Demand ensemble music in our schools

Bandology advocates for music for the success of our children

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At a high school awards night not long ago, the audience was surprised when, after playing the national anthem, all the musicians got up and left. Was there a technical problem? The wrong sheet music? Some sort of planned stunt?

None of the above. The real reason was that the band members had swept the evening's academic, sports, school spirit and volunteer awards and weren’t available to play because they had to walk across the stage multiple times to be honoured.

This striking illustration of the link between music and success in other life endeavours is backed up

by study after study. Research has demonstrated that learning and playing music, particularly ensemble music (playing in a band, an orchestra or a rock group), makes an enormous contribution to many aspects of children’s development.

Simply put, children who play in bands or orchestras have better academic outcomes, better social skills, and are more resilient and mentally healthy than those who don’t.

If you think about it, it makes sense, doesn’t it? To play in a group, you have to learn another language (the universal one, music); you have to coordinate your mental effort with the physical skill to manipulate the instrument according to the new language; you have to be sensitive to the others in your music-making team; and you have to follow someone who is bringing it all together. The mind and body are engaged together, and brain scans show that multiple areas of the brain are firing, activating brain cells and building neural pathways to deal with the complex demands ensemble music is placing on the player.

It is this relationship between ensemble music and success in life that inspired the creation of Bandology. Bandology is a Canadian not-for-profit founded and run by Oakvilleans Lisa Michaels and Peter VanDuzer. The mission of Bandology is to advocate for ensemble music in schools. And they don’t wait for the success of that mission to act, running a successful series of summer band camps since 2017.

Band and orchestra participants are socially well-adjusted, resilient, confident and optimistic. They are adaptable and see the world as a place of opportunity. A Nashville School district evaluated the effects of music education with over 6,000 high school students. The results were that music students had higher graduation rates, attendance, and grade point averages than non-music students. The likelihood of students finding and keeping part-time jobs also went up. A UBC study showed band and orchestra members were, on average, a year ahead of their peers. For this and a treasure trove of other studies of the benefits of group musical performance, check out the Bandology.ca website.

It's not a question of music or another extracurricular activity either: even in our current environment, where those who play ensemble music often do so outside school hours, many musicians also play sports as well, some of them at a high level, or are in model UN or other extracurricular activities. Bandology co-founder Peter VanDuzer’s younger son Mac is a professional orchestral bass player and a high-level football player at university. Peter's older son went on to a BSc in mathematics after playing cello in the Halton Youth Symphony and trombone at school through his grade school years. He also plays piano and guitar. My daughter Hayley, now a Columbia law school graduate, played the violin in the Halton Youth Orchestra, did model UN, and was a competitive ski racer right through high school. Astronaut Chris Hadfield played the guitar in space, and Queen lead guitarist Brian May is an astrophysicist.

Given the evidence of how good this is for our children, it seems apparent that it should be made easily available and encouraged, if not required, in our schools. Fortunately, we live in a democracy. If school board trustees know that this is what parents want, and the elected officials who control the purse strings know that this what voters want, they will make it happen.

Band and orchestra music in schools is not an expense: it is an investment. Putting music into the syllabus will reduce the expense to society of mental and related physical health issues. Turning around Canada’s lagging productivity depends on our children fulfilling their maximum potential.

Founded by parents who have witnessed the long-term benefits of music education, Bandology’s goals are to:

  • provide opportunities for youth to learn, play and perform
  • support the music community in building their programs and outreach
  • advocate for more music education to policymakers, politicians and the greater community

Every child should have the benefit of learning music and playing in an ensemble, be it a rock band, orchestra, chamber ensemble, quartet or trio. We can and must make this a reality, and you can help by supporting Bandology and by letting your school trustees and provincial MPPs know how important this issue is to you.