The Benefits of New Horizons Band Participation as Self-Reported by Selected New Horizons Band Members

Abstract

New Horizons Band Members (N = 1,823) from 28 U.S. States and Canada rated the existence and importance of 42 potential benefits of the New Horizons experience. Benefits were organized into four categories: Healthy Personal, Skill, and Social/Cultural. Of these categories, Skill-related benefits were most frequently identified by band members as components of their experiences, followed by Social/Cultural, Personal, and Health benefits, respectively. On ratings of importance, these categories were ranked in the same order. The individual benefits found to have the highest percentages of existence were Accomplishment, Play/Fun, New Friends, Skill Refinement, and Challenge. The individual benefits with the highest ratings of importance were Play/Fun, Accomplishment, Technique, and Challenge. Social/Cultural benefits were rated much higher than a similar study of adult piano students. Findings suggest that while participants are interested in musical improvement, they also place a high value on Personal and Social benefits provided by the experience.

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