Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chorus:usually kind directors and won't hurt gpa; trips may include Carnegie Hall, but I heard Langley is taking its kids to Germany; limitations by natural voice sound, quality, chords, volume-can be frustrating to not fully express yourself; may need to drink lots of banana smoothies, may lose voice/nodes; pretty dresses; Meet future broadway stars.

Orchestra: often kind directors, competitive; once in high school may be all "I can't compete will these Japanese kids who have been given private lessons since age three so I quit"
Less loud

Band: may have douchey, pervert directors who can do real damage; also all the co-ed band camp activities may result in jealous guys sabotaging your dating life. Elitist for those who can afford private lessons in youth; If you start private lessons in high school, teachers see you as "lessor" since you won't win them awards. May have trips to Europe and can transition to stage bands, parades, pep rallies, or chamber groups. Can hurt gpa if you miss practice. Definitely if your kid likes Mozart do the woodwinds vs strings. More co-ed action and cute marching uniforms, but see-through hard-to-walk-in concert uniforms.

Shouldn't you be in class now?

I need to know though, do banana smoothies really help your vocal cord?

Anonymous wrote:Chorus:usually kind directors and won't hurt gpa; trips may include Carnegie Hall, but I heard Langley is taking its kids to Germany; limitations by natural voice sound, quality, chords, volume-can be frustrating to not fully express yourself; may need to drink lots of banana smoothies, may lose voice/nodes; pretty dresses; Meet future broadway stars.

Orchestra: often kind directors, competitive; once in high school may be all "I can't compete will these Japanese kids who have been given private lessons since age three so I quit"
Less loud

Band: may have douchey, pervert directors who can do real damage; also all the co-ed band camp activities may result in jealous guys sabotaging your dating life. Elitist for those who can afford private lessons in youth; If you start private lessons in high school, teachers see you as "lessor" since you won't win them awards. May have trips to Europe and can transition to stage bands, parades, pep rallies, or chamber groups. Can hurt gpa if you miss practice. Definitely if your kid likes Mozart do the woodwinds vs strings. More co-ed action and cute marching uniforms, but see-through hard-to-walk-in concert uniforms.

Shouldn't you be in class now?

French horn or trumpet. It's the perfect age to start,if he gets serious he can play in orchestra ,band or marching band.

Chorus:usually kind directors and won't hurt gpa; trips may include Carnegie Hall, but I heard Langley is taking its kids to Germany; limitations by natural voice sound, quality, chords, volume-can be frustrating to not fully express yourself; may need to drink lots of banana smoothies, may lose voice/nodes; pretty dresses; Meet future broadway stars.

Orchestra: often kind directors, competitive; once in high school may be all "I can't compete will these Japanese kids who have been given private lessons since age three so I quit"
Less loud

Band: may have douchey, pervert directors who can do real damage; also all the co-ed band camp activities may result in jealous guys sabotaging your dating life. Elitist for those who can afford private lessons in youth; If you start private lessons in high school, teachers see you as "lessor" since you won't win them awards. May have trips to Europe and can transition to stage bands, parades, pep rallies, or chamber groups. Can hurt gpa if you miss practice. Definitely if your kid likes Mozart do the woodwinds vs strings. More co-ed action and cute marching uniforms, but see-through hard-to-walk-in concert uniforms.

There seems to be a dearth of young oboe, French horn, and bassoon players. If he plays one of those instruments, he will have lots of orchestra options.

Growing up I started with orchestra (cello), added band (pep/concert/marching) (clarinet/bass clarinet), and added chorus. Its frowned upon to talk during rehearsals. If I had to pick one where socializing happened more often, it would be band. The dynamic was just different from the other two, but it could have been just different directors. Op, if your kid wants to continue playing piano, then they could choose orchestra or chorus a few years down the road because both groups have a place for the piano. Choosing the group and instrument should really be up to the kid though. If the kid chooses a wind or percussion instrument, I think it doesn't really matters at the elementary level which group they join. At the elementary level, the commitment is minimal for all three. Also at the elementary level, there are typically more girls in chorus, but the chorus will typically need boys to balance things out. So, this could be an opportunity for your DS to stand out more.

Something down the road to think about, but I would say that marching band has the most opportunity for chit chat and hanging out. I spent the most time with that group because there was more to practice, more games to attend, and more concerts to put on.

Anonymous wrote:In my experience (this is with high school, NOT middle granted)

1.) Band - Loud, fun, surprisingly very competitive at times, serious musicians can be found here, but generally--band is more similar to a 'sport' particularly if marching band is in the picture. More of a close knit family. Your 'section' becomes almost a family within a family. Livelong friendships (up to and including marriage) happen all the time.

2.) Orchestra - More oriented to the pure musical aspect of it all, less competitive, less rowdy, but also not as close-knit as band typically is.

3.) Somewhere in between band and orchestra in terms of musical 'seriousness'. Way less competition, more of an individual activity, but I know lots of chorus people that formed lifelong friendships and connections. More of a gateway to serious vocal training than anything else, private lessons are a necessity if you really want to advance.

Forgot to mention:

While all three are a potentially large commitment, band in particular can--and will--become an enormous time sink, particularly in high school. It's not so much a casual extracurricular to be done on a whim--but more of a lifestyle shift (obviously very school dependent, but overall--this is the case generally). Between competition, practice, and other commitments, I know the band at my school spent more time actively involved in 'band stuff' than any other sport/extracurricular/anything, by far. It used to be a running joke at my school that the band, which was a seriously competitive production...was known for practicing out in the hot sun longer than the football team (in fact many football players were in the band).

In my experience (this is with high school, NOT middle granted)

1.) Band - Loud, fun, surprisingly very competitive at times, serious musicians can be found here, but generally--band is more similar to a 'sport' particularly if marching band is in the picture. More of a close knit family. Your 'section' becomes almost a family within a family. Livelong friendships (up to and including marriage) happen all the time.

2.) Orchestra - More oriented to the pure musical aspect of it all, less competitive, less rowdy, but also not as close-knit as band typically is.

3.) Somewhere in between band and orchestra in terms of musical 'seriousness'. Way less competition, more of an individual activity, but I know lots of chorus people that formed lifelong friendships and connections. More of a gateway to serious vocal training than anything else, private lessons are a necessity if you really want to advance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For my kids I would favor band over chorus or orchestra. In elementary school it doesn't really matter, but in high school if your kid is still into it band offers a lot more opportunities. Marching band is really fun, you play at football games, compete in tournaments, march in parades. Chorus and orchestra don't offer all of those same opportunities.

Oh and one other thing, if you play a wind instrument you can still be in orchestra as well, but string players would have to learn another instrument to be in band.

This. It is nice to have the option of whichever group suits your schedule. Marching band is very fun, but at some schools it is a huge time commitment with away games too.

How are his teeth, do you anticipate braces or any major oral issues? Are his canines and bicuspids in yet? Strings and percussion are good ways to sidestep dental issues.

Chorus won't really set him up for serious musical theater, you would need private voice lessons for that (maybe plus basic dance).

Anonymous wrote:If he is musically inclined I say orchestra. There will be more higher level players there and more people who want/need precise sounds. In our experience band is fun, loud. Orchestra is a long slog for perfect notes. But if that's part of your brain, you want the challenge and the result.

Not true in my experience. Many high achievers in band.

If he is musically inclined I say orchestra. There will be more higher level players there and more people who want/need precise sounds. In our experience band is fun, loud. Orchestra is a long slog for perfect notes. But if that's part of your brain, you want the challenge and the result.