I have a problem with “The Culture”: The Problem with HBCU Band Culture
Before we begin, we must acknowledge that “The Culture” was created and cultivated by necessity. Being ostracized and treated as if one is less than others creates a moment where one has to create their own. Believe me when I say that I am here for all of it. However, some problems need to be acknowledged and addressed regarding the future of Music Education for black students. The first way to deal with the issues is to talk about them.
The Problems: Band heads are becoming Music Educators due to the teacher shortage. Black schools are hiring these band heads who often lack teacher certification and the skills necessary to provide black students with a fair, equitable Music Education. Black students are, in turn, not exposed to basic building blocks of musicianship, such as auditioning, learning to be an independent musician, and learning the fundamentals of their instrument. These deficiencies make the black student unequipped to navigate the professional music world.
At Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the music department is often dominated by the marching band. They are the face of the school and represent an entirely different entity than the School of Music. There is usually a color line among the schools of music faculty, with most of the professors being white and the band director being black. The students will then gravitate more to the program and the professor that looks like them. HBCU band programs also bring most students to the music department. Through rigorous recruiting for the marching band programs, many students land in college because of their band scholarship obtained through auditioning to be a member of the marching band vs. the School of Music. This creates a disparity of whether the student has the skills necessary to matriculate successfully through the music department.
The Difference between a Bandhead and a Musician
Bandhead is a person that is a devoted follower of all things band-related. They will make provisions to be anywhere that a marching band is located. They peruse the internet for clips of marching bands, and they enjoy bantering with others regarding the marching bands. A bandhead is not necessarily a musician, as they are anyone with an appreciation for bands.
A musician can play or sing an instrument well enough to make a living. They study their instrument, practice playing all genres of music, and build a repertoire of music from most genres. Musicians enjoy making music, period, whether by themselves or with others. Musicians can be hobbyists or professionals.
A Bandhead or a Music Educator?
A Bandhead is an individual that is a hobbyist in the Marching Band culture. This individual will travel to different states to attend Football games only to record the Band. They are marching band enthusiasts. Obsessed with the culture, this person will be so enthusiastic that they want to teach Band in schools, not Music but Band.
The teacher shortage has opened doors for these types to work in schools and be hired as band directors. This is not only at the K-12 level but also at the collegiate level. Bandheads believe that they can teach music because they can arrange music, which is a skill that is self-taught due to their love for the craft of Marching band. For the typical Bandhead Band Director, the main focus of obtaining a job as a band director is to write music and teach students to play their music. The strategies in use to teach music are acceptable. Teaching by rote is an option throughout all the years this individual is in front of students. This means many black and brown children with this individual as their teacher will never actually learn to read music. The goal of this type of director is to hear their arrangements played as loud as possible by the students. This helps them to obtain clout among other Bandheads. Relevancy.
This individual seeks to be placed on a pedestal by other Bandheads. It is also sparked by social media adulation. The Bandhead community is strong amongst HBCU bandsmen past, present, and future.
Over the years, the community has evolved from popular discussion boards such as “The Fifth Quarter” to “Showtime Magazine” and several others.
When social media became popular, the discussion boards moved to outlets such as Facebook and Instagram. The discussion groups are a way for those who have participated in HBCU marching bands to bond socially and have fun rivalries amongst each other. The rivalry among the football teams filters over into the Band, which can be even more intense. It creates a sense of community for an often marginalized group. The purpose of the society has made lifelong friendships and bonds for many of its members.
These communities have great qualities, but they have a downside as well. Many young, impressionable, and upcoming young musicians follow these communities heavily. The young musicians will smother themselves in the culture and become entrenched in all the glory. Life becomes the marching band, the HBCU rivalry, and the next band battle. Many are taken in as early as a middle school into this culture. Their musicianship is defined by their ability to emulate HBCU marching bands, from how the bandsmen stand, hold their instruments, phrase passages, and how the groups move while they play.
