Marching Band: A true endurance sport!

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Ahhhh, the joys of band camp, I march both Baritone and Sousaphone. I don't know any football players who could stand outside for 5 hours straight starting at 3 am under the staduim lights with only two five minute water breaks, and this is even before breakfast. After a 30 minute light breakfast, we head out once more, and now the heat starts to come up, and with my first two songs marching a 50 pound Sousaphone on my shoulders, which btw, conducts heat extremly well, and soon feels like I'm wearing an oven, and acts like a bloody sail when ever there is a wind. From 8:30am to 2 pm we are out drilling sets over and over again. Then we have lunch, memorize music from 4 to 5, eat dinner, and then go back out onto the field for another drill session that last till we are dismissed at 11:30 pm to go home. this was our scheduale for everyday for 3 weeks, now THAT takes endurance.

Ha try marching with a big black bass drum in your face in 90 degree weather as a freshmen. That was me.

which bass, in PPE, I march the 9th bass drum, thing is over 60 pounds

I was a clarinet, so I had it easier than brass. Especially at games when lightning started to strike.

Oye yeah, ye one of those "poor little wood-winds" who refuse to march in the rain. We brasses keep on marching, even if the lightning strikes near the damned stadium, we keep on going.

It wasn't the woodwinds' decision to get out of the rain. Our band director made that decision all by himself. He would make the brass run back inside. I think he was more worried about our instruments then our physical safety.

I was a cymbal player in my high school marching band. Now we didn't have a big band or a very comepetitive band, but it was fun all the same. Playing cymbals for the football games was no problem, but the real problem came when we marched for homecoming parades, marching to the elementary schools, and any other parade that our small town had: our drum cadence. In my opinion, those cymbals were heavy, and when we played that cadence, the cymbal players played nonstop, and never had anytime to rest their arms. We got tired pretty quickly because we had to hold our arms up the entire time and never had the chance to put them down.

neither do baritones, and they are heavyer than cymbals.

Having once been knocked down by a bolt of lightning that hit the ground 100 feet from where I was standing (in my garage watching a bad storm), I'd just like to say that people who march in band carrying the equivelant of large metal antennas on their shoulders during a storm should consider themselves very lucky....

I did marching band in High school. It was a lot of hard work since we competed. However, i really enjoyed and made a whole bunch of friends from it. I was in Pit so I didn't march on the field but had to push carts with all the precuission stuff which was a workout in itself.

After high school, I worked with a local high school marching, which was a lot of fun. Since the college I was at did not have a marching band.

However, when I transfer colleges, I joined the marching band. It has been great and I've made friends. Now, I play cyblams which is also a workout.

I love band and music in general. At my school, if you're in band, you're automatically in the concert band, marching band, and pep band (you could be in jazz band, but that's optional). Oh yeah; there are three levels of concert band: symphonic band, wind symphony, and wind ensemble (symphonic band being the least advanced with wind ensemble being the most advanced). Anyways, about marching band: Yes, I do know what it's like to stand in the totally cold to the totally hot, practicing the half time shows under the elements for about a quarter of the school year and some of the summer. It's really awesome even if you have to go through all that stuff, however.

[quote="aspiegirl2"]I love band and music in general. At my school, if you're in band, you're automatically in the ... marching band/quote]

Not if you play oboe! You cannot march playing the oboe.

Usually all the oboe players either play a percussion instrument or get out their clarinet (or a school-owned clarinet) during marching season. However, there is an oboe player that I know that plays trombone in my squad. If you play two instruments, you could play the better instrument for marching instead of an instrument like the oboe, the piano (that'd be interesting lol), or something difficult to march with. Either way, you have to march, be in the color guard, or be on the jazzline/cheerleading squad. They usually don't make exceptions if you play on the football team; they want you to get suited up in your marching clothes and march on the field at half-time. I'm not sure if it was that way this year, but it was like that for a couple years because the football coach wanted them to do it.

Usually all the oboe players either play a percussion instrument or get out their clarinet (or a school-owned clarinet) during marching season. However, there is an oboe player that I know that plays trombone in my squad. If you play two instruments, you could play the better instrument for marching instead of an instrument like the oboe, the piano (that'd be interesting lol), or something difficult to march with. Either way, you have to march, be in the color guard, or be on the jazzline/cheerleading squad. They usually don't make exceptions if you play on the football team; they want you to get suited up in your marching clothes and march on the field at half-time. I'm not sure if it was that way this year, but it was like that for a couple years because the football coach wanted them to do it.[/quote]

At my high school, we had no marching band or pep band. In college they tried to make me play cymbols for marching band....but I guess I got out of it because maybe they realized playing oboe is hard enough. I had to play the cymbols for pep band. I hated it!! ! Did you know that the word "Trombones" in french means "paper clips"?

Please pardon my ignorance, but why have woodwinds in a marching band? They don't carry/project and you can't hear them in the stands.

I attend University of Texas football games regularly and the Longhorn band is huge- almost 400 players including roughly 50 saxophones, 30 clarinets, and 30 piccalos (no flutes). When they march at halftime I can hear the piccalos once in a while, but the saxes and clarinets are complety inaudible.

When Ohio State played here this year they brought their entire band, which is brass and drums only. No woodwinds. At halftime they were just as loud as the Longhorn band even though they had about half the number of players.

Could the woodwinds learn to play trumpet or percussion or something during football season?

I play sousaphone in marching band...I sweat more in band than I do in Phy. ed. (which is kind of ironic, since i work just as hard in phy ed.)