Did the Elimination of Band Class from Schools Hurt the Quality of Music Today?

[Maximus Rex]

I remember band class in elementary, junior high and high school. It was here that a lot of people (who otherwise wouldn't have gotten the chance,) were exposed to and learned how to read music; in addition to learning how to play an instrument. However, do to budget cuts, band classes were eliminated from a lot of the public schools and now we're seeing the results, people don't know how to make music.

When you had band class, (I never took band,) but I'm assuming that you learn something about classical music, possibly jazz, and pop standards, so you would have a frame of reference as far as arrangements and composition. Producers would take this knowledge and using in making their own music regardless of the genre. Now,(since band for the most part has been taken out of the public schools,) kids frame of reference is the latest hot producer, now with the fruity loops program, cats don't even have to know how to play a keyboard or program a beat machine. What do you say? Has taking band out of the public schools hurt the over all quality of music?

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

I would argue the opposite. Somebody may have a half baked desire to learn about music, only to have it killed by the insufferable mediocrity of public education.

On the other hand, anybody with a whiff of interest in learning music can do so today, much more easily and efficiently on their own, and on their own dime.

I, for one, have always been interested in music, but it's taken me a long to get over the music lessons I was "forced' to take as a kid.

 

[FairShake]

I've often heard people say that but I doubt it. I can't think of too many great rock stars who learned guitar, bass, or keyboards in school. Drums maybe but the others tended to learn on their own, woodshedding it in their room or garage. Others, mostly R&B singers and producers, learned in church. Hell, alot of our greatest musicians from the Rock and R&B era can't even read music!

I suspect a combination of the gen x and millennial march away from church, the rapification of popular music, the growth in video games and computers, music videos and aesthetics that are now required for a popular artist, and the corporate model of the music business regarding downloads is more responsible that the ending of school music programs. I am very much for continuing school music and theater programs though. The studies don't lie.

Also, as much as it pains me to say it as a bluegrass picker, EDM music is the notable outlier when it comes to music and it's devolution. While the other genres have grown stale and dumbed down to the reasons above, the growth in technological expertise have made techno, house, trance, what have you a lot better. While video games and computers have taken away alot of creative talent from music, a small group of those kids have embraced music and started creating some really nice pieces.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I was in band in school. Every dorky little girlfriend I had was, too. That was a large part of it for me. We took a trip every year, and at that age, getting to spend time in a hotel room alone with your girl was something special. Plus, it's not like my family could ever afford vacations. When I was 16, I got to go to Florida and fvck my gf in the ocean. That's not bad for some band geeks.

I still see marching bands at high schools. Band isn't dead as a concept.

Regarding the question of why music sucks today, I would blame corporate control of radio stations, as well as the ridiculous FCC decency standards. "Quality" in music today means that it is radio trash that offends no one, raises no serious issues in its shallowness, and is meant to appeal to the masses, and not people who know much about music.

 

[Darth]

I would say the elimination of band class hurts society, but I think the reason kids have no taste today is because they weren't raised on good music by their parents to begin with. Used to be everybody was raised on classical music and opera. That sets the bar high. Compared to classical music, Sinatra or swing band music is pop fluff- nice to listen to but nothing serious. Classical is the point of reference that everybody likes.

But now we have kids whose classical music is "the 80s" or "the 90s". When that's their "serious" music, well, you can see what happened. I'm not knocking 80s music. Some is quite fun- but my point of reference is classical. A lot of these kids wouldn't know Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, etc. if it hit them over the head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYK4PKnytME