This young mind has one goal: to become an HBCU bandsman. The goal of being a musician has gone out the window for this student; it is about being a bandsman.
This student will have to audition to get a scholarship to their favorite HBCU band. Still, these auditions have become more accessible and easier through the years. Some HBCU bands advertise that they will give scholarship dollars to a student without an audition. Some advertise “No Scales” needed! The band programs are desperate for members to have a certain number on the field to be respected on these forums full of past bandsmen. There was a post on social media from a director with a picture of a collegiate HBCU Band Director and the caption, “Full Scholarship for these students after only playing for 2 months!” As a 1st generation college student, I was happy for those young men. Still, I was concerned with their future navigating a college music department and the professors that spent years and years obtaining the education to teach higher level students and build a reputable studio of musicians to have these beginners dropped into their Applied course the following year, whether they signed on to take on this student or not.
No HBCU band staff wants to be the subject of critique regarding numbers. Many HBCU band directors and staff members follow these discussions and some comment. Many started as followers of these boards when they were young bandsmen, and now they carry their own HBCU band program. The pride is excellent and thick between these programs.
A music educator believes in a fair and equitable music education for all students. The music educator can teach all aspects of music to students without bias to their preference. This person wants their students to know all there is to know. The educator sets a standard for what their students should know based on the National & State standards and objectives, not their preferences. A Music Educator ponders the question, “What should the student know?” The Music Educator is all about exposure for their students. They want their students to be able to sit in any room and play whatever is placed in front of them with the best of them.
The difference between the bandhead and the music educator is the focus on the development of the individual, independent musician. The bandhead is developing a number for a marching band. The music educator is producing an overall musician. The issue is that bandheads are landing in our schools as band directors and becoming responsible for most music education for black and brown students.
There are also demographic changes occurring in school leadership in specific communities. Many building leaders are graduates of HBCUs searching for a director of the demographic to serve the population. The administrator is hiring Bandheads to help students without entirely being aware of their incompetence, especially in districts that need a viable Instrumental Music coordinator to assist the building leaders with the hiring.
The Band Director’s job is reasonably autonomous in most school buildings (except duty posts), as many building leaders focus on pulling up or maintaining passing scores on tested subjects. As long as the Band Director performs at the football games, the building leader needs to be more knowledgeable about anything else happening in the bandroom. This is also why many Middle School directors can only fly under the radar if held accountable. They are simply in some buildings to provide planning time for teachers. The building leadership is not concerned with whether student learning is happening in the classroom. This often lends itself to High School directors having to start beginners in 9th grade, even with a valid middle school feeder right down the street. There has to be accountability for the programs in place for particular directors to do their jobs.
In the same way, responsibility is in place for tested subjects. There are accountability measures for Music Educators, such as concert festivals. Still, in certain states and districts, attendance continues to wane as directors are not mandated to go. School leaders who are in place need to be trained or briefed on these assessments or their purpose. The districts need a coordinator for Instrumental programs to guide the administrators. This creates a hole in the evaluation of the Band program. This leaves space for the National and State standards to not be followed in the classroom, leading to individuals teaching their hobby instead of the subject matter.
Are HBCUs preparing directors to enter the field?
A Music Education degree takes work to obtain. It requires focus, time management skills, patience, and tenacity. It is close to a double degree because of the fulfillment of the requirements for both the Music department and the Education department. The credit hours alone required will scare one off.
Many black students that attend HBCUs are first-generation college students. They are brought into the college due to their scholarship for the marching band. The marching band has a tedious rehearsal schedule and game schedule where the Band often travels out of state every weekend.
Being in the marching band for an HBCU is a full-time job plus overtime. Since most students are brought into the music department by the marching band, the Music Department faculty often has to compete for time with the student.
