I was in a band (a pop-punk group called My Mom’s Gonna Kill Me) before I even played an instrument. One of my friends who was starting it convinced me to join:

“But I’ve never played guitar!” I protested.

“You’ll figure it out” was their reply. 

We got together in my friend’s basement right after the holidays, still taking stickers and tags off of our shiny new guitars and drums.

“Ready? What’s My Age Again in 3… 2… 1…” 

OK so our band didn’t last forever, but in some ways it did. After that first practice, I admitted I needed lessons and began studying weekly with my first guitar teacher. Each week MMGKM would get together and take another crack at those Blink 182 songs. Then I would go back into my lessons and work with my teacher on how to play my parts better and better. Our playing evolved individually and the band really started to sound professi- just kidding we broke up. But personally, I was hooked, and have been “in a band” in one sense or another nearly every day since.

 The more I reflect on those early experiences, when playing with a group was so entwined with my actually learning the basics of my instrument, the more important I believe it was. From the moment we introduced the first band program at Sunburst and we started coaching kids (who are now adults! Woah) we started to see them get better at their instrument rapidly. Not only that but some of the trickiest topics to work on in private lessons, especially rhythm and timing, were areas where they made the biggest improvements in the shortest amount of time. 

 Why? I think the easiest answer is that it’s fun! The reward of building something out of nothing that’s greater than the sum of its parts, and watching it come into focus as each of you makes almost imperceptible adjustments can be really profound. Each player is relying on all of the other’s week to week but also second to second like an ongoing trust fall or a human pyramid. This is also why playing music with others builds such great relationships, allowing young people to communicate with each other in a totally different and in many ways more honest and emotional way. 

 And then, there’s performing. Stepping from the practice room to the stage can be daunting, but in many ways, it’s easier together than as a solo artist while the rewards are multiplied. I’ll never forget the feeling the first time I stepped on stage to play with a band (My second group: The Lord Of The Rings Band). My knees shook for the first song but by the time we were done, I couldn’t stop smiling for a week. I really believe I became a more confident person that day.

 Over the 7 years that we’ve been doing band programs and camps at Sunburst, we’ve seen something similar time and time again, and it’s one of the most rewarding aspects of our jobs as teachers. Of course, we know that there are no shortcuts to something like learning an instrument, but if there was one, treating it like a team sport might be it.

We’re just getting started with the spring season of our band programs! Learn more and set up a free session here.