Marching bands started developing as musicians became less important in directing the movement of troops on the battlefield and took on a ceremonial role. Many military traditions survive in modern marching band. Bands that march in formation will often be ordered to “dress their ranks” and “cover down their files”. They may be called to “attention”, and given orders such as “about face” and “forward march”.
Uniforms of many marching bands still resemble military uniforms. We also follow the same leadership structure as the military with a chain of commands. Students have the opportunity to develop leadership skills by starting from the bottom and working their way up.
In 1907, the first formation on a football field was the “Block P” created by the director of the Purdue All-American Marching Band. The first halftime show by a marching band at a football game was done by the University of Illinois also in 1907 at a game against the University of Chicago.
Marching band has changed from those early times. Today’s bands perform highly coordinated shows with themes and props; these shows push the human body to the edge of what can be played and marched at very fast tempos. You have to be in pretty good shape to be able to pull off a 9-minute show with tempos ranging from 70 to 170 beats per minute, make it look and sound great and wear a heavy uniform.
During football games our marching band performs their show at half time and throughout the game they play in the stands. Starting with our National Anthem, our students get to support our football team with a variety of stand tunes. The music selection ranges from pop music, hip hop & funk just to name a few.
The half time show is our main event.
A theme is chosen and the rehearsed throughout the summer. Previous seasons included show themes like “Soul Vaccination”, “La Corrida”, “Songs in the Key of Life”,“Kentonality”, “Cuban Fire” and “In the Groove”. This year’s theme is “Summer of Love”.
