<p>Are you then implying it might not be worth a b or c grade then when you can study on your own?</p>
<p>AP music theory in terms of music schools doesn’t really buy you much, you won’t get credit for it and it won’t help with audition to the music school itself. It could potentially get the kid placed into a more advanced theory class, in theory AP music theory is roughly a year of college theory, but I have my doubts about that, for a lot of reasons (it all depends on the school and how they teach theory, schools teach things in different order, so the AP might teach the things needed to get a full year, maybe a semester). It isn’t that AP theory isn’t valuable, if the kid has had no training it can be helpful, but to be honest, given senior year and auditions, the time needed for this course might be better served by other things. I also will add that given the different ways schools can teach theory, they can use different terminology and notation and such and teach in different order as I mentioned, for a student with relatively little theory might be better to take the track from the beginning…def wouldn’t be the only student doing that:)</p>
<p>The teacher has their doctorate. And is really fun but somewhat unpredictable on expectations. So I’m a little concerned. Thanks for your input. He can now take a digital music production class which will tell him if he’ll like it.</p>
<p>Digital music production sounds WAY more fun than theory 
</p>
<p>Marching band at my D’s HS meant 20 hours a week minimum. She loved the camaraderie but not enough to continue past freshman year as she was getting serious about majoring in music then (on a different instrument). During senior year, writing applications for college programs and making prescreening recordings takes a LOT of time and energy. Not to mention keeping the grades up and all those senior activities like prom, etc. Seriously, those take quite a bit of time too!
Is your son interested in music ed, or music performance? If he is interested in music ed, then having a marching band experience may be valuable. </p>
<p>Did I say how awesome you guys are? Lol. It’s funny. My husband knows nothing about music and was saying the same thing about ap music theory. My son also gets to take a fun outdoor class that is a pe credit. And is trying to get approval to be a peer tutor for orchestra. Hopefully that makes it a good year. And maybe ap psychology in the spring which my son would love the teacher.</p>
<p>@cellomom-
One word about guidance counselors and music students,I would pretty much ignore most of what they say. There are some guidance counselors who understand what music is like, but many of them think that music is like applying to an academic school, that you should go heavy with AP classes and the like because that will get you ‘into a good school’…likewise, many of them have the idea that music in high school is a ‘good ec’, but think that kids don’t have to put that much time into it, because they can ‘get serious’ in college. When my S decided to homeschool to focus on music, all we heard from the school (which was a highly regarded private prep school known for being pretty liberal and such) was how music was a good hobby, that he would be losing out because he would need a rigorous academic education to get into a ‘good school’, and the like…even more ironic that the MD of the school has a family member who teaches at a major conservatory on a very competitive instrument…and they chimed in the same thing! When it comes to music, even with the signal to noise ratio you can have even on CC in this forum , it is light years ahead of what GC’s know. </p>
<p>One more suggestion on the marching band point–why not have him offer to be a “guest artist” for a specific show? That could be fun, and wouldn’t involve joining the band for the long haul. I don’t think the members of the band would resent it (assuming he’s a generally well-liked kid).</p>
<p>That would be a good solution hunt. It would be fun. How does one do that without sounding too pretentious? Sorry. Couldn’t find a better word.</p>
<p>Cellomom6: I was a marching band mom for 4 years, and loved it. I am also on the “other side” of the whole application process, now that my D is well into her undergrad years. So I will share some comments/observations:</p>
<p>1) Your son was asked to participate in marching band because he is really good on cello, and a dependable student. Anyone who has done marching band knows how competitive it is. A field show with an electric cello is going to stand out…lots2do already suggested this. In these days of shrinking budgets, it is good to have a winning marching band. If your son wants to have a really fun and different experience, get some local recognition, and likes the idea of helping out for a greater good, and can manage his time, then he should do it. He should not feel guilty if he does not want to do it, and in fact they may try to pressure him a bit. It sounds like you are still not totally clear on what his time commitment would be, and he should definitely clarify that first before turning it down. It already sounds to me like he was approached as a “guest artist” and you and your son should not expect that he will have the same “camaraderie” experience that the other band members have. If he can get PE credit for marching band (our school offered that, not sure if things have changed) then that might change things, but it sounds like he already has different plans for PE.</p>
<p>2) Regarding AP’s: Good to have a few tough ones under your belt, IMHO, especially if you are pursuing music in a university setting. College classes are tough. You need to know how to study and manage your time. Academic strength may also mean more scholarship money. Regarding AP theory: I agree a waste of time for the prospective music major. But coming in with theory background, whichever way you learn it, will help tremendously, especially in the first part of Freshman year. And practice your aural skills. </p>
<p>Glassharmonica: The first thing I thought of was Woody Allen, when I saw the title of this post!</p>
