Marching Band Journey

So unfortunately, due to transportation problems, I was not able to attend the Queen City Battle of the Bands last weekend. However, I was able to see the whole showcase via YouTube and here are my thoughts on each Marching Band’s field show. I will be creating a separate post for the Stand Battles that were also held at the event.

Marching band consists of musicians who march in either a military style or corps style on a field. The musicians put on a show with music, marching, and visuals, and compete in competitions. Marching bands usually wear uniforms with their organization's colors, marching shoes, hats, plumes, etc. In a high school or college marching band, putting together a show is an important part of football games. On the other hand, concert band or a symphonic band is a sit-down ensemble that generally plays classic music and concert marches.

As Newt Gingrich once said, “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of the hard work you already did.” This quote applies greatly to marching band. Many people like to discredit it as something that is simply “walking around and playing an instrument,” but it is much more than that. We didn’t win championships across the east coast twice by doing something just anyone can do. No one perseveres quite like the band.

It began during my 8th grade year, I started to play in the marching band for the football games and parades. Percussion was my cup of tea because I know that I could nail it by reading and memorizing the music more often. It took me days to memorize my music for the half-time performances, especially for the parades. Meanwhile at the football field for the first time ever, I begin to think that maybe it did not turn out to be bad after all. For the rest of the football season during half-time, I finally got the hang of it. Marching fundamentals was quite a bit confusing. So that took me weeks to figure out remembering the fundamentals before the half-time performance. Back then, I heard a person who was cheering on for me and it just made

Hi, if you didn’t know I’m Morgan Fish. When Shave was talking about getting a new drum major this year I got excited because ever since my oldest sister, Alison, was in marching band I had always been fascinated by drum majors. I went to all of the football games so I could watch the field show. The field shows were and still are the most exciting part of the football game to me and now that I am actually a part of the show it is much more exciting. I absolutely love marching band.

You can tell a lot about a school by their marching band. At the beginning of my freshman year, I had the privilege of attending a Wisconsin Badger game at Camp Randall and it was an awesome experience. I have long forgotten the logistics of the game itself, but I still remember the marching band. With their high knees perfectly in step, their tight spins perfectly in time, and their shining silver instruments perfectly in position, the excitement they brought to the crowd was undeniable. I easily envisioned myself playing “On Wisconsin” on the field, hyping up fans with my music. After I learned flutes were not a part of Madison’s traditional style marching band, I decided to pick up playing the trumpet because I knew that one day, if I ever

Every person has something that they're passionate about such as sports, art, theater, or music; most people find their calling while doing something they enjoy taking part in, for me it was the music department and all the activities that I could do within it.

I started playing the marching baritone my freshman year of high school and it has been the symbol for a lot of the change that has happened since. I’d played the trombone all through middle school and switching to the baritone meant I almost had to relearn a new instrument. It was heavy, awkward, and I was the only girl who played it, so I almost felt like I wanted to prove myself in a way. But along with the baritone came the whole concept of the marching band and all of the commitments that came with it. Everyone was so outgoing and social that it almost became stressful for me. I was known for my shyness and always being quiet around people, so an environment like that was not exactly my preferred place to be. But, I soon found that it

Marching band was one of the most difficult/challenging activity systems that I have ever done in my life. But at the same time it was an inspirational and motivating aspect of my life. The very first thing it taught me was the definition of hard work. This was because I spent hundreds of hours to my dedication and devotion to band marching around the field in the hot sun every day. Even though there were times when I wanted to quit; one such instance was when we were out performed by another school, other times it was becuase of the teacher being a little too hard on me when I first started. Despite setbacks such as these, I had an ardent attraction to marching band, mainly because in middle school I was a part of concert band, which made me love music. The biggest, reason why I chose to do marching band, aside from my enjoyment of music, was because towards the end of my eighth grade year my middle school band director told us about a huge opportunity that we had coming up to become a part of the high school across the street marching band. They were called the Titan Regiment. She told us the difference between concert and

“Drum major is your band ready?” if you haven’t heard this you must not be in marching band, and you most definitely haven’t lived in the color of music. Music has brought color in my life like you wouldn’t believe! I finally realized this at state. Crowds roaring for their home band, band moms screaming their lungs out for their kids, it’s where everyone gets to participate no matter how good you are, and you finally find meaning through music. Yeah it’s pretty great, and I’ll share my wonderful experience with you.

Marching bands all across the world have their own style in the way they perform. Many gain knowledge through social media platforms, books, movies, TV shows and possibly the radio. Yet they are all still unique in their own ways. They may be similar in some ways because social media has affected almost everyone who is in. Whether it be viewing other bands on different platforms or being recorded to be put on the internet yourself, social media affects anyone in a marching band.

When I first joined marching band after seventh grade, I missed the first summer practice to see a concert. At that time, I had no idea how much band would come to mean to me nor the unexpected amount of dedication needed. Before marching band, music was merely a casual thing, but it has transformed this old hobby into a greater priority. After just one season, this shift was noticeable. I certainly did not consider missing two days of a Disney World vacation to march at nationals when first reading the schedule. But this beloved sport worked its ways in a few short months. Through two marching seasons and a winter concert, band became one of the most prominent activities in my life.

Marching band is a great activity. I have fun while performing in the Alabama Christian Academy Marching Band. I work hard for an amazing goal. Marching band is a place I can feel accepted.

I spend so much of my time balancing my band and school life, I feel it would be impossible to ignore my legacy within my bands. My legacy would have to include what I’ve spent most of my time in, and what I loved doing. In my case, I’m lucky enough to have both of these be the same thing. I spend about nineteen hours a week working in marching band, and I have loved doing this the whole time. I am currently the senior drum major and if I was to look back at the legacy I have left behind, I would have to include this. Not only has it given me a chance to lead the band I love to be in, it has allowed me to teach and inspire passion within the younger members of my band to continue music.

12. Skateboarding and marching band might not seem very similar with alike characteristics, but you would be surprised how I train for both of them very similarly. When I go to the skatepark I always am there for over three hours at a time. This means that I have good breath control. If a random person tried skating for three hours they would be passed out on the ground because they would run out of breath. That is the same thing for marching band. In marching band I will be running across the field while playing blasting into my tuba. In order to be able to do something longer, such as skate for a longer period of time, you must do a warm up. This means that I can’t just go to the skatepark and start shredding. I first should do basic tricks before advancing into harder tricks.