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Both of our children are musicians, and both have shown interest in summer camps.
If anyone has experience with "band camp," could you please share? And any recommendations, preferably within the area of the northeast, would be great. (or Arizona, actually, where my parents live-we could fly them out there and feel comfortable not being so far away.
Our daughter is eleven and plays trombone.
Our son is nine, and plays guitar. Any place that could combine both?
Basically, any stories or info would be helpful. No rules! Ha ha! Like anyone would stick to a specific topic!
[ January 16, 2006, 06:26 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
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I recommend a production based camp which promises a complete performance at the end. This is ALWAYS the better situation because the camp directors will be working for real results, and your kids will actually learn something, as opposed to just hanging out all day.
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Well, I haven't done any in the northeast or Arizona, but I have had years of experience.
I attend a 3-day clarinet/flute camp at a local university. The instructors actually play the instrument that they're teaching you. One of them is the band director there, and MY band director was a student of the guy.
It's like Orincoro said, a production-based camp. We get music, have private lessons, ensemble rehearsals, and have a concert on the last day.
I definitely recommend instrument-specific camps. The "band camps" that many people go to don't really help them learn how to play THEIR instrument, rather it's a mass of different instruments learning to play a song or two. (Keep in mind I never attended a "band camp", just my clarinet one.)
Look around and see if any colleges offer summer music programs, or camps, for your children's age group and instrument.
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BC, band people *hate* that gag. I mean, really really hate.
I went to a band camp for a few years in junior high. You'd get placed in a different band based on an audition, and there was a concert at the end for everyone's parents to come see and stuff. I got a lot out of the sectionals that they held every other day or so.
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Check out what the local universities offer, especially if there are any that specialize in music.
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Years ago, I attended several years of "Orchestra Camps". They were great. But, I think your kids are way too young. Let this one wait until they are in High School.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Yeah, I was afraid the thread would go in the band camp joke direction. Ah, well.
Anyway, Artemesia, do you think they are too young for going away to camp, or for the musical aspect of the camp?
I agree with the performance-at-the-end type of instruction. But I also agree that there should be experts in their instrument there.
The thing is, for our son, the music festivals we attend become sort of a camp, because he plays with many other musicians, and has even performed with them. But for my daughter, not so much. Not too many trombones in those venues. Not many campfire jams.
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OK, and another question. Has anyone been to a school that caters to performing arts? There is a very good one in our area, and I am just wondering if anyone has any experience with one. I know there are many musicians on the forum.
My daughter has said no. She could go now. Our son is not sure. And I am not sure about the academics, They are both very bright, and excellent students.
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I went to the Indiana University String Academy. It would not be open to your children because they only accept violins, violas, and cellos. They used to accept basses but they lost their heads and stopped. It was very intense. I had a great time but only because I was serious and enjoyed being around other young musicians who were just as serious. It was geared for middle and high school students.
The average day consisted of:
4-5 hours of scheduled monitored practice 1-3 hours of rehearsal with a chamber group 1-2 hours or a performance or a masterclass in the evening and there would be 2 1-hour lessons during each week.
The camp lasted 4 weeks and ended with a half week of performances of all of the groups and each student played a solo at some recital. This is probably as music focused a camp as you would find. There are camps that are called music camps where they play for maybe 1-2 hours a day and then just run around. I think something between the extremes is probably best for the average musically inclined 9 or 11 year old.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I do think you're probably going to have trouble finding camps for students so young. Most camps aim at taking students in late middle school and high school, on the assumption that these students are far more likely to be further along musically (far enough along that camps will do some good). For the age group you're looking at, I think you're very likely to get more of the "camp with some music" rather than "music camp."
I put some google-fu into action:
This is a camp for ages 8-15 that seems to be a camp with some music activities (upsides: both your kids could go, and it's a nice, well-rounded kind of camp; downsides: intensive musical training of any sort seems unlikely).
Here's one somewhere in New York that seems a little bit more intensive (though their website is dreadful). This one would only take your daughter, who's on the low end of the age range (10-16).
Another one just for your daughter, taking ages 10-19. This one seems pretty intensive as well, and you can choose 2, 3, or 4 week sessions.
I definitely think you're going to have trouble finding the intensive, performance-at-the-end type of camp for anything younger than 10. You're far more likely to find a traditional camp with some music activities.
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Thank you, it does help. My son (9) is musically much, much older, but plays guitar, and it is very difficult to find any kids his age for him to play with. He cannot join the school band next year, as they don't take guitars, so he would have to wait until 7th grade to be in the jazz band.
He would definitely want a camp with fun, too.
There is a community music school, a copuple, actually, that I want to check out. Mainly, I am looking for him to play in a group. My daughter would enjoy the whole camp thing.
I will check those links, Megan, thank you. And thank you, Allegra, because I don;t think either of them would be ready for that level of intensity at this point.
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mph, I can't repeat it here, but I could send you it in email......
It comes from a movie that had explicit sexual humor though.
I loved band camp, and there area tons of them in every state....but interlochan is perhaps the best in the US. They have people come to their band camp every summer from all over the world.
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quote:And yet I don't know what this joke is about. Somebody wanna explain?
There's really no way to do so within the bounds of the TOS.
In a general sense, there's a character in American Pie (played by the girl who played Willow in BtVS) who starts almost everything she says with "This one time. At Band Camp."
The last time she says that, it involves a flute.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Liz, if either of your kids ends up going to camp, you've got to teach them how to shortsheet a bed before they go. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I would second the recommendation Interlochen Arts Camp in Traverse City, Michigan. My time there, studying writing, not music, was very special and I met young artists from all over the world, a pianist from Costa Rica, a dancer from Romania, etc.
