prove highly beneficial to them as adults), get them involved in the school band, or orchestra… Who knows what might happen in the near future…
Until Next Time,
Featured Image: My Bundy trumpet from junior high. View on Flikr.
