Music: The History Of Marching Band

Marching bands are an integral part of communities and are the bases in which many musicians get their start. The athletic art provides an outlet for kids to express their creativity while being part of a

Kaitlyn Hatchett Mr. Bergmann Senior English P5 28 August 2015 The Benefits of Participating in High School Band High school band is often looked upon as an activity where a bunch of nerds get in big, bulky, sweaty uniforms and walk around the football field during halftime all the while playing music that they have memorized. Although this is 99.9% true, marching band is much more than that and if you think about what was just stated, that takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication. Marching band provides students with life lessons and skills that can never be forgotten. There are some major “plus factors” of being a part of a high school band such as: students get to be around other students that they normally would not associate with,

The time is now. The roaring crowd settled, the stadium lights shined above us, the field was set. It was time to show the audience how much dedication, sweat, and tears were put in the show right before the eyes. The masterpiece, I like to call it. The hardest part however, is making it seem so effortlessly. Welcome to Marching Band.

Marching band; copious amounts of people scoff at the sound of those words. I often hear students commenting on how easy marching band is, how we don’t train like the football players do. At Anderson High School, that’s not the case, the marching band trains for just as long. As a band of over 125 individuals, it takes determination, pride, and confidence to achieve the goals we have set forth to accomplish. As a leader of the saxophone section, I know what it’s like to face failure, to overcome and turn it into success and to march on with confidence.

Why I Hate Band What is the real definition of insanity? Merriam Webster’s definition is “severe mental illness : the condition of being insane.” Albert Einstein’s definition is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And my definition is “running the same set over and over again expecting the freshmen to hit their set.” Unfortunately, this is a daily occurrence for members of a marching band, who spend countless hours walking from one side of a field to another just so that they can perform at a game while the audience is at the concessions.

To the average person, the high school marching band is nothing more than a bunch of geeks that play during half time at the football games or monopolize the benches by the band hall, but to me, it is so much more. To me it is a family, a safe haven, a creative outlet, a home. I have been involved in marching band for three years, going on four, and I wouldn 't trade the experience for anything. When I entered high school as a scared and awkward freshman, I immediately had three hundred people that I could rely on. The program quickly became like a second home to me and opened up a whole new path in my life.

I hate marching band. Leaving the trap of a class was the best decision I made in my high school experience. Once I was through with band, I joined theater. Joining theater for my schedule well, introduced me to friends, and opened my mind to new possibilities I hadn't considered before. Marching band was physically demanding.

On November 1st, 2014 at 11:34pm the Summerville High School marching band was announced the SCBDA 5A State Champion for the first time in a decade. I believe this to be my greatest accomplishment, being a part of an organization that accomplished so much even though we were the underdogs of the rest of the competition. Our high school was not the most musically talented, nor are we the largest. However, the heart and soul we put into our performance was recognized by the judges.

I believe in marching band. I believe in blood, sweat, and tears. I believe in working hard not only for yourself, but also for the other 90 people on the field with you. I believe that if someone can get through a season without sweating, bleeding, and crying a few times throughout the season, they don’t deserve to call themselves a marching band member. I’ve spent each summer since I was a freshman in high school on the black pavement for 9 hours a day.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours working with my peers, building friendships while working toilsomely to perfect one show each year. When we weren’t on the field practicing, we were performing at football games or at community events, bringing the community together with a sense of pride. Being a part of the marching band has taught me to put the betterment of my peers over myself and I have made it my goal to make the people around me the best that they

Taking the field the Evolution “East Peoria Marching Raiders, you may take the field in competition.” During the four years of high school, I was able to get involved with the East Peoria High School Band program. The marching band has evolved since I joined in 2011 and it has been improving each year. My freshman year we used to march trombones, I was probably the worst one on the field when it came to the marching aspect.

Many students have the opportunity to work in teams whether it’s a sport or a club that partakes in competitions. For me, that activity is marching band. Although marching band isn’t a sport, it’s similar in the team aspect, except we can have 150 or more other team members. Working in such a large group can be very overwhelming and time consuming. The season starts in late June and can go on well into the months of November or December. The overall objective of our band is to put on the best show possible. With each year, the hardest obstacle is training the rookies. They have to be just as disciplined and have the same conditioning as the older members to be able to carry out the drill. As one of the older members, it’s our job to guide them

I was born and raised in Gulfport, Mississippi, an area immersed in a relaxed coastal culture and a vibrant jazz and blues heritage. Gulfport is located right off the Gulf of Mexico and less than an hour from New Orleans, Louisiana. Living near the Gulf, heavily influenced my childhood, I would spend weekends at the beach, and long hours traveling to distant islands far from the coast I called home. The music you would hear at the beach were always from timeless Americana artist; such as, Bob Dylan and Jonny Cash. My parents, not musicians themselves, were infatuated with the music of the late 1980’s from artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, and Journey. My particular favorite artist from that time period was Queen, and my love for rhapsody

Have you ever walked into 1,200 guns aiming straight at you? Drummer boys in the Civil War have, some even did it more than once. Drummer boys, who also served as soldiers, were some of the bravest boys in the country during the Civil War. These boys walked at the front of the marching column beating their drums to regulate soldiers’ marching steps. They were also the first ones to be shot if there was an ambush. Drummer boys sometimes fought too, but most importantly they always looked out for each other.

Growing up I was consumed by an interesting assortment of music. Musical influences were thrown at me from all directions. Whether it was the rock and roll and punk rock music my dad listened to, or the country and pop music my mom listened to, my ears were always full of different arrays of music. Having my grandma blasting gospel music and my older sister jamming Disney, music became a very influential part of my childhood.