VIDEO REFLECTION #3

This is one of my favorite explanations of why music (specifically band music) matters on the Internet. There is no actual video but it is just audio and it is very effective. This is narrated by Jack Stamp, who is the Wind Ensemble director at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I was lucky enough to have been able to conduct South Jersey Symphonic band while he was the guest conductor for the South Jersey Wind Ensemble in the same concert. 

In this video, he demonstrates how a musician must perform at 100% within their team or ensemble and how this is one of the only teams where you must perform at this level. He demonstrated how a good batting average is 300, which is 30%. If a band performed at 30%, it would not be acceptable. He has the band play a piece of music at 100% and then with 95% of the correct notes. At 95% it sounds horrible. In most classes this would be an A. In band....not so much!

He also demonstrates how musicians usevboth sides of their brain unlike in any other subject. They are reading a foreign language, doing math to figure out the durations of the music; having to master the technical aspects of their instrument (what fingers to put down), their embouchure (the way you form your mouth to make a good sounding tone), and then the musical aspects such as are they playing with dynamics, in the right tempo, expressively and so on. 
He explains how music demands perfection. If each person in the band makes one mistake, it sounds horrible. This is a hard concept to get across to people who have never participated in music. This is the plight of the music teacher these days, and this video is a great teaching tool for both our students and parents. It gives concrete examples of why music is important and shows the skill level required to make something that you can be proud of and that can bring emotional enjoyment to the musician as well as the listener.