Marching Band and Social Justice

In Ch. 2 of Democracy and Music Education, Paul Woodford states, “Much the same criticism applies to musical participation in highly commercialized spectacles like sporting events or in certain kinds of religious services or political rallies when leaders, musicians, or teachers resort to bombast and spectacle to distract, overwhelm, or entertain rather than to elucidate and educate” (2005, p. 29). This particular quote made me very angry. The first thing that came to my mind when Woodford mentioned sporting events was marching band. Marching band was one of the most meaningful experiences I had in my high school music program. It is true that marching band often does sacrifice the music aspect of its art for the visual aspect; however, an excellent marching band cares about both visual accuracy and musical accuracy. I believe that marching band is extremely important because it links the music to the body. There are very few other art forms that connect visual accuracy and musical accuracy. However, it is next to impossible to teach social justice through marching band. The primary goal of the marching band is to entertain the spectators at a football game. Sporting events are created for entertainment value only. The marching band is part of that entertainment. I do not believe there is anything wrong with that. We often talk about authentic music making. Professionals who make music often do so for purely entertainment value. Therefore, teaching music to entertain others is part of authentic music making. Genres, like marching band, do have the capability to teach students music and improve their skills, however, its overall goal is not educate the public, it is to entertain them. I think that we discuss social justice so often that we do not realize that there are other important goals in the music classroom. Authentic music making is one of them.