When you know how...

Earlier this week the brass band community was, via the medium of the television (in the UK), thrust once more into the public consciousness. On Wednesday I would guess that, thanks to the lockdown, many of us spent the evening on the sofa watching Brassed Off. The day before, on an episode of ITV’s The Chase the following question was posed:

Brighouse & Rastrick and Grimethorpe Colliery are examples of what type of musical group?

a) Brass band 

b) Male voice choir 

c) Skiffle group

Picture sourced from Facebook

The contestant, Arnie, incorrectly opted for male voice choir. The comments soon afterwards across social media were numerous and generally disparaging: “some people just aren’t brought up right”, “he’s obviously never live[d] yet” and even “1950s Russia they’d have took [sic] him out for less”. How could he have not known what a brass band was? How foolish of him. 

The sad fact though, is that he was probably representative of a large number of the UK population. To borrow an idea from another British game show, if that question had been posed to 100 random people how many would answer correctly? Maybe those who remember Derek Broadbent and Brighouse doing their thing on Top of the Pops in 1977? Or perhaps those aficionados of Brassed Off  who know that Grimley is not a real place. But how many of the 100 would that be?

I would hazard a guess that the unfortunate Arnie is likely in the concerning majority of people who would not know the difference between Brighouse & Rastrick, and the local group that may play at their village fete (residents of Brighouse apart) - should they even knew what a brass band is. 

And yet, if the lockdown has highlighted anything it is perhaps how appealing the mellifluous tones of a 'good' brass sound can be to the whole population. Cory have made the point as well as anyone so far - in part because they were the first to do so - with their rendition of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which went viral and subsequently followed it up with Thursday’s moving tribute to the NHS. 

In an era where digital communications are easily available and work smoothly, such actions from Cory and increasing numbers of other bands around the world are starting to bring the medium of brass bands to a new and potentially huge audience. Family members of mine are sharing these video clips with work colleagues (in the NHS) who are often hearing top class brass bands for the first time. Many are immediately hooked by the sound. 

Is this then a case of forgetting the answer to a 'straightforward' and 'obvious' question in the heat of a TV quiz or is this a more saddening indictment of the way brass banding is seen, or not seen, in the UK? It would be hopeful to think that it’s the former. However, it is a useful reminder to all of us that we need to continue to do our bit to promote banding. 

Once the lockdown is over, we may well return to the tried and tested methods to promote our bands – web sites, posters, adverts for brass lessons and maybe the (very) occasional Brighouse type media exposure. However there is a whole world of social media available to bands to help promote themselves, to share posters, recruitment adverts as well as pictures and videos. We're seeing a lot of bands at the moment doing brief interviews with their players which adds a personal insight. I think it's fair to say though a lot of bands have a lot to learn about social media usage, how often to use it and which platforms best suit what they are looking for. There is certainly a need for some level of social media guidance - it's easy when you know how.  

Maybe though we as individuals will have the courage and the enthusiasm to continue sharing our passion, our hobby, our lifestyle to new and welcoming audiences - to brass band 'virgins'. Cory have led us through the use of 21st century technology towards a 21st century audience. Are we ready to embrace the future and all of the possibilities and opportunities that it might bring - or will we stick with our 19th century values and perhaps all too often myopic self importance?