<p>Only having to participate in the evening rehearsals is a significant concession - yes, a significant part of the rest of the rehearsals will be marching, but the front ensemble usually has their own rehearsals then. If he already has significant commitments in the fall, I would not make the commitment - by only showing up to a small percentage of rehearsals, he would already be setting himself up to be an outsider, and not a “real” member of the band. The rest of the students and parents are likely to see it for what it is - a gimmick - and to resent the fact that he’s coming in Senior year, and not making the same significant commitment as them. The family not being able to make a large commitment isn’t so much of a problem, but if he’s not part of the marching band “family” his performance won’t integrate well - it will come across much like a guest performer, joining them for their performance, rather than as an integral part of the band.</p>
<p>I can see that happening CTScoutmom. Although, he has quite a few good friends in marching band. And to make sure I’m not sounding too snobbish. When my son did not do marching band, they had regular band as a freshman. It was awful. Theyre focus was on marching and my son didn’t develop as a musician and quit as a result. Too bad, he could have gotten into jazz and used those skills for cello, but theres only so much time.</p>
<p>And my son would love to have guest artist status versus just playing in a big group.But I suppose the parents might not appreciate it.</p>
<p>In the classical world, guest artist status would be an honor and not resented.</p>
<p>Cello is a competitive instrument to get into music school on. I have nothing against marching band but she asked about a cellist. Both of my kid’s private string teachers have been good resources to consult about what is a good use of their time when getting ready for auditions. </p>
<p>I agree, in my opinion it wouldn’t be the greatest use of time. I think it would be a great experience. I was trying to figure out a way to make it work. Probably not. Most teens do not think of these time restraints. I’m going to have him look at the pros and cons. He’s an adult soon and will need to figure this out soon without me or his teacher telling him no without his input or alternative choice. I think it’s a great opportunity to problem solve to see if it would work. Although, if he wants to diversify maybe he can just play bass guitar in an entry level jazz band at school. Way less time consuming.</p>
<p>Do you live someplace that it doesn’t rain during football season? In our neck of the woods it pretty much doesn’t NOT rain during football season. I love MB as did my kids, but it is a time suck. Some find it a fun time suck and something not too serious to do amongst all the other pressure, but that depends on the band and director. Be careful with the jazz bass idea. If there is only one then also no flexibility RE practice, sectionals and festivals. </p>
<p>Thanks saintfan. He also wants to do some organ concertos with his friend. He’s going to have to prioritize. I’ll have him check into the time commitment for jazz. If it’s entry level, hopefully only concerts would be his time commitment. </p>
<p>Every school and band director organizes time differently so probably just best to ask. Both marching and jazz can be valued vary highly or just as a more fun extracurricular. Saintkid dropped his sport to return to jazz after a year of in 9th grade - too much conflict. One of their bass players dropped jazz to fully participate in his sport. Talks are underway to find a compromise for bass kid for next year but someone has to be flexible and they aren’t always willing to be. In my kid’s case coach and band director wouldn’t budge on the schedule to be in the top group so something had to give.</p>
<p>Since you are probably at a school that has an orchestra and your S is not the only cello player, you may want to ask the band director to find the cello players that are not planning to major in music. We had an all state level cello player in our band who marched trombone, but I can see how they could have easily asked her to be featured on cello for the marching show and she would have been thrilled. The Band Directors should be looking for someone who will be thrilled to participate and someone who does not come with a lot of conditions. They have enough challenges to contend with. They are not going to want to treat the cello player like a “guest artist”. </p>
<p>Focusing on your auditions and applications sounds like the right plan for a cello player who plans to study music in college. </p>
<p>Marching band is not all summer. There are academic rules around marching band and everything else - at least in the state of Texas. Marching band rules say that the two week intense summer marching camp cannot start until August 1. And parents and students have to sign a UIL form stating that marching band cannot take up more than 8 hours a week starting the last Monday in August. </p>
<p>If the timing conditions work out and your son REALLY wants to do it MB could be just a fun, stress relieving activity though. My D (casual band kid) poured herself into drum major senior year just because it was fun and didn’t ‘count’ for anything. With all the rest of the craziness she liked having that one thing that was just because.</p>
