Competitive Marching Band

Nearly everyone has been to a high school football game, and seen the marching band perform at halftime. However, many people just ignore this alleged entertainment, but few people know that marching band is a competitive sport.

Marching band has a rich history, tracing its roots back to military bands. Early in warfare, music was essential to troops fighting in battle, signaling them exactly what to do. As warfare evolved, the band was less essential in the actual fighting, and lead to the use of bands purely in a ceremonial role. The fundamental part of marching band is indeed marching, which was started due to the fact that military organizations marched.

Nearly 150 years after their last use in battle, many high schools and universities in America use these groups for entertainment during halftime of the football game. A few things have changed though, including: the use of percussion, brass and woodwind instruments, the addition of a color guard/drill team, which utilize flags and replica rifles and sabers for visual effect, and most importantly the synchronization of music and marching, in order to present a visually appealing show.

Today, competitive marching band is a high dollar sport, with some high school bands spending tens of thousands of dollars for the rights to music and the creation of drill (the movements that produce the small pictures spectators see.) Many bands travel around the country to compete in competitions. These competitions are broken into different categories, usually by size of school. This allows for schools to compete with schools of similar size.

Competitions are typically divided into 2 segments. In the afternoon, preliminary competitions are held, allowing for all bands to compete in classes. Typically, the evening competition, finals, is a limited competition, with only the top bands from preliminaries competing, in a single, open class. The overall winner is determined by highest overall score. Scoring is on a 100 point system, with a 100 being the highest possible score. Scoring is divided into many categories, with points going for group and individual marching, group and individual music, and general effect. Most competitions involve seven judges, with five in the press box, and two on the field. The two judges on the field make an effort to evaluate every member of the band, either on musical criteria or marching criteria.

Today, there are two types of marching styles, each very different from the other. High step, the older version, involved the marcher actually lifting the foot off the ground. Often, when performing the high step, member bring lift their legs off the ground as much as possible. This style is probably the most physically demanding, as well as most difficult to make uniform across the band. The other styles, referred to as a glide or roll step, is a much less drastic maneuver. This involves the marcher rolling their foot, and is easiest described by pretending that the marcher is trying to squeeze a toothpaste tube totally empty.

Today high school bands use many instruments, from flutes and trumpets, to tubas and drums, nearly every instrument can and will be used. Most competitive bands also use stationary percussion equipment, such as timpani, marimba, xylophone and bells. These instruments, while not marching, drastically change the sound of a marching band, allowing for music to be played. Many bands, when having a soloist perform, use a microphone to allow for audience to listen to the music. While on the field, a marching band is lead by a drum major. Typically, a band uses between one and four drum majors, depending on the size of the group. The drum major is trained to conduct the music being played by the band, which also allows the group to stay in step with each other, adding to the overall effect of the band.

Today, the major sanctioning body of marching band is Bands of America. Each year, they hold a number of regional and super-regional competitions. They use a standard judging system, which has been adopted by many other competitions across the country. Every fall, Bands of America holds a Grand National Championship, a three day long event open to 90 bands from across the country. Three rounds are held, with 30 advancing to a semi-final round, and then 10 advancing to a finals round. The winner is presented with a travelling Grand Championship trophy. Also, many states across the country have state championships, similar to high school sports, to determine a state champion of marching band.

Bands wear a uniform, which may be the same from year to year, or may be changed, based upon the theme of the show. Typically, the uniform is based somewhat on military uniforms, due to the nature of marching band itself. Uniforms allow for all members to visually look the same, placing no more emphasis on any single member of the band. Many uniforms are of multicolor designs, allowing for visual use in various maneuvers.

So, next time you're at football game, remember to watch the band. They've probably worked very hard to put entertainment on the field, and they would very much appreciate you're attention for a few short minutes. So, wait to get that hotdog for another ten minutes, because it will still be there.