A long-lived argument today is the question of which is better: orchestra or band?

orchestra and band kids mostly consist of people who have been playing since sixth grade or sooner. Regarding the people who have quit along the way, I’ve seen patterns in why they did. Most of the people quit band quit in middle school because it was either too much work or they just disliked the class; at least that’s what I’ve heard from former band students.

For orchestra kids, however, the quitting is more evened out between middle and high school. The complaints that the former students shared with me were that they had other things they wanted to do, or they weren’t passionate enough about the activity to continue.

Even though orchestra is growing by the year, it is undoubtedly smaller than band. Leah Geisler, who is a neutral party and has never been in either, said she has always been more of an orchestra person because of the smaller capacity which allows for people to get closer.

Another aspect that differs in both is schedule management. I have spoken to band student who said that during marching season she didn’t get home until eight at night and they had rehearsals that dragged on and on and it was hard to keep up with work in other classes. orchestra however, has out-of-school rehearsals occasionally and they only last a few hours so students still have time to do homework at night. Also, orchestra doesn’t make students come to rehearse over the summer and overwork them in long, hot, summer days.

My last argument for orchestra is the way the teachers run the class. The two orchestra teachers are very popular with the students, and they take the time to establish relationships with their classes. I’ve never heard of the band teachers being anyone’s favorite, and I’ve heard many complaints about how the class works from band students. I’ve enjoyed orchestra for four years, and I’m glad I joined it instead of band.