Posted by Philharmonic on April 15, 2009 at 7:24pm
I just had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who happens to be an HBCU director. He told me that he was going to denie all of his "6" year marchers because they were a problem the past season. I almost fell out laughing when I heard this and told him that as a rule after 4 years they should be thru marching!!! He then told me that he knows some universities that that have people that has been to their 10 year high school reunion and still march there(not calling any names but I heard the same thing). How can a director allow these people to march? They should have got their masters and doctor's degree. Unless you are student staff you shouldn't march!!!! When is it too old in your band?
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6 year marchers! Damn! The only way i can see that happening is if the student is in music ed and they are student directing not actually marching because that's apart of their training! Can't set an age because some students start late and some students entered college previously and had family issues causing them to withdraw so i can't say an age, can't knock down a brother for wanting that degree, no matter what the age is! I know at TN State Music Ed was like getting a damn doctoral degree LOL. many of my buddies had some crucial times while taking the theory classes and they said is not a cakewalk! So many peeps were in school for 6 years! Your band director friend should have known that he or she would have problems just letting people just stay around for numbers, can't blame the students, the band directors must put the blame on themselves!
While that's all good, can a BD really deny a student because of his/her age, or the number of years they participated? I mean, whether the student is an 18 year old freshman trying to get his/her first experience...or a 38 year old upperclassman with many rips under his/her belt, that person is still a student...and marching band is still a class...right?
Depends on the program! I'm raising a niece and she's attending Grambling in the fall and in their band handbook it states that you can mach 4 years and you can only get a 5th year if you are in good standing with the director(s) so i guess it's up to the directors! If they have it written in stone, it will hold up in court, especially if the program has had those same rules for years!
In a perfect world, everybody finishes school in 4 years. But since this isn't a perfect world, some kats might still be in undergrad come year 5 and 6(I've even seen some majors where this is unavoidable unless you do summer winter spring and fall). It happens. There shouldn't be too many kats like that anyway, but still. Like some of the other posters have stated, there are a lot of factors that could be at work here. That 10 year high school reunion really sounds like somebody who had to leave school and come back. Based on his wording, he didn't say the kat had been marching 10+ years, just that he attended his 10 year high school reunion and was marching at that time.(I love to break wordplay down;Apologize in advance if I'm incorrect lol) If a kat crabbed in 94, had to go home in 95 and didn't come back until 98 but was still in shape and still creasing on his horn and was serious.........I mean, what would you kats as a band director tell him? I don't see where he'd be at fault to want to march in that situation. Tell me if I misunderstood anything.
I marched 5, and if my student teaching was closer to PV, might have done a 6th. I probably would have been on staff by then, though.
4 is standard, 5 may be pushing it. After that, you need to be trying to finish that degree. Majoring in Band (not music) is not cool...
Sometimes, cats have to interrupt their college career, or maybe start school later (25-30+). Not really an issue IMO, and long as when they ARE in school and in the band, they're making adequate progress.
IMO as long as you are in school, your grades are up to par, you are in good standing with the directors and the band and you dont cause problems you should be able to march no matter what yr you are in or age....say what you want.. you cat fault a musician for wanting to play.....especially if there is no scholarship involved...if a set number of years is put in place it shouuld just be like after X amount of years you can no longer get a band scholarship.....maybe thats just me tho
Man some people need those scholarship dollars. I would have marched a 5th year if I had not gotten a job working with the band at Sam Houston. By then though, I was kind of ready to get out and into my career anyway.
I do think that by the time a person has marched 5 years, they should be higher up on the band staff such as student director, lead arranger etc. But there are hourly positions at many high schools that cater to college students. I recommend them to try one of those
Unless you know HIS situation... dont comment on it... and im pretty positive you DONT know it...
Everybody situation isnt so cut and dry... everybody cant come in freshman year and leave on time senior year... that dude has been through alot... ALOT... probabaly alot more than any of us will ever experience in a lifetime
Old Members In Your Band
I just had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who happens to be an HBCU director. He told me that he was going to denie all of his 6…
Replies
at one school I heard of a member in the past doing 15 rips at the same school....
15 years is beyond sad lol!
4 is standard, 5 may be pushing it. After that, you need to be trying to finish that degree. Majoring in Band (not music) is not cool...
Sometimes, cats have to interrupt their college career, or maybe start school later (25-30+). Not really an issue IMO, and long as when they ARE in school and in the band, they're making adequate progress.
I do think that by the time a person has marched 5 years, they should be higher up on the band staff such as student director, lead arranger etc. But there are hourly positions at many high schools that cater to college students. I recommend them to try one of those
Unless you know HIS situation... dont comment on it... and im pretty positive you DONT know it...
Everybody situation isnt so cut and dry... everybody cant come in freshman year and leave on time senior year... that dude has been through alot... ALOT... probabaly alot more than any of us will ever experience in a lifetime
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