MMSBand-Home

The primary goal of all band classes at Mannheim Middle School is to heighten each student’s aesthetic awareness through musical art. While there are many secondary objectives that are also set for students, using the medium of sound as a means to communicate the feelings embodied in a musical work will always remain the ultimate focus.

Dedication and maturity are required to develop this uniquely human ability. Dedication because the skills needed to re-create music are both numerous and complex. Maturity because, once the skills are learned, a musician must still be patient and open-minded in order to first understand and then communicate the essence of a composer’s work.

Many people go their entire lives without being aware of the power that art has to affect them. Middle school students are not too young to begin delving into the meaning of music as art. There is no better way to accomplish this than to develop the ability to take the creation of an artist and bring it to life.

At the middle level the musical skills necessary to re-create meaningful music are developed, and the ability to listen critically to ourselves and others is maturing. Unless one can articulate reasons for an opinion regarding a work or performance or demonstrate an alternative, an unsupported value judgment is considered inappropriate and should not be taken seriously by others.

It would be naïve to suggest that such a lofty goal can be fully realized at the middle school level. What can be realized is starting young people down a path that will eventually lead to aesthetic awareness. A person who is aesthetically aware will better be able to reap all that life has to offer and to share with others the wealth of his or her talent.