<p>I would not recommend adding more activities to one’s plate in senior year, especially one that requires so much extra time. My son actually downgraded some of his activities so that he could focus on applications, prescreening dvds, auditions - and, of course, his grades. </p>
<p>Lots2do. I wish there was an 8 hour limit for marching band. We have no such thing here. I do agree they should seek a non music major cellist. I don’t know what level of music they are playing. Thanks for all the input. I’ve come to the conclusion that with any creative solutions I come up with, my son will not have time for it. </p>
<p>Speaking of downgrading. Do you think it hurts their college application to lighten the class load. I want his gpa to stay up and have enough time to practice.</p>
<p>@cellomom6, check out the “Question about Temple academic merit vs Boyer music talent $$$” thread as there is some discussion happening there about AP versus no AP and impact on merit.</p>
<p>As a veteran of marching band and also someone who knows the extent some schools took marching band to, I would be really, really careful about saying yes to doing this. My HS marching band was relatively easy on time, during the year we rehearsed in school during the regular band time, and other than that, we had a late summer camp, plus of course saturday games. Other bands were big on the competition circuit, they would have all kinds of regular practices. BTW one of the reasons some people are anti marching band is that in many school districts, if you wanted to do the high school stage band program, you had to do it, it wasn’t a choice. </p>
<p>Now, as a cello player, not sure how much your S would need to be involved. A large part of MB is in learning the routines, the formations and such, and that takes up a lot of the practice time IME, which if as I assume your S will be on the sidelines, might not require him to be there. Where the music director might be a pain is if in the name of ‘fairness’ is if he insists your S show up to all the rehearsals and such, even if a lot of it is not relevant to him, and that could be time consuming and frankly, useless.</p>
<p>MB offers a lot of things, but in terms of musical preparation marching band doesn’t offer that much, things like musicality and the technical aspects of playing tend to take a backseat, something that someone auditioning has to worry about, so for classical auditions it isn’t going to drive the kid forward towards that. </p>
<p>In the end, I think it is going to come down to time for your S, and if the program is going to take up time your S feels he needs to do for auditions, I would lean towards not doing it personally. With music schools the audition is everything, plus you will probably have to do pre screens as well, and your S will need all the time he can get to practice his repertoire, and this is especially true since Cello is incredibly competitive, it is one of the instruments near the top of the heap, in terms of required playing ability to get into a good program. Given that he likely also will face pressure with his academic load, any time saved might be invaluable towards the goal of getting more time practicing. </p>
<p>If he does do it, I would rent an instrument. Depending on where you live, it would be subject to the elements, to heat, to cold, to humidity, etc, and string instruments tend to object to that. </p>
<p>In the end, if he really wants to do it and the music director is willing to be reasonable, that the amount of time required to do this isn’t too much of an extra burden, and only you and especially your son can decide that. I have faced similar things with my son and when it came time for audition year, it generally meant jettisoning a lot of things he otherwise would want to do, that the cost was more than the benefit. </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Every school is different: in our school, every kid who is serious about music leaves marching band in junior or senior year. All of my kids participated in band for many, many years but for the one kid who majored in music, leaving band was an excellent decision and left time for practice, and conservatory prep classes. I believe in contributing to the school in any way possible but she had done enough, and continued to contribute in other ways.</p>
<p>As for your other question, even the most selective colleges understand the commitment and time needed for musicians and in my opinion and experience, it won’t make much difference if a student doesn’t take a certain AP and even if a student doesn’t take a senior year science or history class. English needs to be taken 4 years in high school, and that’s the bottom line. Taking one less class would be viewed as part of the dedication to music I think. The GC can write a note explaining this if need be.</p>
<p>Thanks compmom. The school gc has confused my son and encouraged him to take ap classes. I will explain to her the need for an easier class load for needed time to practice. I was guessing a music college or conservatory would prefer a better prepared audition. I’ve debated if ap music theory was needed. We want his gpa to stay high. I don’t know how demanding ap music theory is. He’s smart but can get overwhelmed from practice times and rehearsals and heavy classloads.</p>
<p>AP music theory is a waste of time if other theory training is available. Most music schools will not accept it for credit.</p>