Trent Artus
artustj@uwec.edu

Christmas songs fill the cafeteria at Northstar Middle School mid-morning on a Friday. The sharp squeak from a clarinet, a sound like someone stretching the end of a balloon as they slowly let the air out, occasionally pierces the familiar songs.

The students are preparing for the upcoming holiday season and the performances they will be putting on for family, friends and other students. Music is a part of everyday life. Some teens go beyond the radio, Internet and music videos, participating in middle school band. A few take it even further than the classroom by starting their own bands.

Students at Northstar Middle School are required to take a music class in the form of band, choir, exploring music or orchestra. Despite the requirement, most of the students like the opportunity presented to them because it is something they might not have done otherwise.

“I thought it would be fun to learn something new, cause when you’re younger you just go into sports a lot of the time or something and don’t really have much of an opportunity to play an instrument,” said Megan Faanes, an eighth-grader who plays the flute. “Unless you do it outside of school.”

Others classmates such as, eighth-grader Sam McNew was inspired by the course instructors and joined for that reason.

“I heard lots of good things about them and it made me more interested in taking band,” said Sam who plays the French horn, along with a little trumpet and percussion.

Tuba-player Skip Turner and Jon Meier, who plays saxophone and piano, both said the idea of playing a musical instrument was a lot better than having to join the choir.

“It’s better than singing,” Skip said.

Allen Keniston, a psychology professor at UW-Eau Claire who specializes in adolescent psychology, said musical skill has a major part in how one feels about participating in music.

“People will not join a choir because they can’t sing,” Keniston said. “They actually miss the point of a choir which is to bring all kinds of voices and tambours to blend into a sound that is quite nice to listen to.”

Jocelyn Petersen, who recently turned 14 years old, has taken full advantage of the system by playing the clarinet and singing.

She said she is planning on dropping band when she gets to Eau Claire North High School in order to take up choir.

“I like to sing,” Jocelyn said. “It’s fun to do.”

Right now they are all busy preparing for their winter concerts, which is Dec. 13 and will be followed with a tour of Sam Davey, Locust Lane and Northwood Elementary schools.

Sam is excited for this because she said, “now I can say that my band is going on tour.”

Of the group, only Jon plans to continue taking music classes, but part of that reason is because he said his parents have played musical instruments and want him to continue to learn.

“My dad played the saxophone also, so my parents expect me to,” Jon said, in an unenthusiastic manner.

Having to do something that one doesn’t want to can have a good and bad effect on the student, Keniston said.

“If you’re forcing them to do it, if it goes way against the grain if they don’t find music they don’t like to play they can be turned off,” Keniston said. “The other thing is that they may find another contact. If you make your kid learn the tuba, and the kid hates the tuba but he may find some friends he can beat a drum with.”

Sam said she was unsure about what she was going to do, because there are only a few French horns in the high school band, so there would be an opportunity for her to play if she decided to continue.

“If I got to be a better player, I would, maybe, because I do enjoy playing,” Sam said of the possibility of continuing lessons.

For Megan, though, she said band takes away time from the other things that she enjoys doing.

“I have other things I’d rather do,” Megan said. “I have sport practices and I like to hang out with my friends and we have other homework to do, so it’s just kinda an extra thing that you have to do.”

Photo courtesy of department of psychology

UW-Eau Claire psychology professor Allen Keniston talks about how being a part of a band can be a very enjoyable thing for an individual.

Listen to audio clips from interviews in this story:

UW-Eau Claire psychology professor Allen Keniston discusses how music is used for various purposes.

Eighth-grader Sam McNew talks about the excitement of playing in a number of winter concerts.

Keniston also discusses the affects music can have on a person's attitude or well-being.

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