Posted by Jay Bertolet on November 12, 1999 at 23:36:03:
In Reply to: Performance Major and Marching Band? posted by Jeff Baker on November 12, 1999 at 14:23:20:
The previous posters pretty much said the same thing I would say, that is that you need to do what you want because you need to enjoy your life. But into this enjoyment I want to inject a thought. I've run into this same situation in my own studio recently and I would suggest to you that you carefully consider what the time commitment to the marching band keeps you out of. I'm pretty sure, as other have already said, there is no physical reason why marching band will damage your playing career in the long run. There really isn't anything permanent that you could do unless it involved some sort of accident which really could happen anywhere. But you must carefully consider what the time commitment for marching band does to your overall schedule. For example, I have a really fine euphonium student who also marches with the University of Miami marching band and the DCI Blue Knights. He is going away to a marching camp in Colorado next weekend and his absense from school on Friday will hamper my scheduled tuba ensemble rehearsal. This is particularly bad timing as we just had a performance and I'll be making part assignments for the next concert at this rehearsal.
If you've read my posts, you've heard me say that the main requirement for being a performer is hard work. You yourself mentioned "sacrifices which have to be made" and I think that is true. Often, students don't realize that they eventually have to play as well or better than their instructors to actually compete for a job. So, when deciding if you "still get in the practice time", I would urge you to realistically look at the progress you're making and see if it matches where you want to be and when.
Good luck with this very difficult decision!