With four and a half minutes left of halftime, Annandale High School’s football coach, Michael Scott, forces the marching band off the field by shaking the drum major’s podium repetitively. Nevertheless, Michael brought his football players onto the field and did not realize that he was being disrespectful to the band, especially on senior night (Devorak). After participating in marching band for 7 years, marching bands do not receive the credit, recognition, and satisfaction that they deserve for the amount of hard work and time that is put forth into making a season successful. However, when the time comes for school boards to balance their budgets, marching band is usually the first extracurricular activity to get cut or does not have the adequate funds (Kerchner and Abril 249). Within the past few weeks, Hempfield school district was faced with the dreaded decision to either cut the marching band or rearrange their bus schedule (Knapp). Even though marching band is not considered a sport, did anyone think that it could qualify to be one? According to dictionary.com, a sport is defined as: “An athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of competitive nature” (“Sport”). Arguably, marching band has the capabilities of being recognized as a sport because of the physical activity, skill, and competition that encompasses each band program. Earlier in history, marching bands encompassed the vision of being associated with the military. World War I embraced this style of marching when a military style band played martial and patriotic songs to soldiers that needed morale-boosting effects (Madsen, Plack, and Dunnigan 55). However, this style of marching band faded in the later nineteenth century to give rise to a... ... middle of paper ... ...am: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2099. Print. Lever, Katie. “Is Marching Band a Sport?” John Hardin High School. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. Madsen, Clifford K., David S. Plack, and D. Patrick Dunnigan. “Marching Band As A Recruiting Organization for the University: A Case Study.” Journal of Band Research 43.1 (2007): 54-62. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. “Marching Band And Sports On Level Playing Field.” American College of Sports Medicine. Matrix Group International, Inc., n.d. Web. 17 Mar 2014. “Marching Band / Varsity Band.” School of Music: University of Wisconsin-Madison. School of Music University of Wisconsin-Madison, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. “Sport.” Dictionary.com. Random House, Inc., 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. Rickels, David A. “A Comparison of Variables in Arizona Marching Band Festival Results.” Journal of Band Research 44.1 (2008): 25-39. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Sweat dripping down my face and butterflies fluttering around my stomach as if it was the Garden of Eden, I took in a deep breathe and asked myself: "Why am I so nervous? After all, it is just the most exciting day of my life." When the judges announced for the Parsippany Hills High School Marching Band to commence its show, my mind blanked out and I was on the verge of losing sanity. Giant's Stadium engulfed me, and as I pointed my instrument up to the judges' stand, I gathered my thoughts and placed my mouth into the ice-cold mouthpiece of the contrabass. "Ready or not," I beamed, "here comes the best show you will ever behold." There is no word to describe the feeling I obtain through music. However, there is no word to describe the pain I suffer through in order to be the best in the band either. When I switched my instrument to tuba from flute in seventh grade, little did I know the difference it would make in the four years of high school I was soon to experience. I joined marching band in ninth grade as my ongoing love for music waxed. When my instructor placed the 30 lb. sousaphone on my shoulder on the first day, I lost my balance and would have fallen had my friends not made the effort to catch me. During practices, I always attempted to ease the discomfort as the sousaphone cut through my collar bone, but eventually my shoulder started to agonize and bleed under the pressure. My endurance and my effort to play the best show without complaining about the weight paid off when I received the award for "Rookie of the Year." For the next three seasons of band practice, the ache and toil continued. Whenever the band had practice, followed by a football game and then a competition, my brain would blur from fatigue and my body would scream in agony. Nevertheless, I pointed my toes high in the air as I marched on, passionate about the activity. As a result, my band instructor saw my drive toward music and I was named Quartermaster for my junior year, being trusted with organizing, distributing, and collecting uniforms for all seventy-five members of the band. The responsibility was tremendous. It took a bulk of my time, but the sentiment of knowing that I was an important part of band made it all worthwhile.
Band is family. When your student walks onto campus, he or she is instantly adopted into the strongest society on campus. They will be spending their school days among the top achievers on campus, with fellow students who look out for one another and steer each other away from trouble instead of towards it. Teachers, staff, parents, and volunteers watch over all the kids as if they were their own.
The history of the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble will be reflected through a timeline of events, including an analysis of significant events, groups, composers, and advancements. When society envisions a Wind Ensemble, talented musicians, grand music halls, and difficult arrangements typically come to mind. However, a modern-day Wind Ensemble includes a variety of musicians, each with positive and negative aspects. In society today, music is greatly appreciated and accepted. It is considered an honor and a privilege to expose our ears to the music.
