Why be in Band?

YOUR CHILD YOUR CHILD DESERVES A MUSICAL EDUCATION

 Click Here to download Pointers for Parents Handout

Your Child Should Study Music To

Gain These Benefits:

• Self-Confidence

• Responsibility

• Mental and Physical Discipline

• Coordination – Dexterity

• Group Activity – Cooperation and Unity

• Creative and Recreative Activities – Self-expression

• Increased joy of living through appreciation of the arts and nature

• Development of a career or avocation

• Being a part of a team with a common goal

• Better peer relationships and often better grades (according to research)

• Training to become a happy, cooperative and useful citizen

• Fun, Travel, Concerts, Parades, Athletic Events

Parent Participation

. Give your child the opportunity to gain the benefits listed above

. Be sincerely interested – Constructive criticism does not harm a child but

      indifference does

. Provide a quality instrument, case and music stand to make the child’s task

      easier and more gratifying (your music dealer and school music director can

      guide you in this)

. Keep the student supplied with important accessory equipment: extra reeds,

      lubrications, cleaning equipment, etc.

. See that the instrument is in accurate adjustment to provide the best playing

      conditions

. Be sure the mouthpiece is suitable to the child and produces the best sounds

      with the greatest ease

. Employ a private teacher to greatly increase the student’s chances for success

. Consult the school music director for guidance in this valuable phase of your

      child’s education

. Provide a suitable time and place for child’s practice

. Provide a safe place for instrument to be kept

. Be interested in the student’s lesson preparations and always be ready to

      acknowledge the student’s progress (many parents find it rewarding to learn

      to play an instrument along with their child)

. Be active in the school’s band parent organization

A musical education through the study of an instrument offers your child benefits that are more fulfilling than in any of the other educational experiences. What other study includes all of the following enrichments?

Music Provides Lifelong Enjoyment

Studying and playing a musical instrument, whether alone or in a group, offers the young person a lifelong enjoyment and appreciation of music. This might be attained through creating, performing, or eventually, educated listening. The pursuance of music, one of the Fine Arts, leads to deeper understanding and love for all things of beauty and creative expression, whether natural or man-made. This ability to better appreciate the aesthetic raises the joy of living and offers the person a foundation to become a happy, welladjusted, and useful cooperative citizen.

Music Develops Mental and Physical Abilities

Performing on a musical instrument requires highly developed mental and physical disciplines. These requirements are present from the very beginning of the study and gradually develop as the student progresses. The artist performer in the symphony orchestra must have strict mental and physical controls. The performer, beginning or advanced, must read symbols on the music page and transfer them to the instrument, using finger, mouth and tongue controls to produce the desired results. The sound must then be played for the correct, notated duration at the precise moment. This is controlled in ensembles by the conductor, whom the performer must always see while at the same time watching the music. The sound must then be blended and balanced with all the other members of the musical organization. This formula for playing a single note in a band or orchestra indicates the amount of discipline demanded of the player. Nevertheless, children develop these skills amazingly fast.

Music Develops Cooperation

There are many personal responsibilities connected with being a member of a school band.

It is necessary to be cooperative and to join in a combined effort to attain the goals of the director and the other members of the group. Being a participant in a group activity that has a worthwhile common goal is rewarding and more fun than working alone.

Music Improves Self-Expression

Children need opportunities for self-expression and creativeness. They require a “release” for their energies and inner thoughts. It is better that these necessary releases be obtained through music than other, often harmful, means. Possibilities for selfexpression and creativeness through the playing of an instrument are endless.

Music Provides Unlimited Opportunities

One of today’s serious problems is lack of communication. Music provides unlimited opportunities for closer communication because it is truly a universal language. Have you ever stopped to think that a member of any school band could sit in a comparable group anywhere in the world and instantly be an important contributing member of the organization, even though that student could neither speak nor understand the spoken language? Even the printed terminology on the music sheet would be familiar. In how many other academic subjects would this be true?

Music Provides a Future

Instrumental music offers many vocational opportunities, especially in the teaching field. Professional performers are well paid, although the profession is limited mostly to the highly developed players. As an avocation or as a means for providing funds for advanced schooling, music offers numerous opportunities.

Music Is Fun

Above all, a musical experience for your child will provide pleasure for the child and the whole family. Concerts, parades, athletic events, trips, festivals, contests–all can be enjoyed by the entire family. An opportunity for increased family unity is worth pursuing. Give your child the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument so that both of you may experience the many advantages that are offered.

The Challenge of the First Few Months

The first few months of learning to play an instrument are the most challenging; therefore, equipment should be of quality that offers the greatest assistance. Too many beginners fail in the early stages of learning because the instrument supplied is not in good playing condition or does not have the necessary properties to make it respond with ease.

CHOOSE A QUALITY INSTRUMENT

Give Your Child a Fair Chance

Do not demand that your child learn to play the instrument that is available in the family possessions. First, your child may have no desire to play this particular instrument, or may not be physically able to handle it. Second, the instrument probably needs an overhaul because of the long storage period, and, if it is in less than top playing condition, the student will become discouraged quickly and might then give up. So, give your child a fair chance. Invest in quality for your quality child. A quality investment will pay dividends.

The Importance of Quality Instruments

Quality student instruments must be manufactured by a company recognized for excellence in the field.  The preservation of time-honored craftsmanship is a priority at United Musical Instruments, where King instruments are made. Pick up a King instrument and you hold generations of knowledge and expertise in your hands. UMI has a strong commitment to research, development and testing, which result in new instruments, new processes, and new performance features, so that every instrument can perform better than ever before. As a parent, you may also want to know that we build our student instruments with many of the same features and specifications that are included in our professional models, while keeping the price affordable. So remember, Mom and Dad, that a quality instrument, whether you rent or buy, is the best start to success for the promising young musician.

What instrument should I play?

Click here to get basic facts and information about beginning instruments. This site originates in the United Kingdom so any information about the prices of instruments will need to be converted to US dollars.

 

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