As band after band marches across the field today, we are fully entertained and inspired by their dedication to excellence, we realize there is more to who these students are. More than forty years of statistical research has been gathered, analyzed, and documented about the present academic and social lives of these young people and their future career paths. The following are highlighted points from a myriad of research sources:
General Overview
- • Band members are smart. Reading music and playing an instrument enhances the learning process by integrated sensory, attention, cognitive, emotional, and motor capacities, which are shown to be the driving forces behind all other learning.
- • Band members tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music.
- • Band members are more likely to excel in all of their other studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.
- • Band members have a national estimated 92.2% high school graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate compared to non-music participating students, which averages a 72.9% graduation rate and 84.9% yearly attendance.
- • Band members show greater brain development and improved memory skills compared to non-participating music students.
- • Band members have been shown to hold higher grade point averages (GPA) in their high school than non-participating music students.
- • Band members in American high schools trend 87.6% to be in the top ten percent of each graduating class, and 94.9% of the valedictorians and salutatorians are band, orchestra, or choral members.
- • Band members are less likely to have disciplinary problems as 94.2% never have a disciplinary infraction during their high school tenure.
- • Band members develop enhanced people skills resulting in greater camaraderie, less racism, and reduced use of harmful sarcasm.
- • Band members have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among any group in our society.
Collegiate Path
- • Band members and music students in American high schools are the largest one discipline to attend college at a rate of 86.4%.
- • Band members average a 91.2% rate of receiving scholarship funds above government assisted grant and loan programs resulting in the band member having a less loan payback amount and time frame.
- • Band members, no matter their desired degree path, participate in collegiate performing ensembles at a rate of 47.9%.
- • Band members major in music and/or a related music degree at a rate of 16.8%.
- • Band members have a collegiate graduation rate of 88.4% compared to the national graduation rate of 60.4% for non-music participants.
- • Band members have a 46.4% rate of enrolling in a graduate program for advanced study.
- • Music majors score the highest by 86.4% on the Graduate Records Examinations (GRE), the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) than non-music majors.
- • Music majors are the most likely group of college graduates to be admitted to medical school.
General Career Paths
Present High School Band Members
- • Computer Sciences and Information Services 16.2%
- • Business 13.1%
- • Health Services 10.2%
- • Financial Services 9.1%
- • Engineering 8.8%
- • Education (including Music Education) 8.7%
- • Biological and Biomedical Services 8.4%
- • Visual and Performing Arts 8.2%
- • Psychology and Clergy 4.2%
- • Legal Services 2.7%
- • Communication and Journalism 2.5%
- • Travel and Leisure 1.7%
- • Social Sciences and History 1.2%
- • Other 5.0%
Conclusion
So, this is what we know about the band members that are marching on the competition field today; they are smart, talented, driven, confident, unique, ambitious, energetic, capable, devoted, involved, artful, enterprising, creative, assertive, independent, valuable, hard-working, studious, organized, balanced, insightful, friendly, centered, respected, faithful, intelligent, sharp, positive, communicative, innovative, optimistic, loyal, decisive, tough, entertaining, wise, flexible, sociable, proactive, giving, well-versed, humorous, industrious, self-assured, strategic, interesting, knowledgeable, motivated, outgoing, passionate, resilient, skilled, and generally overall wonderful.
