Third-Stream Music Education

Take a Chance, Offer an Alternative

September 3rd, 2008

Did you catch the June, 2008 issue of Teaching Music magazine from MENC? Teaching Music doesn’t do much for me most of the time, but the feature article “Out of the Box” really goes to the heart of what Third-Stream is all about. Yes, we need our flagship ensembles–bring on the Advanced Wind Ensemble, the Honors Chamber Singers, the elite Symphony Orchestra at your school–but we also need alternate ways for students to approach music. I hope we can all agree that every child deserves to have music in their lives! Students who aren’t gifted, students who come from different backgrounds, and students who just didn’t join the band in 6th grade still deserve the opportunities for happiness and personal growth that music provides. Even dedicated band students have other talents and interests; your last chair trumpeter could be the leader of your steel drum ensemble, but you’ll never know it unless you start some alternative opportunities on your campus. Alternative offerings can often be a foot in the door for recruiting talented students who otherwise would have shied away from joining the band; I recruited my jazz ensemble’s pianist and guitarist from guitar class, and a violinist for the pit orchestra from the jazz ensemble. Even the jazz ensemble was alternative and controversial in the 1950’s, and now is a staple of music education in the U.S.

Besides, bands in schools were once considered to be offensively “out of the box”….and now no school is complete without a band!

Entry Filed under: Genres and Stylistic Elements, Recruiting & Retention