Information for Parents

Maybe they're coming from a very competitive high school marching band. Maybe they're interested in marching for the first time in college. Either way, marching in college band will change them positively and positively impact their time at Stony Brook University.

The Stony Brook Band Program is comprised of Stony Brook University's best and brightest students. The band has one of the highest cumulative GPAs on campus and is represented by nearly every academic discipline and major on campus. 53% of our Band Members major in Math, Science, Health Sciences, or Engineering. The Band's Cumulative GPA is 3.36 (higher than the all-University average of non-band students on campus). 52% of Band Members have a Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher; 66% have a 3.25 or higher; 76% have a 3.0 or higher. Data courtesy of the Stony Brook University Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness; December 2023.

• Why should my child join Marching Band in college?

  Educational Resilience.   Educational resilience can be described as successfully overcoming threats to educational development (Wang et al., 1994). At some point their college career your child may experience adversity, challenge, pressure, and stress (Martin and Marsh, 2006), and these conditions place them at risk of doing poorly in school and, potentially, dropping out of school (Alva, 1991).  Resilience includes external environmental protective factors that can mitigate these kinds of risks. Some external protective factors are caring relationships, high expectations, and meaningful participation (Bernard, 1991; 2004). Research has shown that protective factors, like the ones above,lead to positive outcomes more often than the other way around, or risk factors leading to negative outcomes (Benard, 2004; Werner & Smith, 1992).  The college marching band is one of the greatest college organizations that can foster resilience across all three external factors of caring relationships, high expectations, and meaningful participation.

  Caring Relationships.  Joining band in college provides students with hundreds of new friends, all of whom have a similar interest (band). Band students often remain friends with their college marching band friends for life.

  The relationship students have with their band director and other adult staff can also be very meaningful.  While most college freshman may eventually connect with their professors after seeing them for a couple of hours per week, most students never see that professor again after the semester is over.  With college marching bands, the relationship with the director and other adult staff extends beyond just one semester or year. It can last their entire time in college. Band occurs for many hours per week, and can last for years, allowing the relationship to grow.

  High Expectations. “To be early is to be on-time and to be on time is to be late.”  Many high school bands use this mantra; these expectations do not end in college.  In fact, high expectations are often self-motivated because band members do not want to let down their peers in the band while performing in front of thousands of people. Research has shown that the lessons learned on the field do, in fact, translate to the academic setting.  Being early to class usually leads good grades!

  Meaningful Participation.  College Marching Bands provide an invaluable opportunity for meaningful participation. Rehearsing and performing with hundreds of friends provides a shared experience that few other organizations can match. The hours spent bonding during Preseason Camp, traveling to an away game, and hearing the crowd’s reaction during the performance, all provide an incredible sense of pride and accomplishment.

  Comparing Marching Band Students with Non-Marching Band Students.  Using data and scales from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Dr. David Healy from Boston College compared the college engagement of members of 20 different college marching bands with data from the same colleges from non-marching band members.  Comparing data from marching band members and non-marching band members he found the following:

  • College Marching Band students are more likely than non-band students to work with faculty members on activities other than coursework including committees, orientation, and student life activities.
  • College Marching Band students are also more likely than their non-band peers to participate in a community-based project (e.g. service learning) as part of a course.
  • College Marching Band students are more likely to teach or tutor other students.  
  • College Marching Band students are more likely than their non-band peers to have serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity as well as students who are very different in terms of their religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal values.
  • College Marching Band members are also more likely than their non-band peers to examine the strengths and weaknesses of their own views on a topic or issue, try to better understand someone else’s views by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective, and learn something that changed the way they understand an issue or concept.

  Fit.  Joining a group that gives students purpose, a fit on campus, and a diverse family of more than 200 other students representing all majors on our campus is a great start to college. That new family of more than 200 is also a great resource for not only getting adjusted to college life and the campus, but most college students rely on their peers for study help.

  Waiting a semester or a year to join the college marching band is the worst advice.  Band members are used to being busy, so your child will find something else to spend your time on and it may not be as productive and positive as the marching band.  Also, after a year of being a freshman, rarely if ever, will a sophomore join a group as a new member.

