William Donald Brown, Jr.

Music is an influential force in my life. I believe music has a unique power to tap directly into human emotions. When I have a bad day, I can listen to music to get some relief. If I have something to celebrate, music helps me do so. Just about everyone benefits from music in these ways, but the impact of music on my life goes beyond the benefits of experiencing music as a listener.

As a member of the band in high school I learned a variety of important life lessons that benefitted me long after I graduated. In band musicians are ranked by their playing abilities to match the difficulty of the music being played to the abilities of the musicians. This taught me the importance of merit-based advancement. If I want to advance in life, I must demonstrate that I have the required skills to move to the next level.

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A large part of what you do in band is practice for the next performance. Musicians spend much of their time practicing their parts until they have mastered them. From this I learned both the importance of practice and strategies for practicing affectively. These strategies can be applied to studying for classes, preparing for meetings, and learning new skills. 

During rehearsal, the director gives feedback to musicians to improve their playing. To make the most of the feedback a musician must be able to take constructive criticism and apply it to improve their performance. Taking the feedback personally will only make it more difficult to give your best. My experience in band helped me to take constructive criticism in both my work and home life and apply it to better myself.

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Music is a team effort just like team sports, so teamwork and cooperation are critical to the success of a band. All the musicians must work together to give a great performance.  You learn to help and support those who are struggling so they can improve their playing which improves the quality of the overall performance. Learning how to work successfully in a group is one of the most important skills I learned from band.

 

 I am confident that I would not have had as much success in life if I had not participated in band.