S/O-Band vs Orchestra?

[elbenn]

This is a spin off to the band instrument thread. What are the pros and cons of band vs orchestra? I did band but never had the option to do orchestra. My DC have an option for orchestra--playing either violin, viola, cello, or bass.

Also, if you did orchestra in high school, was there a full-time pianist or did they just use someone that already played one of the other instruments?

[SnuggleBuggles]

No pianist. They might pull in a kid that already played another instrument.
Our current school orchestra is just strings. They add the band for 1 or 2 songs for concerts but the practices are separate. Back in my day, there was a full orchestra, a band and a jazz band available. (Current school has a jazz band too).
I feel like strings obviously limit you- no violins in marching band. Band instruments open some more doors. But, it’s really probably school and kid specific. Knowing how to read music is going to at least serve as s launch point if they want to switch instruments.


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[icunurse]

At our school, band is huge. They win state championships, rank very high at regionals, travel to all the big national parades. So it can be a lot of time. But it also has many facets - marching band, competition band, jazz band, pep band, etc. But if you do at least the competition band, you will be doing crazy amounts of hours practicing. Those kids work their butts off. Band is life until competition season is over. Then the other facets kick in. It’s so much.

Orchestra is only strings. Symphony has band members in it. We are fortunate to have a very active orchestra outreach in our area, so you can also choose from several local orchestras, too. And over summer we have two different orchestra groups that provide a “camp” with performance at the end. We don’t have a pianist unless they bring one in specifically for a song (usually another student).

I am so glad that my children chose orchestra because band is such a lifestyle here. You have to plan vacations around it because they practice all summer and you can’t miss. You have to volunteer and travel a lot. And then, because it’s such a big deal here, there are the band parents (not all of them, but enough) who want everything else at the school to go around band stuff. My son has already done several private “gigs” within the community and many college programs have orchestras that you can participate in even if you are not a music major.

[hellokitty]

I did orchestra and loved it. I played violin, I also was a pianist, but I was a pianist for the choir.

My kids go to a district where there is no option for orchestra, so they do band. Band in high school has marching band. My son loves it, I loathe it, he is also in cross country, and with that combination, his schedule all summer long into October is total chaos and husband and I are running our asses off trying to get him to all of these different events (ie: he has to leave away football games at halftime, meaning we have to drive an hr away to some of these games to pick him up, so he can get rest before his cross country meets on Saturday morning). I'm trying to get him to try track and hoping he likes track better so he will drop CC and can just focus on marching band in the fall and track in the spring. Unfortunately, my 8th grader also loves band and crosscountry and will have that same horrible combo next year. Hopefully by then our oldest will have his driver's license and that will help. With orchestra, we had no such chaos that interferred with sports. I was even in some orchestras outside of the school district and we practiced on weekends, so it didn't interfer with other school activities.

[elbenn]

These are very helpful replies. Icunurse, it sounds like high school band is similar to the band where you are--very big commitment. What if your child wants to play a "horn" instead of a string instrument but other than the instrument, orchestra fits way better into your plans? I am trying to figure out how much weight we should give choosing the instrument based on which one fits better vs just going with the instrument they prefer? In middle school, it doesn't really matter but going into high school it will be a big difference. My DD thinks she can just play piano if she chooses to switch to orchestra in high school but it sounds like that won't really be an option.

[spunkybaby]

No pianist in my high school orchestra either, and like hellokitty, I played in a youth orchestra in addition to the high school orchestra and had minimal conflicts with other schedules (one afterschool youth orchestra practice one time a week and then concerts 3–4 times a year).

In contrast, my kids are in band — and it is an entirely different animal! Marching band is a huge time commitment (band camp during the summer, band practices 3-4x a week in the fall, football games, Saturday competitions — practice in the morning and then bus to competitions and return after midnight). Plus, of course, you need to practice on your own outside of the group practice time. Also, be aware that some band instruments don't march, so then you have to play (and practice) different instruments for marching band and concert band. Plus time for music lessons. Marching band is also expensive — lots of donations are needed to pay for the uniforms, buses, props, coaches, etc.

They both love it — and it's an amazing community — but it is so tiring! I kind of wish I had encouraged them to play a string instrument instead!

That said, band is considered "cooler" and more fun than the orchestra at our school. Many string players start playing at a very young age, so it's easier to start a band instrument later and become proficient compared to your peers. It's harder with the string instruments IMO — unless you're playing the string bass! Which can also sometimes be played in the concert/jazz band...where it's known as the upright bass.

[bw52]

Not to hijack the thread but does orchestra have the same community feel that band does. I grew up doing marching band. And all my friends were in band—we did everything together, probably bc we spent so much time together with all the practices, trips, etc. Thats how I found my group of friends in jr and high school. Is orchestra like that or more just a class you see the kids in once a day? Dd just told us she doesn’t want to do band next year (just entering middle school) and is thinking about orchestra or Spanish instead. I was hoping she would do band bc it would help her make friends and the trips, etc are fun too. So does orchestra have the same feel?

[elbenn]

bw52, you're not hijacking the thread--I'm interested in that question as well. My friends who have kids in marching band say their kids love it and it's a tight community, but it seems to be their kids main interest. If it's not their main interest, it sounds like it's hard to do and that orchestra is easier to fit in with other activities.

[icunurse]

I’m honestly not sure about horn. I’d imagine you’d still have to do some kind of band, in addition to the daily class. Band here is very complicated....

We definitely have an orchestra family. Since it’s a smaller group, these same kids have played together since 5th grade. They do the same performances and competitions. They do class outings, field trips, etc. It’s nice because our little group of parents see each other and see how the kids are growing up.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Not to hijack the thread but does orchestra have the same community feel that band does. I grew up doing marching band. And all my friends were in band—we did everything together, probably bc we spent so much time together with all the practices, trips, etc. Thats how I found my group of friends in jr and high school. Is orchestra like that or more just a class you see the kids in once a day? Dd just told us she doesn’t want to do band next year (just entering middle school) and is thinking about orchestra or Spanish instead. I was hoping she would do band bc it would help her make friends and the trips, etc are fun too. So does orchestra have the same feel?

It totally depends on the school. My ds1 did marching band and while it was a huge time commitment, he still did other stuff. He wasn't just a band kid. Most of his activities have an overlap of the same kids though. Orchestra is just a class. And marching band and band are NOT the same thing at our school. Kids can and do take just band class, which is the same commitment level as being in orchestra. A kid doesn't have to do marching band to play an instrument at school. Sounds like some schools really do things differently though. We enjoyed our years with marching band and it was fun to do Friday night games and Saturday competitions. It was like 2 months of that stuff. The kids practiced a lot more from a family lifestyle thing, it wasn't that much of an imposition and I made a lot of good friends (as did ds1).