Marching band
A marching band is a collective of musicians who perform at various public events, including athletic games, parades, and competitions. Typically comprising students and sometimes professional musicians, marching bands are characterized by their matching uniforms and a range of instruments from brass, percussion, and woodwinds. Performances can occur both outdoors and indoors, often featuring a color guard that adds visual flair through choreography and props. Historically, the roots of marching bands trace back to ancient mobile musicians and military bands, which played a vital role in directing troops and later transitioned to ceremonial functions.
In the United States, marching bands play a significant role in high school and college culture, especially during football games, where they enhance school spirit by performing school songs and halftime shows. The Notre Dame Marching Band is notable as the oldest continuously marching band, having been established in 1842. Rehearsing rigorously, band members practice specific techniques like the "glide-step" to maintain a polished appearance while marching. Uniforms vary by event, reflecting school colors and identity during sporting events, while competition attire may differ. Through dedicated practice and performance, marching bands continue to serve as an enduring and dynamic part of community and educational traditions.
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Marching band
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who performs for audiences at athletic events, parades, and ceremonies and who may compete against other groups at marching band competitions. The members of marching bands may be students or professional musicians (e.g., the United States Marine Band). Marching band members usually wear matching uniforms and play a variety of brass, percussion, and woodwind instruments. Many marching band performances take place outside, though some occur indoors. A color guard—whose members use flags, scarves, wooden rifles, or other accessories to add visual interest to a performance—often accompanies a marching band.
Brief History
Groups of mobile musicians have existed since ancient times. They used to travel from one place to another and entertain audiences at various festive gatherings. Many consider these wandering musicians some of the forerunners to modern marching bands.
In time, more regimented groups of musicians began to form within the militaries of early city-states. The music that military bands played helped to direct the actions of soldiers on the battlefield. Eventually, the musical direction of troops became less prominent, and military bands began to fulfill a more ceremonial role.
Many features of modern marching bands developed from these military bands, including marching in formation and wearing military-style uniforms. In the United States, modern marching bands are an integral part of high school and college football games. They often entertain crowds by playing songs before, during, and after games and by performing at halftime. Most high school and college marching bands are well-known for playing their schools' unique songs and improving spirit at sporting events and other campus activities.
The Notre Dame Marching Band is the oldest continuously marching band in the United States. Founded in 1842, it played at Notre Dame's first football game against the University of Michigan in 1887. Notre Dame started playing "The Irish Fight Song," the school song, in 1909. In 1907, the University of Illinois Marching Illini became the first marching band to play a football game halftime show.
The conductor of a musical band, especially a brass or military one, is called a bandmaster. Two influential bandmasters in American history were John Philip Sousa and Harold B. Bachman. Sousa directed the United States Marine Band between 1880 and 1892. The United States Marine Band is made up of professional musicians and is the oldest military band in the United States. During his time as bandmaster, Sousa wrote many popular march tunes, including "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and "The Liberty Bell." Both of these marching tunes are still played and recognized today, and "The Stars and Stripes Forever" was actually designated as the national march of the United States on December 11, 1987.
Bachman was a bandmaster who directed military, professional, and student bands. He became well-known for directing the University of Florida's marching band. Under his direction, the Fightin' Gator Marching Band performed concerts on the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., and at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Bachman helped form the American Bandmasters Association (ABA), which gathered bandmasters from around the country at a yearly conference to discuss band methods and goals. He wrote several books about band history and band styles, including The Smith-Yoder-Bachman Ensemble Band Method (1939), The Million Dollar Band (1962), and The Biggest Boom in Dixie: The Story of Band Music at the University of Florida (1968).
Overview
Marching bands vary in size, from just a few to hundreds of members. A band director oversees and directs the band as a whole. Several instrumental sections typically make up a marching band. Each section has a leader. Marching bands may include the following sections: brass, woodwind, percussion, pit, and color guard. Some common instruments in the brass section of a marching band are the trumpet, trombone, and tuba. Among the common woodwinds are the saxophone, clarinet, flute, and oboe. The percussion section generally includes snare drums, bass drums, tenor drums, and cymbals. The pit includes instruments that remain stationary. Often called the front ensemble or auxiliary percussion, the pit is typically stationed at the front of the field and may include instruments such as the vibraphone, xylophone, marimbas, gongs, bongos, and chimes. Rather than play music, a color guard dances and uses accessories to add showmanship to a marching band's performance. Common accessories include flags or wooden rifles, but scarves, pennants, and other accessories may also be used.
Marching bands spend much time practicing. It is not unusual for school marching bands to start practicing full days for a month before school returns to session and to practice every morning or afternoon during football season. Band members practice both with their smaller instrument sections and with the band as a whole. Many high school, college, and university bands attend summer band camps, where they spend a week or more preparing for the marching band season.
Marching band practice involves practicing good posture and a common marching band step called the "glide-step" or "roll step." This step involves rolling the foot from heel to toe to make band members appear as if they are gliding effortlessly across the field. Proper technique of the glide-step or roll step keeps the upper body as still as possible.
Almost all marching band members wear uniforms. Members of military bands traditionally wore brightly colored uniforms. This tradition started during the Civil War, when members of the military band wore baby blue and purple uniforms. The brightly colored uniforms allowed the enemy to clearly distinguish the band members from the soldiers. Later, the West Point cadet-style uniform, with brass bars across the chest, became more popular. Some military marching bands still wear these types of uniforms today. High school and college marching bands often have several uniforms. The uniforms worn at football games and other sporting events are typically school colors and display the school's name, logo, or mascot. The uniforms worn for competitions may be different.
Bibliography
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DiFlore, Vince. "The Importance of Music Education in Schools." CNN, 31 May 2011, www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/31/music.education.cake.difiore/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2017.
"A Guide to the Harold B. Bachman Band Collection." University of Florida Smathers Libraries, Jan. 2008, www.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/archome/MS39.htm. Accessed 30 Dec. 2016.
"The History of Marching Bands." Bandhead.org, 17 Mar. 2009, www.bandhead.org/forum/topics/the-history-of-marching-bands. Accessed 17 Jan. 2016.
"History of the Notre Dame Band." Band of the Fighting Irish, www.ndband.com/about-the-nd-band/history.cfm. Accessed 6 Jan. 2017.
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Lochner, Sabrina. "The Evolution of Uniforms." Halftime Magazine, 3 Aug. 2010, www.halftimemag.com/features/the-evolution-of-uniforms.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2016.
"'The President's Own' United States Marine Band." Official Website of the United States Marine Corps,www.marineband.marines.mil/About/Our-History/John-Philip-Sousa. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.