• Core Skills

  MATHEMATICS SKILLS
  Certain types of music instruction help develop the capacity for spatial temporal reasoning, which is integral to the acquisition of important mathematics skills. Spatial temporal reasoning refers to the ability to understand the relationship of ideas and objects in space and time.

  READING AND LANGUAGE SKILLS
  Music instruction enhances and complements basic reading skills, language development, and writing skills. The study of music provides a context for teaching language skills because music is a language and a powerful form of communication.

  THINKING SKILLS
  Reasoning ability, intuition, perception, imagination, inventiveness, creativity, problem-solving skills, and expression are among the thought processes developed through the study of music.

  SOCIAL SKILLS
  Music education promotes growth in positive social skills including self-confidence, self-control, conflict resolution, collaboration, empathy, and social tolerance.

  MOTIVATION TO LEARN
  Music nurtures a motivation to learn by emphasizing active engagement, disciplined and sustained attention, persistence, and risk-taking, among other competencies.

   

  Source: Ruppert, Sandra S.: Critical Evidence – How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement. The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, 2006.

• Proof is in the studies!

  Scientific studies indicate that music participation helps train the brain for higher forms of thinking. Children perform better in other subjects by improving reading, spelling, and math skills. Experts note that a year’s musical training can increase a child’s IQ by as much as ten points! SAT scores show that students with experience in music scored fifteen to thirty points above the mean.

  High school music students score higher on SATs in both verbal and math than their peers. In 2001, SAT takers with coursework/experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 41 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework/experience in the arts. Source: Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by Music Educators National Conference, 2001.

  Nearly 100% of past winners in the prestigiousSiemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology play one or more musical instruments. Source: The Midland Chemist (American Chemical Society) Vol. 42, No. 1, Feb 2005

  A ten-year study indicates that students who study music achieve higher test scores, regardless of socioeconomic background. Source: Dr. James Catterall, UCLA

  First grade students who had daily music instruction scored higher on creativity tests than a control group without music instruction. Source: K.L. Wolff, The Effects of General Music Education on the Academic Achievement, Perceptual-Motor Development, Creative Thinking, and School Attendance of First-Grade Children, 1992.

  Students who were exposed to the music-based lessons scored a full 100 percent higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. Second grade and third grade students were taught fractions in an untraditional manner-by teaching them basic music rhythm notation. The group was taught about the relationships between eighth, quarter, half and whole notes. Their peers received traditional fraction instruction. Source: Neurological Research, March 15, 1999.

  Music study can help kids understand advanced math concepts. A grasp of proportional math and fractions is a prerequisite to math at higher levels, and children who do not master these areas cannot understand more advanced math critical to high-tech fields. Music involves ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time. Second grade students were given four months of piano keyboard training, as well as time using newly designed math software. The group scored over 27 percent higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children who used only the math software. Source: Neurological Research, March 1999

  Music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school. Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medial school applicants. He found that 66 percent of music majors who applied to med school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. For comparison, 44 percent of biochemistry majors were admitted. Also, a study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry and math. Source: “The Comparative Academic Abilities of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University”, Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480

  College admissions officers continue to cite participation in music as an important factor in making admissions decisions. They claim that music participation demonstrates time management, creativity, expression, and open-mindedness. Source: Carl Hartman, “Arts May Improve Students’ Grades,” The Associated Press, October 1999

• Academic Success and Mentorship

  We take steps to ensure the academic success of every member. Even though the band's GPA and four-year graduation rate are both higher than the rest of Stony Brook University, we take very proactive steps to give all of our members the resources they need to remain academically successful throughout their time at Stony Brook.
  
  The band maintains a very positive academic community. Our Seafamily Mentorship Program groups New Members with Returning Members, based on interests. This allows for First Year Members' connections to grow before they step foot in their first class. The Band Program also maintains a list of every band member who is a Teaching Assistant or tutor. Any band member can access this list to find another band member who can help them with coursework.
  
  Our student Leadership Team is educated in how to help all of our members find the resources they need to stay academically successful. Academics and on-time graduation are a priority for our program.