In our recent survey, we asked Band Directors Talk Shop readers, “What are your tips for recruitment and/or retention in band?” With hundreds of responses to the survey, we came up with this categorized list of your answers of how you get kids in your program and keep kids loving band! Thanks so much to all of our readers who took time to fill out the survey. Keep an eye out for more Readers’ Collaborative Posts in the future!
Recruitment
- Have older students tell why they joined and why they like the program.
- Make sure your students have exposure to older students and groups. It shows them where they are headed.
- Have your kids keep a lookout for students in school who may have musical talent. Peer to peer seems to work best.
- Drum up lots of excitement throughout the year before recruitment. Put up a countdown to try-outs outside your room.
- Know your counselors. It takes more than one face appearance with kids. Tell them to sign up for band – don’t ask them to. They will do what you tell them.
- Reach out to parents; give them the numbers about how band has a positive effect on grades/ACT scores and social interactions.
- Make yourself known to the elementary and middle school students who will be coming up to your program. Beyond attending concerts, be present at rehearsals and help to teach some lessons as your schedule permits.
- Don’t just recruit the grade coming to you, recruit them all, K-5.
- “10 touches” is an old marketing scene I’ve discovered – interact (in person, email, student leaders) 10 times to have a meaningful impact on recruiting and retention!
- Host instrument petting zoo at the local elementary schools. Have students teach them how to make a sound. Make it informal and fun.
- The HS director and I demonstrate each instrument and have a few students come up and try too. Then we tell the rest they need to sign up for band if they want to try the instruments. Works wonders.
- Create a culture in your band that is so positive that there is no choice but for students to join!
- Give examples of a range of players — invite your current program in, but also show examples of professional & fun videos that demonstrate what can be done on the instruments. No one wants to play clarinet because they heard the beginning band squeak and squawk, they want to play because of Rhapsody in Blue.
- Have your band do a flash mob in the cafeteria doing lunch. Make it short and quick! Get in and get out.
- Go to a concert with your band in primary and middle school is a good way to recruit.
- Have the older students play a song at a concert or football game with the younger students.
- Have a final “beginning band” performance for the incoming potential band student.
Retention
- Give your students a say in what they play. If they are pumped about the music they’re playing, they are much more likely to stay in band.
- Give the students some responsibility in creating rules.
- It is always hard but I think it is crucial to get people talking to new members at their first rehearsal.
- Assign ‘buddies’ between older/younger students so every student has at least one kid they’ve connected with.
- Make your band members feel like they are part of a special club. Get out in the hallway during busy times and talk with them.
- The best way to keep musicians in your band is to make them feel like the band is a family.
- Notice what students are wearing and design your band T-shirt to fit in with today’s style. I see so many outdated band shirt designs. Image is everything with middle school kids!
- Play something that is right at or approaching the limit of your bands’ ability. This keeps it interesting for all and pushes the lower end. Make it clear that the program is not competitive, tell the students to play as much as they can.
- Play high-quality repertoire. Don’t play repertoire that is too hard — this causes 90% of retention issues.
- Have kids take private lessons. The better they play, the more they like it.
- Build relationships and set kids up for success. If they love what they’re doing and feel successful, they stay.
Reward Systems/Parties
- Make a social committee (this could be section leaders). In December or at the end of the year have them host a party – something like a movie screening, bowling alley, paintball or escape room. Have this completely student-driven – all you have to do is plant a few ideas and watch the social garden grow.
- Have a hot chocolate day – bring it in a crock-pot.
- Awards: 1st year – silver pin, 2nd year – gold pin, 3rd year – letter, 4th year – star.
- I use a ribbon reward for players who play lines of music in their book correctly.
- Reward students for completing the method book with a special lunch where you dress up like a chef. Kids will start to say “That’s the band teacher? I want to be in his class!”
- Enjoy your students as people as well as musicians. Have a meal or a fun time together that doesn’t include music. Play games, tell jokes, sing songs and make memories. Create an environment that is inclusive and loving, as well as educational. They will remember feeling accepted and loved.
- Find something exciting or special for each grade level so the kids have something to look forward to each year.
- My students love Band Karate and use it to compete with each other – they’re practicing without realizing that they are.
Personal Touch
- I meet every interested 5th grader personally to try out instruments. That personal connection means a lot to them.
- Send Christmas cards to all students in your feeder band and your program.
- I handwrite notes to our future beginners. I have special “Falcon Band” notecards. I tell them how excited I am to have them in band and welcome them into the Falcon Band family!
- I have my 8th-grade students write a letter to an incoming band student. They write about why they chose their instrument, their favorite song to play, favorite memory, etc. I leave the letters in the folders of the incoming students that they get during their first lesson the next year.
- I help the high school director contact middle school students who drop band between middle school and high school. We also work closely with our elementary general music teachers in helping identify potential band and orchestra students.
Final thoughts
- Always be positive.
- Talk less, do more.
- Be organized.
- Patience is a virtue!
- Laugh at your own mistakes.
- Balance in all things.
- BE HUMAN!
- Know the name of every student.
- Be visible in your community!
- Make band fun but rewarding.
- Have annual field trips.
- Insist on high-quality work.
- Find the right mixture of rigor and fun.
- Develop a strong reputation.
- Be friendly and interested in your kids.
- Be approachable and positive every day.
- Be involved in everything to do with the student’s education.
- Be fun and act crazy.
- Encourage all band members to bring a friend.
- Best allies for retention are the parents.
- Meet with every kid one-on-one if possible.
- Early intervention if a kid is struggling can turn things around and get them on your side.
- Be explicit about expectations for and of students and families.
- Make them love music by sharing your love. Works on most everyone.
- Don’t lose the 99 trying to save the 1. Sometimes you have to prune a tree to make it grow.
- Every student matters…fight for each one!
Related Reading:
Better Retention Through a Sense of Purpose in Band
Strategies for Retention in Your Band Program
Recruiting Website – Free Resources to Recruit Band Students
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