<p>That is good to hear on theory, CLRN8MOM. Saintkid is doing the dual enrollment program his senior year and we had theorized that taking the first year music theory sequence would be good for him even though he wouldn’t get credit for it. I have heard that freshman year many kids run aground in their major with the theory, sight singing and piano proficiency requirements if those aren’t things that they came in with as a part of their primary instrument training. Many programs have basic levels required to begin the theory sequence and freshman year doesn’t need to be harder by playing catch up.</p>
<p>Back to marching band . . . carry on 
(I love me a good marching band)</p>
<p>We don’t have marching bands in Canada at all. I love watching them on television. We generally have a number of US high school marching bands from the Northwest come to our big parade day and they are always a hit! </p>
<p>Are you in Victoria?</p>
<p>Guest artist for one or two performances might work for a college band, but not likely for a competitive HS marching band. In HS, the band generally performs one show the entire season, building and improving upon it each week as they progress through the season. The only way a “guest artist” would work is if someone else plays the Cello part during the rest of the season, and the guest comes in as a replacement for that particular show.</p>
<p>I agree the arrangement as suggested by the school would be similar to a guest appearance, except that it would require committing to the whole season. Beyond the amount of time needed, you also need to consider the specific times involved. During summer rehearsals, he can be worked in during the evenings, but once the show is put together, not only would be he needed during most of rehearsals, but he obviously would need to be there for all performances - competitions which are held each weekend. In our circuit, we have a competition every Saturday from mid-September until the New England Championships in early November. When will he be able to audition if he’s tied up with competitions every weekend?</p>
<p>Auditions are in the spring. But I’m not filling out the applications and writing the essays.</p>
<p>We don’t know what this marching band is like–need more details. They may be the kind that works on a single competitive show all season, they may be one that does different shows for each football game (like mine in high school) and doesn’t compete, or some combination. It doesn’t sound like they’re just a pep band that stands still on the field and plays tunes, but anything is possible.</p>
<p>As far as how to ask to be a limited guest artists: “Being in the marching band sounds like a fantastic experience, but I don’t see how I can possibly make it work this year with all my auditions and other musical obligations. Is there any way I could play at a single event? That would be really fun!”</p>
<p>@bc-
Marching bands and ice don’t go together well so it wouldn’t work with hockey and curling, and the rule in Canadian football that if you go on the field for anything, you have to play defensive line for a quarter,would make marching band be hazardous duty <em>running the other way</em> (though I don’t even know if in Canada if high schools even play football:). </p>
<p>@saintfan, yes Victoria.</p>
<p>@musicprnt, lol, ice would make marching bands interesting, don’t you think? Maybe they could wear skates. Yes a large number of Canadian high schools do have football teams. Interestingly, very few high schools have hockey and curling teams. There are probably 2 very good reasons for our lack of marching bands. First, marching bands require a music program and unfortunately music in the schools is disappearing. Very few middle schools now offer music and it is not that big in high school (and non-existent in some). Bottomline - the state of music in our schools is abysmal. When you can’t get a music program funded you certainly have no hope for a marching band. The second reason for no marching bands is that school sports are not a huge draw. Even at the university level you are lucky if you get a couple hundred (no that is not a typo) people out to a men’s basketball game.</p>
<p>@bc-
Not surprising, just sad to hear that Canada is in the same straits we have here in the US with music education, a lot of school districts don’t have music programs at all, either (in my local district, it is usually hanging by a thread). The sad truth is that in a lot of districts, music programs in effect only exist because of marching band and football games, as we were told time and again, if it wasn’t for the football team we wouldn’t have music programs, which is pretty sad to say the least (what is really funny is hearing the football boosters talking about what the team does for the school…put it this way, since the school opened in the late 60’s, I am not aware of anyone who got into one of the so called 'FBS schools", the ones who compete in the big bowl games and such, and no one has gotten within a mile of the pros, and how the money spent on football ‘helps the whole school’, when in reality it is for the kids who play the game mostly…I have nothing against football, played it and am a fan, but I do resent that somehow sports are sacrosanct. Just read about some texas high school that has a 20 million dollar football stadium, same school doesn’t have much of a music program from what I gather outside marching band). I would think Canada, which tends to be more like Europe with arts and culture than the US, was better, that is sad:(.</p>
<p>Surprising that more schools don’t have hockey programs, given how popular the sport is in Canada, but then again, it also costs a lot to maintain it, too, from what I understand, so maybe not so surprising. </p>
<p>@musicprint, yes sad indeed. $20 million for a high school stadium is absolutely insane. I can’t think of any high school football stadiums in Canada. The kids just play on the school field along with all of the other school field teams like rugby, soccer and field lacrosse. </p>