Evening star., 1935-09-29
Band School Formed Here
To Give Service Musicians
Establishment Contrasts Strikingly With
Early Antipathy of Officers to Idea.
Lieut. Benter to Direct Activity.

olllcI uIuLS IdlillS baLuo uiC VIC
cruiser fleet. the destroyer fleet. the
Asiatic feet, all naval stations. four
navy yards, the air station at Pensa-
cola and the submarine base at Coco
Solo. The Naval Academy at Annap-
oils has a symphonic band Of re pieces
composed Of midshipmen. The Navy
Band at Washington is tops in the
whole organization.
Applications for entrance into the
new school are now being received at
the navy yard in Washington. The
first announcement of the proposed
school was made during a broadcast
of Eavy Band music last June. 1t was
stated that the positions were open in
the school which was to train men for
Navy duty, with specialized work in
music. The applicant must be native
born or a naturalized citizen, between
l8 and IS years old, mentally qualified.
not less than 63 inches in height and
unmarried. He must enlist for period
of six years, two of which are spent
on shore in school and four on ship or
at a shore station. The applicant
must pass a rigid physical eXamina-
ton, qualify in general classification
test, furnish authentic evidence of his
age, secure the consent OF paren.i or
guardian If he is minor, furnish list
of former employers or teachers and
two personal references, have no po-
lice, juvenile court, reform school or
prison record.
Enlistment is made in the rating OF
apprentice seaman at a monthly base
pay Of S2l. After four months total
service, If qualified, the applicant will
be advanced to the rating of seaman,
second class, at S36 a month. He must
have played some musical instrument
during his high school days we'll
enough to become proficient in 1t.
Food, quarters and uniforms are fur
nished by the Government.
All enlistments are made for general
service. No promise or assurance can
be given that any applicant will be as
signed to any particular detail upon
completion of his course. Obviously.
the Navy exists to navigate fighting
ships, therefore all seamen are in
structed primarily in naval duties.
Special instruction is. however. given
each man, and under this provision
instruction in music is offered.
In time of war members of the band
are as much part of the fighting ma
chine as other members of the crew.
They are trained for special duties.
such as range finding, gun-pointing,
hospital service and first-aid work.
There are. roughly, 1900 bandSman
positions, exclusive Of bandmasters, in
the Navy. After the school starts
operating these places will be filled at
the rate of 40 a year. Already more
than 500 applications have been re-
ceived.
THE highest hurdle that the appli-
cant takes Is the stiff physical ex-
animation. Recruiting stations OF the
Navy reject e5 out of every 100 appli-
cants at this sage of the test. Ap-
plicants for the Music School are far
ing better than this-20 out OF each
100 are able to comply with the rigid
requirements.
That the opportunity to enlist In
the school is welcomed by the youth
of the country is evidenced by the
tone of the letters of application.
Most of them are from students in. or
Just graduated from high school, who
have studied music, Nearned to play
some instrument and who want to
continue their musical studies, but
cannot afford to do so.
To have q chance to study music for
six years and to be paid for it is
goal few of the applicants ever hoped
to reach. In more prosperous times
these youths would get jobs and study
in their spare time. Their letters
show them to be sincere, hard work.
ing young fellows who will make the
best of the chance given them. That
they are a preferred class of recruits
is shown by the records in the phy-
sical examination.
There are three courses open to the
newly enrolled student in the Navy
Music School: The musicians course
of two years, the soloists' course OF one
year and the bandmasters' course Of
one year. There are courses in cham
ber music. orchestration, composition,
history of music. solefeggio, acoustics,
counterpoint and Instrumentation.
Each student must learn to play
major and a minor instrument. Ship
bands, with musicians so equipped,