I wrote this today on the Community Music forum in Yahoo. It is comprised mostly of band directors.
As our community band grew I came to the realization that baby boomers were returning to band and music performance in a big way.
We had a lot of dead weight in the band at that time including people who had been in the band for years, couldn't even tune their instrument, with broken instruments, and no desire to practice. The community band was a social group more than a music experience.
So after three years of lobbying, the chance acquisition of a superior director that we wanted to keep, and support from friends on the board we instituted a set of new policies. The section sizes were determined by the director. Where we had too many players we just waited for the downsizing using attrition.
For sections needed new players we instituted an audition process, the first for this band. The audition is run by the section leader and consists of playing some scales and sight reading. Those who didn't make the grade were gently given the suggestion that they take lesssons and try again in the future.
Finally our director started upping the ante with music that was as difficult as it was dramatic. Interestingly enough as the performance requirements became more challenging, the more the dead weight started to move on. And there was never a shortage of people who wanted to join the band. We turn away or place on a waiting list 5 to 10 people a year.
Not everyone is happy about this move from a mostly social to a mostly music organization. And handled poorly this could destroy a community band. I suspect that if your CB is in a small town your options could be limited. But so far the quality of the music provided by this band has improved immeasurably and the size of the audience is continuing to grow.
As our community band grew I came to the realization that baby boomers were returning to band and music performance in a big way.
We had a lot of dead weight in the band at that time including people who had been in the band for years, couldn't even tune their instrument, with broken instruments, and no desire to practice. The community band was a social group more than a music experience.
So after three years of lobbying, the chance acquisition of a superior director that we wanted to keep, and support from friends on the board we instituted a set of new policies. The section sizes were determined by the director. Where we had too many players we just waited for the downsizing using attrition.
For sections needed new players we instituted an audition process, the first for this band. The audition is run by the section leader and consists of playing some scales and sight reading. Those who didn't make the grade were gently given the suggestion that they take lesssons and try again in the future.
Finally our director started upping the ante with music that was as difficult as it was dramatic. Interestingly enough as the performance requirements became more challenging, the more the dead weight started to move on. And there was never a shortage of people who wanted to join the band. We turn away or place on a waiting list 5 to 10 people a year.
Not everyone is happy about this move from a mostly social to a mostly music organization. And handled poorly this could destroy a community band. I suspect that if your CB is in a small town your options could be limited. But so far the quality of the music provided by this band has improved immeasurably and the size of the audience is continuing to grow.