Edited to add, I was in Middle School when I went, but the Camp accepts Elementary and High School students as well for periods ranging of 4 or 8 weeks, depending on personal preference, although, at the high school level 8 weeks is recommended by the camp except for writers and dancers (most dancers are told not to stay for 8 weeks, as dancing is very intensive.)
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I will say this, though--if you think Allegra's description of the IU string academy sounds a bit intense, then you'll definitely want to give Interlochen a miss for a few years.
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Yes, the more touchy-feely camps in Maine look like more their cup of tea for now. My daughter is loving trombone now, but she tends to tire of things, so this may pass, though she is very good, and it would kill me.
My son, on the other hand, tends to be more focused. It is just that he likes sports as much as guitar.
Egads. Decisions. Where is that parenting handbook when you need it?
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For your son, from a strictly musical point-of-view (having absolutely ZERO parenting experience, that's really the only view I can provide ), it sort of depends on what type of music he's interested in. If it's classical guitar, his best bet is to get lessons and practice. Anything else...well, he could try to start his own band. Does he take lessons?
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The touchy feely camps in Maine look amazing (I've been looking at hundreds of camps hiring counselors right now), sadly I think they're just too far away for me to consider working at.
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It looks fun, I live too far away! I guess I probably could fly for most of the offered travel fees (most camps I'm reading offer $300).
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Megan, My son has taken lessons since he was 7. He is very good, both technically(reading music, learning "from the book") and improvisationally. Freakishly so, actually.
His preferred style is rock, his best style is blues-rock, but his teacher makes sure he teaches him all different styles.
What he needs is a band, but it is hard to find other nne-year olds. That is why I am thinking of the performing arts school when he is in sixth grade, but then he would miss his friends and his sports.
I need to check this place out.
The thing is, he is very clear that he does not want to be overscheduled. He likes to watch his Pats(well, not now!) and Celtics and Sox.
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I second Megan's recommendation. From what I have jeard from people that have been to both camps Interlochen and the String Academy are about the same intensity. I know that while there was a bass studio at IU we were required to practice more then the bass players at Interlochen.
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This was another camp I went to. It was less intense and more focused on ensemble playing. It is only for students in grades 8-12 but maybe this would be good for your daughter in a few years.
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Yeah, I can definitely see him getting overscheduled if he gets too involved with too many things (especially when he's only 9! ) Is his teacher associated with either a music store or a school or something? Because most music stores have many students on many different instruments. At the store, he could post something about trying to form a band for kids from, say, ages 9 to 12, and describe the style of music he wants to play.
The Springfield place looks interesting, but I thought you were in the Northeast.
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That is so funny, Megan! I did not even check to see WHICH Springfield. So that is definitely the wrong link, especially since, when I was looking at the right link, it looked so...different.
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His teacher is a friend of ours, a local guitar player who is trained as a techer. But he has no affiliation with a store.
We did call a boy who is 11, who was looking for bandmates. Both boys played compatibly. it was incredible. But both are shy, and my somn did not feel comfortable. I am not sure if they'll get together again.
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Well, even if the teacher isn't affiliated with a store, usually you can go into a store and talk to the people there. They might even let you put up a flyer or something!
As for the boy he played with before, that is kind of the route I'm talking about. So, if he didn't enjoy it, then he might need to look for another avenue. Unfortunately, with guitar, I'm not sure what that would be. Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I live in Bloomington Indiana, same with Megan, and sort of Allegra (but Megan is moving away too)
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I support camps. I support camps for the same reason I support youth orchestras. I think that musical education gives children a sense of excellence, excellence in pursuit of a worthy endeavor, and public place to display this excellence, for the betterment of the players and the audience. I also think that this appreciation of public excellence in the concert hall and private excellence in the practice room becomes a citizen living in a free democracy.
Time and chance aligned such that I've been to two general music camps and an instrument camp, and as I'm not too old yet, I think I may go to the Aspen Music Festival the summer after next. I think that equating the work and dignity in a music camp with a caricature in a sex comedy is equivalent to setting higher education equal to Animal House.
Elizabeth, I applaud that you are looking to do this for your kids. If for no other reason, I think that it'll make them feel less alone in their practicing. I only know of a few youth music camps in California, and Interlochen in Michigan. I know that Tanglewood has a youth camp attached to it in Boston, but I still think that those kids are in high school or junior high.
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Oh, Megan, he is SORT of affilitaed with the same store we got the name from!(i.e, he knows the guy and buys his guitar stuff there)
Irami, thanks. I think yu are right about my kids being with other kids who are excited about their music. It is exhilarating.
And it seems that the options are not the problem, but the tuition might be. Also, the reality of us letting them go for even two weeks!
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Liz--Might I offer an alternative point of view? You are very close to New York City, correct? Maybe you should try to get some specialized guitar lessons for the son from a true, working, professional guitarist. It might take some looking, and you might have to go into the city, say every two weeks or so, but the instruction would be terrific and probably cost less than 4 weeks at a specialized "band camp" somewhere in the US. Ditto for the trombone. If you were near the Los Angeles area, I would offer the 11 year old some specialized trombone stuff, but MS is a tad too far, don't you think?
Good luck with your decisions and DO NOT LET THE CHILDREN STUDY MUSIC AS THEIR MAJOR IN COLLEGE!!
Keep us informed!
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Ooh, why not major is music? Stories, please.
Both of my childrens' teachers are professional musicians. My daughter's trombone teacher runs a jazz band out od the school circle, which my daughter is in, and LOVES. My son's guitar teacher is a local performer, but is also well trained as a teacher. I am happy withe their teachers, it is just that their teachers do not have the time to run other groups, and tend to be elsewhere during the summer.
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