That band is the whole reason I didn't go to A&M. I went to a military boarding school for high school. I loved the military lifestyle and was in ROTC at the university I did attend, but I really wanted to be in the Corps. However, I wanted to be in a good band even more. I get a kick out of talking to anyone about music and then finding out that they're Aggies, at which time I tell them how awful that band really is. A few of them have had some musical training/ability and they knew better. A lot of them are relatively shocked, and more than a little confused. Kinda like how I imagine Creed and Nickelback fans must feel. All that aside, I have a lot of respect for A&M.
Yeah, I think a bunch of people in this thread do. So, Refman, if people are giving the cadets or the zany spirit a hard time, I don't think they're calling it a crappy university full of crappy people, or however you put it. I wouldn't throw any stones at the quality of education. Far from. I especially wouldn't throw a stone... on the grass!
Ever wonder why so little sound (or just such a bad sound) is coming from the large Aggie band? They care more about appearance than musical quality. They will tell their lower-ranking members to march with an instrument that is not the one they know how to play, just to even out the numbers. I was in the Rice MOB for a bunch of years... they weren't threatening us anymore by then, but we were told to be careful and to hang onto our hats because they used to steal them for souvenirs.
“Give me an army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies, and I'll win the war.” -General George S. Patton
Well, A&M never really had a music program until recently. It's still in it's infancy and they call it "performance studies" and it's thrown in with theater and other fine arts. But they now offer a minor in music and a Bachelor of Arts degree (but no Bachelor of Music). And they still lack a number of the cogs present at established schools of music. Most universities have their bands chocked full of music majors. Most music schools require music ed majors to march at least 2 years. So they have people who are making their careers in music in the marching band. Not so at A&M. Not only did they not have a degree program for many years, but I don't know how many musicians would want to join the corp just so they could be in the band. My point is simply, it shouldn't be too surprising if the musical side is lacking. P.S. - My favorite Houston musician, Larry Slezak, teaches in the basement where the Rice bands rehearse and my HS band director is now the director of the MOB.
Larry - cool! He taught me how to jazz improv. Every Monday night at Jazz Band he would tell us a crazy story from one of his gigs that week. I hear great things about Chuck T. with the MOB also; haven't talked to him that many times myself, since I wasn't in the MOB full-time anymore. There are plenty of Aggies who played an instrument in high school and might have continued, even being non-music majors; they just didn't want to join the Corps. At Rice, we actually didn't have music majors in the band since the music program was a conservatory (which trains you for either orchestral performance or nothing) and wouldn't let them participate in "band department" activities, such as marching (non-marching) band or learning jazz from Larry Slezak. We had enough general overachievers there that there were plenty other musicians to go around; besides, they allow non-students in the band, like alumni, staff, and random people's friends. UT has a band full of music majors and some others, about 300 people but you're lucky to even get into the band. Here at UTSA, no football team --> no marching, even for the music ed. majors. (good, not sure if I'm in shape anymore)
it took for years for something you feel was worthing posting about. awesome. ps that general was off his freaking rocker when he made that statement. in my humble opinion.
Perhaps it was all tongue-in-cheek, school rivalry-type stuff, and I'm overreacting, but I've got to say this: A&M produced more officers in WWII than all the service academies. They still produce more officers than any other institution outside of those same service academies, and this stems from A&M no longer making the corps of cadets a requirement of its students. A&M was at one time a military school, much like Virginia Tech and the Citadel, and is still considered a senior military college by federal law. With seven Medal of Honor winners (5 of 'em during the years of WWII) and more generals and admirals coming out of that corps than any other school, you might be the one who is off his rocker. Here's what a couple of WWII 5-stars had to say about the Aggies: "The men of Texas A&M can stand up to any men in the world and compare favorably their education and training for leadership -- leadership in the pursuits of peace, and if it comes to war, leadership in battle." --Gen. Omar Bradley, 1950 "No more convincing testimony could be given to the manner in which the men of Texas A&M lived up to the ideals and principles inculcated in their days on the campus than the simple statement that the Congressional Medal of Honor has been awarded to six former students, that 46 took part in the heroic defense of Bataan and Corregidor, and that nearly 700 are on the list of our battle dead." --Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1946 And of course that "off his rocker" 4-star: "Give me an army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle... Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win the war." --Gen. George S. Patton
