Maybe just not audio fan

[SadieKate]

Wow. Junior high and high schools bands and orchestra at my schools were 50-70 strong. The band and orchestra directors also had the chorus and drama classes.

One lesson per week per student? Don't think so!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow. Junior high and high schools bands and orchestra at my schools were 50-70 strong. The band and orchestra directors also had the chorus and drama classes.

One lesson per week per student? Don't think so!

As I recall, the lessons were only about 20 minutes, and not everyone wanted or took lessons. The orchestra had about 35 kids, the band about 45. There was a separate choir and choir teacher. It was certainly do-able. There was a lot of wonderful music in the curriculum in my NYC public grade school back in the 1960's.
Then in the rural area of NY where I live now, my kids got lots of music too in the public middle school and high schools.

[Crankin]

So, yes, my son had private half hour to forty five minute lessons with the band teacher in the average-ish school district. In the more affluent, music oriented school, we paid for an hour of private lessons a week, through ninth grade for trombone. Then he got lazy. He had been playing guitar; I paid for private lessons for that for 2 years, while he did jazz band for awhile, in addition to regular band. There was no orchestra at the school (budget cuts), but the band is huge; well over 200 kids. But, so many kids there played violin through other sources. There was a girl in my younger son's class who performed at Carnagie Hall more than once . If you were in band, you were required to do both marching band and concert band. Our marching band is awesome. Well, I say our, but I no longer live there... in fact the town I live in now is probably more affluent, but has a much smaller music program.
One of the great things about the band was that at the football games, there were almost as many parents there to hear and see the band as the game. There was a mass exodus after the half time show!