People only have passion for something they enjoy. Marching band needs to become more enjoyable for students. When you watch other bands perform, you can really tell which bands are enjoying themselves because the majority of the time they are better than the ones that just meander around playing their instrument with no real emotion. Now know that I am not saying we should just goof off more and not really do marching band, but we should make the marching show more interactive instead of just marching from one place to another. We should do more stuff like the poses at the beginning of the Batman show or how in the 80’s Show we did that lung thing during Don’t Stop Believing. Students enjoy
Is Color Guard a sport? Many people like to ask this question. Personally I think Color Guard is a sport. Here’s why, first the definition of a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. The definition alone tells you that Color Guard is classified as a sport, but some would still argue with that. I really don’t see how anyone could argue with that, because there are facts there to prove it. You do hardcore physical activity, have to have skill, and your team competes against other schools. Color Guard is also something I take very seriously because it sculpts you into who you are, it makes you strive for what you want. It makes you want to
George Helmholtz, as the head of the music department at Lincoln High School, is very determined with his regular students and the gifted musicians of the band. Each semester and year at school he dreams of “leading as fine a band as there was on the face of the earth. And each year it came true”. His certainty that it was true was because he believed there was no greater dream than his. His students were just as confident and in response, they played their hearts out for them. Even the students with “no talent played on guts alone” for Helmholtz.
My older sister loved the marching band, so I always got dragged to their performances. I could not tell what was so appealing about it all; it consisted of walking on a field while playing instruments and flags being swung in the air. Participating in a marching band was never what I intended nor wanted to do. The idea bored me, but my mom insisted.
Payne, B. (1997). A review of research on band competition. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 33(1), 1-21.
It is general consensus that marching band is one of the furthest things from a sport; in fact, most people believe that band is nothing more than a group of nerds that were too unathletic to play sports. Contrary to this popular belief, marching band is much more physically taxing and demanding that many people are aware of. Based on the amount of physical exertion it entails and the similarities with other sports that are present, marching band should most definitely be considered a sport.
A community is a group of people who share something in common whether it be location, interest or a common goal. Communities are what bring people together and that is exactly what happens in marching band. Marching band is a way for people to find their place and make friends. It is very important not only for growth in music, but also for growth in character and friendship. There is only one requirement for marching band and that is to be able to play an instrument and be willing to practice hard. The people who join marching band do not need to have similar like and dislikes, majors, or even anything remotely in common.
"AACCA.org - Cheerleading as a Sport." AACCA.org - Cheerleading as a Sport. AACA, 2008. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
Where I learned how to become a leader through the leadership ensemble within the marching band. Where in my senior and fourth year of marching competitively, I became the Drum Major, and earned the Best Drum Major Award at the Roxbury Marching Band Classic Competition. From marching band I progressed into jazz music, where I became the lead alto saxophonist in the top jazz band at my school during my junior and senior year. I was also one of three saxophonists in the top band at my school. I picked up the clarinet, the flute, and the soprano saxophone on my way through high school, and have played all three as well in my performing ensembles. I played in the pit orchestra of the theater production of “All Shook Up”, and was the principal saxophonist at my high school. Too be short, I am very involved in all things music in the past and currently. Band and music have been a place for me to rely on, something that brings me joy when sad. Allows me to express myself through sounds and through instruments. It is truly a talent and a hobby that I hope to continue through college and through life because of the joy it brought me and creative outlet it was throughout my
When it comes to the topic of whether cheerleading is a sport, some of us will readily agree that it is. Where the agreement usually ends, however, is on the question whether cheerleading is a sport or not. Whereas many are convinced that it isn’t a sport, other maintains that it is a sport because cheerleaders are athletes, they need to train and be in shape in order to be able to do all the complex maneuvers safely. I agree that cheerleading is a sport because cheerleaders compete against other teams and competition is part of every sport.
The roar of extreme sound emanates from a football field. It is clear that this is not an ordinary high school marching band playing at a football game. These are Drum and Bugle Corps, boasting an instrumentation of all brass and percussion instruments. This arrangement of instruments can create an enormous amount of sound, sometimes louder than a rock music concert. Due to their thorough auditioning processes, they have a group of musicians, who can play extremely well, all of whom are brought together to entertain the crowds on their three month tour in the summer. Their goal is not just entertainment, but to end up on the top of the order when all is said and done at the championships.
The New York Times states that cheerleading is the fastest growing girls’ sport, yet more than half of Americans do not believe it is a sport. A sport is defined as “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature” (dictionary.com). Cheerleading at a competitive level is physically demanding and requires team work to be the best. The misconception of cheerleaders being weak, nonathletic crowd entertainers makes people believe cheerleaders are not athletes and that cheerleading is just a hobby but cheerleaders that compete at a competitive level are in fact athletes because it meets the standards of what a sport is, which includes rules and regulations, and overcoming air resistance.