Frank Deford’s recent commentary on Marching band titled “School Bands Should not be Entertainment Adjunct for Sports” (on NPR) generated some very interesting dialogue on the comment section of the NPR website. Deford’s key point is that students should not be required to be members of the school marching band. He frames marching bands as primarily a means of entertainment for people at football games. While Deford could flesh out the social and cultural aspects of marching bands and use of the term extracurricular, he makes several important points.
Perhaps, more interesting for music educators however, are the over 100 comments offering varied perspectives on the role of marching band in music programs, the expense of marching band compared to other aspects of the music program, goals of music programs among other issues. Consider adding your voice to the dialogue.