The student will put the marching band before their studies. Their classes become secondary to the requirements of the band program. Many faculty at HBCUs have to learn to work around the marching band schedule. The student is tired and often with their mind buried in what they have to do for the Band that day more than preparing for their recital or class. The students who continue with the Music Education degree are few and far between at HBCUs. Many will declare Music Education as their major when they enter as freshmen and not make it past sophomore year. Many will change their major later in their matriculation due to their inability to progress. It could be the applied lesson courses, music theory courses, or their recitals… many of these students were not prepared for the professors’ expectations of them musically entering college or university.
The audition they prepared for the marching band to obtain a scholarship is different from the same level of playing ability one needs to prepare literature for recital.
There needs to be more discussion regarding the fact that in middle and high school, students taught by Bandheads need to be adequately prepared by their directors to progress and be able to play standard wind literature. The students should have done it earlier. If these students graduate, they will often have to graduate with a degree other than Music Education. However, their intent is to still be a band director. Some HBCUs pass out Music Performance degrees like candy. Some students will go through the Education department, and some will obtain a Liberal Studies degree or General studies degree. During the teacher shortage, these individuals will be hired in many school districts due to relaxed certification requirements. Some more than others. Some states have flexible certification requirements regardless of the teacher shortage, especially regarding non-tested subjects such as music.
In conclusion, all accounts mentioned in this article are from personal observation and word of mouth. I remember being a 7th grader and deciding to join the Band at Ribault Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida. My band director was Mr. Daniel Johnson graduate of Florida A&M University. Florida A&M is one of the better schools for students seeking a Music Education degree. Black Excellence is celebrated, and the students are prepared to go out and teach their eventual students to be musicians, not Bandheads. I thank God I started there with him. The foundation was set from Day one. Learn to play. Learn these notes. “Easy Steps to Band” must be on the stand. Playing tests. Chair placements. “Treasury of Scales .”I was ready when 9th grade rolled around. I was entering the big blue doors at Ribault High School with another Florida A&M legend as director, Mr. Clifford Buggs. The first music he passed out was not his arrangements or Top 40 tunes. It was a book of marches. “In Storm & Sunshine, Golden Bear, Purple Carnival, Them Basses….” the list goes on.
I remember sitting on the porch at my grandma’s house in Sherwood Forest on the north side of Jacksonville, learning my third-octave fingerings on Flute to play “In Storm & Sunshine” the summer of my 8th year going into 9th grade.
By the time band camp started, I knew that book of marches and those fingerings from memory.
The summer was going into my 10th-grade year we moved to the Atlanta, Georgia, area. Clayton County, to be exact. This was in 1996. We moved to a small town called Forest Park, Georgia. I was zoned for Forest Park High School. I remember the first thing I did when we got settled in our apartment was grabbed the yellow pages and call the Forest Park High Band room. A friendly white man answered the phone and said he was Michael Eddy, the band director. I was thinking to myself… A white man? I was praying it wouldn’t be one of those bands we played at Ribault with those kids rolling their feet and doing weird shows. Band camp rolled around, and yes, it was one of THOSE bands *sigh*. My first inclination was to quit. Then a girl in the Flute section with me said that if you didn’t march, you couldn’t be in the top symphonic Band at FP. I knew I was good and deserved a spot in the full Band at FP from my foundation with Johnson & Buggs. I didn’t care if the entire Flute section was white girls who took private lessons (what’s that? I’ve Never heard of it in Jacksonville). I knew I would work up to their level if they were better than me. Two of them were good, but I was not that far off. I was more proficient in my third octave because I knew those marches Mr. Buggs made us learn. I could easily hit B flat five lines above the staff. I was so proficient in the third octave that I was placed on Piccolo a few months into the marching season. This set me up to be the only Piccoloist in the FP marching band and our Symphonic Band (not surprisingly, at age 41, I won a spot playing Piccolo in the Montgomery Symphony). I played Piccolo in all the standard wind literature grades IV, V, & VI. You name it, we played it. Mr. Eddy would attend Midwest And state conferences and bring back new music premieres. I remember when he brought back “Of Sailors and Whales,” he was so excited about it (My memory may be slightly off). Of course, we played it with the entire narration and everything. The marching band wasn’t much of a priority at FP. In class, we only worked on literature, and even during marching band season, Mr. Eddy had us participating in every competition and doing every concert. We traveled and did concerts profusely. I did not really understand this because although I had a solid foundation, we did not do the competitions at Ribault because of some racial tensions going on at the time with our directors and the association. Although we did not participate, we were still prepared as musicians like we were competing.
