Marching Band Rehearsals

Do you know what it's like to have free time in the summer, like real time where you can take a day to binge watch all your shows you need to catch up on? Well I don’t because if you like your summer break and you are in marching band, you are going to have about no free time. To put it into perspective I was in 9th grade and was very lazy back then and I decided to join marching band thinking it’d be like the CMS marching band where you could use a flip book to read music. Boy was I wrong because you must have everything memorized and perfect. If it were to compare the two; CMS would be a walk in the park and the high school would be boot camp (and to be fair I wouldn’t be surprised if it was called a boot camp).

Many people believe marching band is not a sport because it involves people playing music. Since people are playing music, they think it is more of an art than a sport. It is true that we people in a marching band are playing music, but there is a lot more that they do besides playing music. I have so far participated in marching band for six years, five in middle school and high school and one year in college. Even though not all marching bands compete, it should still be considered a sport for the ones that do.

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

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

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

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.

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.

“Mom, I don’t think I want to go anymore.” “Ella, I already paid. You’re gonna have to go” “I’m gonna die,” I thought in my head. I’m on my way to my first band camp. I joined my high school’s marching band a few months ago and have been working all summer on my marching and music.

“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 band has been the most time-consuming and enjoyable extracurricular I have participated in throughout some of middle school and all of high school. I marched alto saxophone when I was in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades and I have been drum major (also known as field commander) since my sophomore year of high school. Having this job has been a huge responsibility, but it has also given me invaluable learning and leadership experience.

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 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.

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

During spring training, I felt like I had worked harder than I ever have. I just knew that I was getting a spot on the field. I thought that the directors would choose me as one of many other on the field. When summer marching band rolled around I was confident I had a spot. For the first week out of the summer five days out of the week from 12:00pm to 9:00pm we did drills and practiced playing. I never slowed down and at the end of the first week; they had a general idea of who was going to be on the field. They give you a card that tells the coordinates of your spot during the show, if only your name is on it you have a spot. If it has two names, you and that person are now competing for that spot. I was very disappointed to find out I now had to compete against someone. During week, two of marching band it was obvious the other person received the spot.

One of the most influential leadership roles that I have had the honor of holding is being the drum majorette for my high school and junior high marching band. Included in this role, I not only conducted the band, but I energetically gave constructive criticism, provided encouragement, and listened to my fellow band members’ opinions. Relating to John Quincy Adams’ quote, I implemented goals regarding to success for individual band members and the band as a whole, essentially supporting my members to “dream more” and to see the bigger picture. Junior high members who joined our band this marching season were granted the opportunity to attend a pre-session with our band director and I before the start of band camp. During this session, the band director and I taught them marching fundamentals and presented them with tips relating to memorizing music and how to sufficiently mark their maneuvers in their music. This session allowed the junior high members to catch up with the older members and ,substantially, “learn more”.