An Investment in Knowledge Pays the Best Interest

The events of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II last week have been well publicised. The pageantry, the grandeur and the solemnity of the day was moving and fascinating in equal measure. It was a great example of people coming together and using their skills and talent to ensure that the most significant event in recent British history took place without a hitch.

Music was a central aspect to everything that happened both on the day, and the days preceding it, with various military bands marching, fanfare teams, organists and choirs. Almost immediately after the TV coverage had finished, variations on one thought spread across social media:

Essentially, you cannot understate the importance of teaching the next generation of musicians. The continuation of our aural music traditions generally, and brass banding specifically in this instance, depends on training children from a young age.

Here in the UK, these posts were targeted largely at the Department of Education and, by extension, the Government as there has long been a feeling that music, and the arts more generally, are undervalued and underfunded in our school system.

Avoiding getting drawn into politics here I think that, combined with the struggle of UK based bands to attract players following the pandemic, that the brass playing community perhaps needs to start thinking about how it invests in its long term future. I don’t necessarily mean a financial investment, but an investment of time and effort at the ‘grassroots' level, teaching children (and adults) to play. I know from personal experience that it’s not that simple and, in the 21st Century a knowledge of and presence on social media is key to attract interest in the first place. Encouraging bands to use this is, I think, just as key as teaching people to play because as the world moves increasingly online, social media is the new shop window.

It’s a difficult issue and one that doesn't have a straightforward answer. Yes, support from central Government would be of great help but, whether or not it is forthcoming, we should all be considering the sustainable future of the movement and what we can be doing to create this. My title for this piece "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest" something Benjamin Franklin said in 1758 and, I think, is as relevant today as it was then. As we have seen in the last few days, if you don't invest wisely, you could end up needing to borrow beyond your means.