Community Band Recruiting

[The Big Ben]

Two weeks ago, I got demoted from the tuba section to being director of our local community band . The band is 85 years old this year and has good attendence from about 20 regular members. But I need more bodies! Anyone have suggestions for recruiting new folks to an old band?

Free beer?

An idea came up a few weeks ago in a thread about people talking in rehearsals. Someone, I believe The Elephant, told of practice sessions where there was allowance for a social time beforehand, the practice and more social time after.

Perhaps put an ad or a 'human interest' story in the local paper about the band and an open invitation. Say that there would be some social time for about a half hour with coffee and cookies. This way, interested people could get a little bit comfortable with the band. Also, maybe former members would want to come back and it would be nice to have some social time to gab with old friends about good times.

Invite some of the local band teachers to join. They may infrequently have a chance to play with a group and would just love to 'play music' and not worry about all the other band director stuff. It would be a good model for the kids, too.

Jeff "Some ideas" Benedict

[tofu]

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[Dan Schultz]

You need a friend at the newspaper. Have them run a story about your band... even if you have to write the story yourself. Visibility help but if you only have 20 members, you have to be careful about the venues you try to tackle. Try a few public gigs where people are known to walk and 'hang out'. Signs help. In the community band over which I preside... I don't deliberately go looking for musicians in other groups as the more groups a person plays in, the more conflicts with dates the person will have. I try to ferret out folks who haven't played in years and want to 'get back into it'. Talk it up wherever you go and you'll be amazed of the people you meet who used to play in high school.

If you choose to simply run an ad in the newspaper, make sure you are specific about what instruments you are looking for. Avoid saying anything about the level of players you are looking for. You can sort out the details later. The primary focus initially should be just getting folks to consider playing again.

People come and go but our band has had about 60 members for the last six or seven years. We generally have about 35 musicians at rehearsals and a few more at concerts. Our attendance was 40 last Tuesday. We've recently moved our rehearsal venue from a small building on the river to the local junior high school.... a REAL BAND ROOM! The new venue is wonderful and is already beginning to have an impact. We've picked up two flutes, a bassoon, an oboe, a clarinet, and a trumpet since our move a couple of months ago. Our old venue had very poor acoustics. .. and even though it had a great view with wonderful sunsets... it was beginning to limit our growth.

I feel that our band is emblematic of what a community band should be... open to anyone who has some high school band experience and wants to play. We get together for the shear enjoyment of playing music and for the social aspects. We don't push our limits and keep the music we play around a grade 3 with a bit of grade 4. We play music the community wants to hear and don't figure it's our job to educate the public. We can tell what concertgoers like by their reaction. We have Shostakovich's 'Festive Overture' and 'Pictures at an Exhibition' in our library but would not dream of playing it for the public.

Dan Schultz, president
The Old Dam Community Band
Newburgh, Indiana
http://www.olddamband.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

[windshieldbug]

Don't forget the kids. Indeed, many high-school age kids have "some high school band experience" and some of their directors may want a chance to play again, or even brush up on some of the instruments they teach.

My first experience with a community band was in high school; I loved playing, and couldn't get enough.

So don't just consider returning players. Hit up the schools for kids and adults.

http://www.dscb.org/

[The Jackson]

Don't forget the kids. Indeed, many high-school age kids have "some high school band experience" and some of their directors may want a chance to play again, or even brush up on some of the instruments they teach.

My first experience with a community band was in high school; I loved playing, and couldn't get enough.

So don't just consider returning players. Hit up the schools for kids and adults.

http://www.dscb.org/

While there definitely are HS kids out there who love playing and would enthusiastically jump on board a community group, they are a vast minority and, IMHO, great measures should be taken to approach HS band kids specifically. If what my experience in South Florida's HS band circuit is the slightest indication of what the rest of the schools are like, then I think you will get way too many " "'s for the time and resources you are using.

[Dan Schultz]

.... While there definitely are HS kids out there who love playing and would enthusiastically jump on board a community group, they are a vast minority....

I agree with what you are saying. It's a very rare case when high school kids come a play with us even though the door is always open to them. They just seem to have too much to do with the likes of marching band and all the other school activities in my area. We have some families where mom, dad, and the kids come play. It just seems like the high school set has lots of other things to do. I sort of remember waaaaay back when I was in high school and knew everything there was to know about everything... the LAST thing I would have done is go play with a bunch of old 'geezers' on Tuesday nights!

[windshieldbug]

the LAST thing I would have done is go play with a bunch of old 'geezers' on Tuesday nights!

Shows you what I knew...

[TubaRay]

I sort of remember waaaaay back when I was in high school and knew everything there was to know about everything... the LAST thing I would have done is go play with a bunch of old 'geezers' on Tuesday nights!

Actually, I did go play tuba with a bunch of old 'geezers,' while I was in high school. In fact, I did this as often as I had the opportunity to do so. It helped develop my sightreading ability, and was good for my ego, since I could outplay many of them.

I must admit, though, that you are generally correct--especially these days.

[Rick F]

We actually have about 5 HS studenst playing in our community band this year. Of course some of the motivation might be that we offer some scholarship money if they've played with the band for at least two years and their grades are good. They don't have to major in music either.

Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches

[tofu]

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[Dan Schultz]

There is a very good forum on Yahoo that deals with this subject... and many other subjects regarding community bands. Here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/c-m/messages

Also... The Association of Concert Bands Convention is coming up on April 15th in Houston. One of the primary topics in the daily seminars will be 'member recruitment and retention'. Lots of info about the operation of community bands will be available over the four days. Here:

http://www.acbands.org

My sax-player wife and I plan to go. There will also be a convention band rehearsal each day and a final concert. Performances by several other bands are scheduled in the evenings. Maybe we'll see some of you there.