Learn To Play An Instrument

My student has never played music before. Can they take band?

Absolutely! Most of my students are total beginners when they come to me. Your child will not be the only student with no musical experience. Encourage your student to take this opportunity to learn something new and wonderful.

Our Students Are Athletes AND Musicians

Many, if not most of our student musicians are also athletes! Thanks to our scheduling and flexibility with early communication, athletes of all types can join band. We have star players from the THMS Basketball team, YAFL Football players, Cheerleaders, and everyone in between in our band programs!

Travel With Us

After successfully completing a year of musical training in either Beginning Band or 5th Grade Band, students can then experience our amazing Spring Trip! Previous Spring Trips have taken us to Colorado, Arizona, and various parts of New Mexico! Additionally, we offer an annual summer trip to COSTA RICA with just the band students! It is a ton of fun, and students learn about the history and culture while there along with having opportunities to Zip-line, Kayak, relax on the beach, and experience local cuisine!

Financial Help Is Available

Does the thought of your student playing an instrument instantly make you wonder: how much does that cost and can we afford it? The good news is that no student is turned away from the Thunder Band due to financial concerns. If needed, financial assistance is available ranging from help with class fees to help getting an instrument. Your student deserves this opportunity, and we can make it work.

Music Makes You Smarter

It is proven time and time again, study after study, that music makes you smarter. Click here to see how.

Read on to see how many times this has been proven:

Music students have been shown to hold higher grade point averages (GPA) than non-musicians in the same school.

~ National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988

U.S. Department of Education data show that students who report consistently high levels of involvement in instrumental music during the middle- and high-school years show "significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12."

~ James Catterall, Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga, "Involvement in the Arts and Human Development," 1999

The schools that produced the highest academic achievement in the United States today are spending 20% to 30% of the day on the arts, with special emphasis on music.

~ International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IAEEA) Test, 1988

Music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school.

~Lewis Thomas, Case for Music in the Schools, Phi Delta Kappa, 1994

Students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs among any group in our society.

~ H. Con. Res. 266, United States Senate, June 13, 2000

78% of Americans feel learning a musical instrument helps students perform better in other subjects.

~ Gallup Poll, "American Attitudes Toward Music," 2003

Nine out of ten adults and teenagers who play instruments agree that music making brings the family closer together.

~ Music Making and Our Schools, American Music Conference, 2000

With music in schools, students connect to each other better-greater camaraderie, fewer fights, less racism and reduced use of hurtful sarcasm.

~ Eric Jensen, Arts With the Brain in Mind, 2001

71% of Americans surveyed by the Gallup Poll believe that teenagers who play an instrument are less likely to have disciplinary problems.

~ Gallup Poll, "American Attitudes Toward Music," 2003

A study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry and math.

~ The Case for Music in the Schools, Phi Delta Kappa, 1994

Students who were exposed to music-based lessons scored a full 100% higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner.

~ Neurological Research, March 15, 1999

Music enhances the process of learning. The systems they nourish, which include our integrated sensory, attention, cognitive, emotional and motor capacities, are shown to be the driving forces behind all other learning.

~ Konrad, R.R., Empathy, Arts and Social Studies, 2000

During moments of musical euphoria, blood travels through the brain to areas where other stimuli can produce feelings of contentment and joy-and travels away from brain cell areas associated with depression and fear.

~ Dr. Frederick Tims, reported in AMC Music News, June 2, 1999

Teaching through the arts motivates children and increases their aptitude for learning.

~ Eric Jensen, Arts With the Brain in Mind, 2001

Students of lower socioeconomic status gain as much or more from arts instruction than those of higher socioeconomic status.

~ James Catterall et al., 1999

95% of Americans in a 2003 Gallup Poll believe that music is a key component in a child's well-rounded education; three quarters of those surveyed feel that schools should mandate music education.

~ Gallup Poll, "American Attitudes Toward Music," 2003

Martin Gardiner of Brown University tracked the criminal records of Rhode Island residents from birth through age 30, and he concluded the more a resident was involved in music, the lower the person's arrest record.

~ Music Linked to Reduced Criminality, MuSICA Research Notes, Winter 2000

With music instruction in schools, teachers found that students were less aggressive.

~ Konrad, R.R., Empathy, Arts and Social Studies, 2000

Students of lower socioeconomic status who took music lessons in grades 8-12 increased their math scores significantly as compared to non-music students. But just as important, reading, history, geography and even social skills soared by 40%.

~ Gardiner, Fox, Jeffrey and Knowles,

In 2003, 54% of American households reported having a least one musical instrument player, the highest figure since the study began in 1978.

~ Gallup Poll, "American Attitudes Toward Music," 2003

The College Entrance Examination Board found that students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on math than students with no arts participation.

~ College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Princeton, NJ: The College Entrance Examination Board, 2001

The world's top academic countries place a high value on music education. Hungary, Netherlands and Japan have required music training at the elementary and middle school levels, both instrumental and vocal, for several decades.

~ 1988 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IAEEA) Test

Music training helps under-achievers. Students lagging behind in scholastic performance caught up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed their classmates in math by 22% when given music instruction over seven months.

~ Nature, May 23, 1996

College-age musicians are emotionally healthier than their non-musician counterparts for performance anxiety, emotional concerns and alcohol-related problems.

~ Houston Chronicle, January 11, 1998

Children given piano lessons significantly improved in their spatial-temporal IQ scores (important for some types of mathematical reasoning) compared to children who received computer lessons, casual singing or no lessons.

~ Rauscher, F.H., et al., Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial temporal reasoning, 1997

Children who have received music instruction scored higher marks on tests of their spatial and arithmetic skills.

~ Rauscher, F.H., Shaw, G.L., Levine, L.J., Wright, E.L., Dennis, W.R., and Newcomb, R., Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial temporal reasoning, 1997

The foremost technical designers and engineers in Silicon Valley are almost all practicing musicians.

~ Dee Dickinson, Music and the Mind, 1993