12th-grade year at FP, I remember working on “Incantation and Dance,” most likely for our Fall concert or somewhere we were traveling.
We were moving to Bouldercrest, where my zoned school would be in Dekalb county. McNair High School. I did not want to go there because I heard it was rough, but then again, Forest Park was my first time ever in a white school.
I tried to stay at FP and hated disappointing Mr. Eddy, but getting back and forth was hard for me, so I had to transfer. I walked into the bandroom at McNair and met Mr. Barrett Alexander for the first time.
An Omega man I saw from his office and a graduate of Alabama A&M University (I had never heard of the school at the time). A young black man that looked very smart to me but appeared to be very stern. He leaned in his office chair and said, “Forest Park!” I said, “Yes sir, Forest Park,” he asked me what instrument I played. I said, “Flute.”
He said, “Flute, eh?, You want to play something for me? “I said sure, he was getting ready to tell me where to get a Flute, and I let him know I had my own. He raised his eyebrows, sat up, and said, “Ok, play a few scales .”I took out my Flute and played all of them. I had just made District 6 Honor band in my 11th-grade year (but he didn’t know that at this point). He sat up more. He asked me what grade I was in, and I told him I was a senior. He let out a loud groan but still smiled from ear to ear. He then got up and called the Flute section in the office. He asked me to play what I had just played for them. I was nervous as hell, as well as totally embarrassed. I knew these girls would hate my guts. I played for them and then let him know I play Piccolo too. I also had a Piccolo (The one from Forest Park that we eventually returned). I then played my scales on Piccolo. He got up, ran into the bandroom, introduced me to everyone as “Forest Park,” and told the entire Flute section to scoot down a chair. They all hated my guts and would not talk to me for weeks. I remember being called a white girl and having an argument with a bandmate who swore I was a white girl. No. I. was. Not. Nowhere near. Eventually, we all became best friends and are still friends today. I love those girls.
He then changed the entire LGPE program into pieces that featured Piccolo and Flute. We played a challenging Grade VI program that year, including Holsinger & Bernstein. Thankful for the Music Educators I encountered who changed my life; I would not be who I am today if not for them and their imprint. I challenge all of us who stand in front of our children to give them opportunities. Do not limit them!
I had a conversation with a Bandhead that stood in front of our children at multiple jobs, telling me that our students don’t do MPA. They don’t like those environments and would never do that for me. Imagine that? The ones supposed to protect and tell them the sky is the limit are diminishing them.
Footnotes:
HBCU band culture is a topic that it is tough to find references on as there is not much that exists. It is only as old as the 20th century as a topic. Due to the “newness” of the issue, the literature is still being built. As I read through the search results in the library, I noticed that I knew 95% of the individuals that had contributed as an author in Proquest.
The feeling we get from the HBCU band community is a general love. The community is one of closeness. Over time these groups have had cruises and annuals get together, many connected by different organizations and letters, but all related to their love of the HBCU band.
A large part of the professional music world is auditioning. One has to prove that one can play the music for the ensemble and that one has the skill to convey the music to the listener the way the conductor would like to have it transferred. Some skills should be developed in young musicians to prepare them for auditions.
Diversity and Inclusion efforts run abound. The military bands actively seek high and low for black students to audition, Symphony Orchestras. The George Floyd movement brought on a want and need for inclusion. However, the groups have a hard time finding black musicians to audition. How much of the shortage directly correlates to WHOM being placed in front of our kids?
