High school bands reducing risk of Covid-19 as the music plays on

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    ATLANTA (WGCL) — Students and teachers alike never thought weeks of virtual learning would turn into months.

“Especially in the beginning, it was like, how do you teach band online?” said Nina Pryor, the Band Director at Howard Middle School.

But more than a year since the pandemic began, here we are.

“It’s hard to fathom,” said one band student, Phoebe Pylant.

While some students and teachers remain virtual, others have slowly started trickling back into the classroom – including the band class at Howard Middle School in Atlanta.

“Being very creative in the way we teach has become essential,” Pryor added.

Obviously, the very function of playing music by mouth involves blowing air – and possibly virus droplets – around the room.

So, school bands around the country are figuring out ways to reduce the risk of Covid-19 as the music plays on.

“The instrument masks and the bell covers enable us to be able to play in person safely,” Pryor said.

11 school districts around the country were awarded the Save The Music Foundation grant to receive bell covers funded by Sony Music Entertainment.

“I feel like it’s good they’re exploring different options so people can play in person,” said another student, Shachi Deo.

Atlanta Public Schools is the only district in Georgia that received the grant, something students say makes band class a bit easier.

“A lot of the band instruments are hard to play in quarantine,” added Pylant.

The grant enables the 45 band programs from elementary to high school in Atlanta Public Schools to continue making music in a safe way.

“To give them and their parents that extra peace of mind, knowing there’s an extra layer of protection that is there,” said Pryor.

The use bell covers and masks is part of up-to-date research by the National Federation of High Schools and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Research has shown that if players wear surgical style masks with a slit for mouthpiece and bell covers, aerosol emission is reduced between 60% and 90%.

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