Chattanooga Pulse

Brittany Scott is a drum major for the Tyner High School Marching Band.  The petite junior walks with a settled confidence, her eyes missing nothing about the shorthanded band arrayed on a practice field next to the aged school building.

In just a few days Tyner will take the field at Finley Stadium for the annual Drumline competition, and she knows there is no time to let even the flu bug, which has left holes in the line, keep the band from a serious practice.

As the opening notes of an easily recognizable Michael Jackson song sound out across the field, she raises her field baton in one hand and uses her other to direct the movement of the students with the precision and intensity of a drill sergeant.

Standing atop the crumbling concrete bleachers facing the practice field, band director Elias Smith keeps a critical eye on his drum majors, his dance captains and the entire band.  “We may be small, and we may be missing some kids due to the flu, but they are ready to show their stuff,” he says.

For the next half hour, the band runs through their repertoire, the dancers and flag girls hit their marks, and Smith subtly grooves to the sound he’s raptly listening to.  For a band that persists solely on the support of parents, a few local businesses, and the determination of the students themselves, it’s an impressive performance.

To many fans of marching bands, especially the “show band” style highly popular with many Southern high schools and colleges, the annual Drumline is a day to enjoy music, dance and showmanship.  To the students themselves, it is something far more important.  When asked, every one spoke about how taking on other local schools head on was as important to them as it is for any of the sports teams.  It’s a chance to step outside their school and show off—not only to their friends and classmates, but to the other schools and the thousands who show up at Finley Stadium for the event.

“Before I got here, the band had never participated in an event like Drumline,” notes Smith. “It’s one of those events that showcases the type of marching style that we do, the traditional show band style. In this area you don’t see that style a lot, you see the more corps-style bands.  There are really only three show bands in this city, and Drumline is where we get to show.”

What makes the enthusiasm and determination of the students in the band even more important is a look at where they come from.  Tyner, like far too many other schools in our community, is weary.  Steps are worn down, buildings are sagging, the grass is threadbare in many places, cracks in the walkways and parking lots are the norm, not the exception.  The band room where the students gather to rehearse is cramped and poorly ventilated, requiring the two front doors to be left open.

Such depressing surroundings could easily lead to a student body that feels no pride, and has no desire to achieve.  But in spite of the age and condition of the structures, the pride was not only obvious, it was infectious.  Heads were held high, eyes were bright, and even having a stranger in their midst with a microphone and notebook in hand did little to alter their routine.  They were there to practice.  That’s what they do.

There have been countless Hollywood movies and television shows about the noble teacher who comes to the run-down school, and through inspiration leads the students to an academic or sporting victory.  It’s a time-honored tradition in entertainment, yet the reality is far more satisfying.  Elias Smith hasn’t made a career out of being a band leader because he expects one day to see Denzel Washington portray him on the big screen.  For him, the satisfaction comes from a much simpler place.

“I feel like I’ve had my own time in the bands,” Smith says. “The love for the music, seeing them get that love, seeing the music touch their lives, that is the most satisfying part for me.”

Smith himself is a musician who, while attending Maryville College, felt the pull of the marching band.  He started teaching 15 years ago, and for the past 12 has been involved with marching bands, a career path that he didn’t see coming but has led to great personal satisfaction.  His eyes glow with pride when he talks about the students he has taught and exposed to music, and it’s just as obvious the students share in that pride.

“I used to work with the high school bands on the side up in Maryville,” he explains.  “And the bug hit me. A light bulb went off and said, ‘Why don’t you do what you love most?’. And it drove me right to the bands.”

Naturally, being a band director is not the easiest job in the world.  Although Smith has a family of his own, he often doesn’t get home until 7 p.m. or even later.  Plus there’s the travel, the weekend events, meetings with parents, boosters and businesses who help keep the band running.  Not to mention the students themselves. “All the different personalities that you have in a band, trying to get all those different personalities to jell together and become one, that’s the biggest challenge of all,” laughs Smith.

But with school budgets getting tighter every year, and many other interests pulling students in different directions, Smith has seen a steady drop in interest in band.  “The bands have gotten smaller, especially in this area,” he says. “I don’t think there is the same level of interest that there used to be.  I think it’s because society has become an instant type of society, and in band, learning to play an instrument takes time.  Kids today want to see results quicker.”

While the background noise of students warming up filters through the closed door of his office, Smith leans forward, his face intense.  “Since I’ve been teaching, it has pretty much been the same way.  Most of the bands depend primarily on parents and businesses.  School budgets don’t affect us as much.  We’re on our own to begin with, anyway.  But if the band keeps visible in the community, the businesses will support them.  And the businesses here do keep up their support.”

Keeping a band visible in the community, and beyond, is not cheap.  Smith explains that it takes thousands of dollars just to keep the band in instruments and uniforms, and when you add in travel expenses, a band budget can easily grow into the tens of thousands of dollars.  A good portion of his free time is spent keeping the money coming in to keep the band alive.  Even a relatively small band such as Tyner’s can cost upwards of $30,000 a year.  With family and business budgets tightening up, this is a real area of concern not just for Smith, but for band directors across the country.

So why is it so important to keep a band alive?  “Music education should absolutely have to be a part of every child’s education,” says Bob McGrath, who has played the role of the music teacher on Sesame Street for more than 40 years. “‘No child left behind’ is a handy slogan, but the only way a child is NOT going to be left behind is if music is incorporated as part of his education. I’ve noticed there’s a distinct difference in kids that are involved in the arts. There’s an alertness, a sharpness, just a joy of life.”

Yet McGrath is a realist and is aware of the budget challenges school music programs face, and he says it’s unfortunate that music is often one of the first things to get cut.  “Though math, science and other core curriculum are tremendously important, there’s something about a child getting involved in music that touches the imagination to a slightly different degree than some of the other subjects,” McGrath says. “There’s an old cliché that you can get an 85 or 90 on a math test and that’s pretty good, but you don’t play 85 or 90 percent of the notes right, or you’ll be practicing!”

Study after study has shown how students who have gotten involved with music perform better in class as well as in their personal lives. The educational aspects of music alone go far behind just learning to play an instrument, apparent not only in the obvious learning of music history, but even math and science.  To play an instrument, one has to learn to count, keep a steady rhythm, and even learn a little bit of algebra—the “dot” on the note is exactly half the value of that note. Students need to be able to figure out how much the “dot” equals in each case.  As for science, there’s that important little something called the “overtone series,” which was developed from Pythagorean theory during medieval times.

Students learn an incredible amount of coordination through music, which isn’t unlike being an athlete.  Watching the Tyner band rehearse on the field, it was quickly apparent this was not an activity for the out of shape. But even while they are exercising their bodies, they are also exercising their minds, both learning about complex patterns—where they fit in the whole, how they can make their part sound better, what they can do to adjust tone and intonation—and the deeper philosophical implications of working as an individual within a group and creating a synergy that transcends their own abilities.

“I would like to see more support for the arts in general,” Smith says.  “We put a lot of emphasis on sports, and we work just as hard, if not harder than some of these sports organizations around.  If we could take that same energy that we put into sports and put it into our music programs, it would be great. Music is so important.  It is in every aspect of our lives. When we get married, we get married to music. When you go to church, there’s music.  When you die, there’s music. Music is everywhere.”

As if to highlight Smith’s statement, the blare of a trumpet sounds in the band room, and young Scott sticks her head into the office.  It’s time to rehearse, and the two move to the front of the room and get things moving once again.  Drumline is just around the corner, and they are representing Tyner.

Drumline
$10 Advance, $15 at the door
Sunday, September 27. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Finley Stadium, 1826 Carter Street.